Heuristic Evaluation
Reviewing an interface against established usability principles.
A heuristic evaluation is an expert review of an interface against a set of usability principles (such as Nielsen's 10 heuristics) — like visibility of system status, error prevention, and consistency. It's a fast, low-cost way to catch common problems without recruiting users.
It complements, rather than replaces, usability testing: heuristics catch known issues; testing catches the ones unique to your users.
Key characteristics
- Experts review an interface against principles like Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics.
- Fast and inexpensive — no participant recruitment required.
- Best with 3–5 evaluators, who individually find different issues, then combine.
- Complements user testing; it predicts problems rather than observing them.
Example
An evaluator flags that a form gives no feedback after submission (violating "visibility of system status"), so the team adds a clear success state.
Frequently asked questions
What are Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics?
They include visibility of system status, match between system and real world, user control and freedom, consistency and standards, error prevention, recognition over recall, flexibility, minimalist design, helping users recover from errors, and help and documentation.
Should heuristic evaluation replace usability testing?
No. Heuristic evaluation is a cheap expert check that catches obvious issues early; usability testing reveals real user behaviour. Using both finds far more problems than either alone.
Related terms
Need this done, not just defined?
I design and build it — Framer sites, product UI/UX, and more.