CSE 510 -- Lab #3

CSE 510 -- Lab #3 -- Heuristic Evaluation

Due: April 27

Purpose:

Experiment with heuristic evaluation, as described by Jakob Nielsen in his online paper Heuristic Evaluation.

Assignment:

This assignment should be done in groups of 2 or 3. Together, select a system to evaluate, and design a scenario consisting of a short task to be performed. (As an example, see the sample scenario in Lab #2.)

Then each student should separately evaluate the interface. Go through the interface several times, and inspect the various interface elements (dialog elements, menu selections, etc), and compare them with Nielsen's list of heuristics. You can also note problems relative to other usability heuristics of your own devising as well.

Combine the list of usability problems identified in the separate evaluations into a master list.

Finally, each student should individually rate the severity of all the problems in the master list.

Deliverables:

Hand in a description of your scenario, the combined list of usability problems, and ratings of severity (just one submission per group).

Each student should also write a few paragraphs reflecting on the process. (We would like a separate reflection from each student, but you can collaborate as much as you wish within your group in writing them.) What kinds of problems were discovered by only one student, and what by several? How did the severity ratings compare? Was this process useful, and would you use it in your course project? We won't do a poster session for this homework, although we would like to have some discussion in class of what you found.