Expert usability evaluations for websites and applications

One of the most popular of the usability inspection methods — a heuristic (expert) evaluation — is a systematic inspection of a user interface to: 1) identify deviations from commonly accepted usability standards and 2) provide recommendations to address these issues as part of an iterative design process.

You will benefit from having independent, outside experts take a close, careful look at your interface to identify and prioritize the issues, and provide practical recommendations that will deliver better results. Correcting just a few flaws in an interface can make a tremendous difference in productivity and/or revenue.

Heuristic evaluations can be conducted on live sites and applications to set priorities for future design changes, as well as on mockups, prototypes, and ready-to-release designs to correct issues before going live. Intranets and internal applications benefit just as much from heuristic evaluations as public sites and applications.

Reviews typically require two to three weeks of elapsed time. Faster turnarounds are possible if you request them well enough in advance so that we can block out the required time.

We offer three levels of heuristic evaluation: basic, comprehensive, and competitive.

Basic expert evaluation

A senior usability analyst reviews the interface, prepares a detailed report of findings and recommendations, and review this with you. The basic evaluation is recommended for small website projects (fewer than 50 web pages) and simple applications.

Comprehensive expert evaluation

A team of three analysts independently reviews the interface, meets to review issues and recommendations, and prepares a detailed, comprehensive report. The lead reviewer then meets with you to review the findings and recommendations. By assigning three analysts to the review, we produce a very comprehensive and wide-ranging report of issues and recommendations. The comprehensive evaluation is highly recommended for large website projects (more than 50 web pages) and complex applications.

Competitive heuristic evaluation

This is a comprehensive, team-based evaluation in which your site or application is also evaluated in comparison with three competitor sites or applications of your choosing. This service is not available for intranet sites.

To learn more about these services and how your organization can benefit from expert usability evaluation, call John Wooden at 612-746-1752, or email .

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