Overview

The goal of this assignment is to acquire some familiarity with the heuristic evaluation process.

This assignment is individual work. You may discuss the ideas and issues of the assignment with others, but you are expected to do your own work and turn in your own writeup.

Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation:

Perform a heuristic evaluation on the web version of the bear-facts system. http://bearfacts.berkeley.edu/

Focus on the task of updating some personal information, such as a home address.

First write a paragraph describing what the intended functionality of this interface is (what it is supposed to allow the user to do). Then do a heuristic evaluation of this interface. Follow the steps described in class and in Nielsen Chapter 5. In your writeup, describe at least five usability problems. It is better if you find five distinct violations, rather than several instances of the same guideline being violated.

Label each violation with an HE rule number using Nielsen's heuiristics (reproduced below). (If you want to use a different set of guidelines, you may, but be sure to include a copy of them in your writeup). More specifically, for each problem, show the following:

• Which guideline is violated.
• Why (briefly -- no more than a few sentences) you think this guideline is violated (you can use screen shots if necessary).
• A severity rating for the violation.
• A suggested solution for this problem.

To turn in:

Turn in two hardcopies in class. It is preferable that you also make an online version in case we want to link to it from the suggested solutions page.

HE Guidelines:

These guidelines are reproduced from Nielsen's list at http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html. They are reproduced here so you can make use of a common numbering system.
1. Visibility of system status
   The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.

   Match between system and the real world

   The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

   User control and freedom

   Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

   Consistency and standards

   Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

   Error prevention

   Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.

   Recognition rather than recall

   Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

   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. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

   Aesthetic and minimalist design

   Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

   Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

   Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

   Help and documentation

   Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Upcoming due dates:

• Tues Feb 27: Heuristic Evaluation (individual)
• Tues Mar 6: Midterm
• Thur Mar 8: Flow Chart, Low-fi Prototype, and Test Results
• Thur Mar 22: First Interactive Prototype
• Tues/Thur Mar 20 & 22: Class presentations