Heuristic Evaluation

Expert-driven evaluation of an interface against established usability heuristics, identifying violations and improvement opportunities without involving end users.

Process

Key Fields

Question it answers	What are the obvious usability problems? Which heuristics are violated? What is the expert opinion on design quality?
Participants & timing	3-5 UX experts · 2-4 hours evaluation each · 1 week turnaround
AI compatibility	Expert judgment is required; AI can help organize and deduplicate findings from multiple evaluators.
Output	Heuristic evaluation report listing issues by heuristic and severity, prioritization recommendations

Use when

Quick expert feedback is needed (faster than user testing)
Budget for user testing is not available
Evaluation against specific standards (WCAG, accessibility) is required

Skip when

Complex interaction patterns require user testing (experts cannot evaluate what users will think)
Product is so novel that standard heuristics do not apply

Common Mistakes

Using only one expert

A single evaluator misses issues another would catch and over-weights personal preference. Use a minimum of 3 experts; consistency across independent evaluations distinguishes true problems from opinion.

Calling preferences "heuristic violations"

"Button should be blue" is a preference, not a violation. An actual violation is: "No feedback when an action fails" (violates the heuristic: system must keep users informed of status).

Using outdated heuristics

Nielsen's 10 heuristics were published in 1994. Modern interfaces have different patterns and expectations. Use heuristics relevant to your product category and context.