Internet product Design: heuristic evaluation

Heuristic evaluation (seemingly equivalent to expert Group review) This method listens more, but the system actual operation experience is few, most because the time relation all is only the direct demand review, the logic does not have the big problem to be OK.

This week the product group's product used this method, the effect is very good ~ but generally only in time permitting, because rely on the quality of the prototype designers earlier analysis.

The following is a more detailed introduction and implementation step of the heuristic assessment that has recently been learned (the interesting thing is that the data comes from the book "Proficient in Web Analytics"; Another, this method is also tried on the client product)

Steps for heuristic evaluation

(1) Use the main research (survey) to understand those customers on the site to complete the core tasks, here are some examples of scenarios

• Find the most hot product information in the station
• Find a store closest to where I live
• Use PayPal to place orders on the site (if the site does not accept PayPal, then how can customers easily and quickly find this?)
• The submission status of my order at the checkpoint.
• Successful contact with technical support via email

(2) Next, determine the success criteria for each task (for example, the success rate of finding information on hot products is 95%).

(3) Like users, complete each task, recording the main findings of the experience-from the time it takes to complete the task, to the number of steps to be taken, to the obstacles to the completion of the task, and so on.

(4) record the behavior that violates the specific rules of the interaction specification/product specification

(5) Create a report for the identified problem. Screenshot of the Web page and clearly identify the problem

(6) The recommendations are categorized according to urgency, importance and general, thus facilitating the prioritization of business decision makers. The proposed improvements do not need to consider technical feasibility (there may be controversy here)

The benefits of heuristic evaluation

• Heuristic evaluation is very fast and can be understood in a very short time (the result is indeed better than the usual requirements review meeting)
• It can take advantage of the resources already available within the company
• You can determine the most unusual customer issue on the site (usually all of the lowest acceptable and intermediate goals)
• In the early days of web development, it is possible to use it effectively to identify potential obstacles.
• It can reduce the full availability test cost by helping to identify obvious problems, so usability testing can be focused on the deeper or more difficult challenges that are hidden

Heuristic evaluation should be noted for

• The heuristics are often led by experts from the company (or outside) who take advantage of best practices and their own experience, but they are not our clients
• If the recommendations from the heuristic assessment are inconsistent, you can use it as a good input for usability testing
• Heuristics are the best in optimizing workflows, web design, and overall usability of sites (this experience is profound, and it does shorten a long chain of tasks)

The last person added, the moderator of the heuristic assessment must pay attention to ensuring the direction of the meeting (of course, this is common to many parts of the product design, such as usability testing), do not get bogged down in the details too early and too much. Start with the task chain, confirm the whole process, and then confirm the link, And finally each task after the intersection according to the priority combination generation interface is the final discussion.