1. SEG3120 User Interfaces Design and Implementation
LAB 3: Heuristic Evaluation
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2. Outline Assignment 1 Revisit. Assignment 1 discussion.
Heuristic evaluation overview.
Heuristics Principles.
How to perform an HE.
Assignment 2 discussion.

3. Assignment 1 Revisit General Notes Pseudo code description
The Steps were taken by the user to do the task
Short and direct descriptive statements
Not the ideal steps to solve the task
User dependent (i.e. different scenarios)

4. Assignment 1 Revisit Example  User1, Change Slide design
Format  Slide Design
Search for “Maple design”
Select the design
Choose “Apply to all slides” option
Start next task

5. Assignment 1 Revisit
Malfunctions should target the software, not the user
The user had difficulties in dealing with the mouse
The user lost time in finding the picture,
Not a software malfunction
An evidence for malfunctions.

6. Assignment 1 Revisit Poor malfunction analysis,
important for assignment2.
Identify Malfunction
Limited aid in inserting pictures
Answer four distinct questions
Q1: How is the malfunction manifested? What do you notice and who noticed it?
Detected by the user
It occurred when the user tried to insert a specific picture.
Q2. At what stage in the interaction is it occurring?
When the user decide on the next goal.

7. Assignment 1 Revisit
Q3. At what level of the user interface is it occurring?
Interaction style level
Q4. Why is it occurring?
Poor job satisfaction
List and prioritize possible cures
Inserting pictures should be through wizards.

8. Assignment 1 discussion
Assignment 1 Revisit
Assignment 1 discussion

9. Interface Evaluation The problem: Various approaches
Test the suitability/goodness of an interface
Various approaches
Design evaluation:
cognitive walk-through,
review-based evaluation,
and use of models
Implementation evaluation:
controlled experiments,
heuristic evaluation,
questionnaires,
and interviews

10. Heuristic Evaluation A type of predictive evaluation
Use experts as reviewers instead of users
Benefits of predictive evaluation:
The experts know what problems to look for
Can be done before system is built
Experts give prescriptive feedback

11. Heuristic Evaluation To consider
Reviewers should be independent of designers
Reviewers should have experience in both the application domain and HCI
Include several experts to avoid bias
Experts must know classes of users
Beware: Novices can do some very bizarre things that experts may not anticipate

12. Heuristic Evaluation Process
Evaluators go through UI several times
Inspect various dialogue elements
Compare with list of usability principles
Consider other principles/results that come to mind
Usability principles
Use violations to redesign/fix problems

13. Heuristics (original)
H1: Simple & natural dialog
H2: Speak the users’ language
H3: Minimize users’ memory load
H4: Consistency
H5: Feedback
H6: Clearly marked exits
H7: Shortcuts
H8: Precise & constructive error messages
H9: Prevent errors
H10: Help and documentation

14. Heuristics (revised set)
searching database for matches
H2: Visibility of system status
Inform users about system behavior
For example, pay attention to response time
0.1 sec: no special indicators needed
1.0 sec: user tends to lose track of data
10 sec: max duration if user to stay focused on action
for longer delays, use percent-done progress bars

15. Heuristics (cont.)
H4: Consistency & standards

16. Heuristics (cont.) H8: Aesthetic and minimalist design
Only relevant information in dialogues

17. Heuristics (cont.)
H9: Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages in plain language
Precisely indicate the problem
Constructively suggest a solution

18. Heuristics (cont.) H10: Help and documentation Easy to search
Focused on the user’s task
List concrete steps to carry out
Not too large

19. Phases of Heuristic Evaluation
1) Pre-evaluation training
Give evaluators needed domain knowledge and information on the scenario
2) Evaluation
Individuals evaluate and then aggregate results
3) Severity rating
Determine how severe each problem is (priority)
4) Debriefing
Discuss the outcome with design team

20. Severity Ratings (cont.)
0 - disagree about usability problem
1 - cosmetic problem
2 - minor usability problem
3 - major usability problem; important to fix
4 - usability catastrophe; imperative to fix

21. Severity Ratings Example
1. [H4 Consistency] [Severity 3]
The interface used the string "Save" on the first screen for saving the user's file, but used the string "Write file" on the second screen. Users may be confused by this different terminology for the same function.

22. Debriefing
Conduct with evaluators, observers, and development team members
Discuss general characteristics of UI
Suggest potential improvements to address major usability problems
Development team rates fix difficulty

23. Assignment 2 Individual work. Choose a web site.
Date Due 10 Mars
Se référer à la section dans vos notes et au chapitre 6 dans le livre
Choose a web site.
Skim through the textbook and the course notes section E, look for design guidelines regarding:
Graphic design, use of color, fonts, icons etc.
Response time
Form design and windowing
Study the web site and identify the 10 most important malfunctions.

24. Assignment 2 For each malfunction, do the following:
Identify the malfunction.
What is the design principle you based on to identify the malfunction.
The results of the malfunction analysis.
What do you think could be done to fix the malfunction.
Picture highlighting the malfunction, if it’s possible.

25. Heuristic Evaluation
Questions ?