When we have the chance to hear feedback or observe customers using our websites or apps, we might just hear a lot of grumbling.
Making sense of the complaints, getting to the real issue of what the problem is and why people feel the way they do, takes a little more understanding.
Usability heuristic evaluations were once an essential of any UX project, and they still can be useful. These are guiding principles as to the usability of an interface. When we can analyse problems within a framework, it is easier to see what the problem is, where strengths and weaknesses are to communicate and collaborate around the problem.
In the year 2000+, dozens of them circulated. Here I talk through a set of ten that have survived the last 25+ years!
Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Mochlich compiled a set of heuristics often referenced in 1990. Nielsen revised them in 1994. According to a more recent update, 10 of these principles still hold strong: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
This is a look at Jakob NIelsen's 10 usability heuristics.