Week 4 - usability heuristics Flashcards
Heuristics definition
An adjective to describe the guiding of discovery and improving problem solving
Why is it important for digital business
- customers can go elsewhere is frustrated by user experience
- usability goes beyond just IT systems and websites
Visibility of system status
Keeps users informed of what is happening with the system
e. g progress bars, simple and informative error messages
Match between the system and the real world
Speak the users language, familar words/ phrases
Structure info into a natural and coherent order
User control and freedom
Allow users the ability to interact with a system or website on their terms
Provide a clear way for users to configure or exit a system
Consistency and standard
Use consistent terminology throughout
Follow platform conventions for interactive elements
Error prevention
Eliminate error prone conditions or check for them, provide reassurance with clear and helpful messages when errors occur
Recognition rather than recall
Minimise a users memory load, usage instructions should be visable, recognisable or easily retrievable
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Consider accelerators such as shortcuts or context menus
Allow users to tailer frequent actions e.g keyboard shortcuts
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Keep dialogues and feedback succinct, avoid irrelevant info thats rarely needed, dont clutter the page with too much information
Help users recognise diagnose and recover from errors
express error messages in plain language, provide step by step instructions
Help and documentation
Such information should be easy to search, non technical and concise
Prototyping definition
An approach based on an evolutionary view of software development and having impact on the development process as a whole
Fidelity of prototypes
How close does a prototype resemble the look and feel of the final product of system
- interactivity
- aethetics and visuals
- content and functionality
