Heuristic Analysis
Heuristic Analysis is very similar to a brief summary of the
general advice on ergonomic
aspects of user-interfaces.
Heuristics are task-independent guidelines
(unlike cognitive walkthroughs and action analysis).
The following 9 heuristics are by Nielsen and Molich:
- Simple and natural dialog
Simple means no irrelevant or rarely used information.
Natural means an order that matches the task.
- Speak the user's language
Use words and concept from the user's world.
Don't use system-specific engineering terms.
- Minimize user memory load
Don't make the user remember things from one action to the next.
Leave information on the screen until it's not needed.
- Be consistent
Users should be able to learn an action sequence in one part of the
system and apply it again to get similar results in other places.
- Provide feedback
Let the users know what effect their actions have on the system.
- Provide clearly marked exits
If users get into part of the system that doesn't interest them,
they should always be able to get out quickly without damaging anything.
- Provide shortcuts
Shortcuts can help experienced users avoid lengthy dialogs and
informational messages that they don't need.
- Good error messages
Good error messages let the user know what the problem is and how to
correct it.
- Prevent errors
Whenever you write an error message you should also ask:
can this error be avoided?