Heuristic evaluation :: 2 of 3

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Heuristics for heuristic evaluation
The following are ten (10) key things that an expert usability practitioner would be looking out for when conducting a heuristic evaluation of a system:

1. Visibility of system status - the system should keep users informed about what is going on through appropriate, regular feedback
2. Match between system and the real world - the system should speak the users' language (using familiar words and concepts). Follow real-world conventions, with information appearing in a natural order
3. User control and freedom - system functions are often chosen by users by mistake. They should have a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without going through a long dialogue. In other words, there should be a comprehensive and simple-to-use "undo" and "redo"
4. Consistency and standards - users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions
5. Error prevention - even better than good error messages is a careful design that prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action
6. Recognition rather than recall - minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use - accelerators (unseen by the novice user) may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design - dialogues should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed. Extraneous information competes with relevant information and diminishes comprehensibility
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors - which should be expressed in plain language; should precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution
10. Help and documentation - should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large

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