Heuristic Evaluation to enhance website user interface design usability

Heuristic evaluation intends exploring the issues pertaining to usability in the design of a web site. Based on evaluation principles generally called “heuristics”, it is a fast, economic and easy evaluation method of user interface design. In this method the problems of user interface design usability and architecture are identified and then compared with the standard usability principles for their compliance. It is a diagnostic approach with the purpose of enhancing the quality of engineering the interface design.

The functioning of heuristic analysis differs from the conventional signature based analysis in the sense that it emulates a virtual system imitating the normal computer set up. For instance, at testing level of an antivirus program, the suspicious or malicious files are run on emulated ‘virtual system’ totally detached from the computer system of the user. Malignancies, if any, do not in any way endanger or affect the user’s computer system. While potentially dangerous actions are automatically blocked by the antivirus program at virtual system level, legitimate actions seek the authorization of the user for execution. This emulative pattern used in the heuristic evaluation with a cheapest dedicated server offers protection to the user system while evaluating several aspects of the program.

Key elements of Heuristic Analysis

Usability evaluation that integrates heuristic evaluation methods with the ‘end user think-aloud protocols’ using human computer interface is found to be very effective. The process concentrates on identifying obvious interface design deficiencies and hindrances in task performance providing thorough and effective evaluation results. Heuristic evaluation principles recognize several complexities and problems associated with the usability of a product and disclose them in interactive evaluation processes. Consequently, better predictability and enhanced productivity are projected with minimal user errors. This inspection method of user interface design usability based on the criteria of system usability discovers heuristic violations and the areas where the heuristic principles are not satisfied. Then the requirements, feelings, thought processes and performances of the user are expressed aloud in the cognitive process. The focus is ever on the practical task performance usability problems. Apart from heuristic evaluation and think-aloud protocols, several other perspectives like ‘cognitive walk through’ and ‘cognitive task analysis’ are also available to address the usability problems connected to technology.

With the help of human computer interface techniques, information pertaining to features and functionality, user interface and user –system interactions and processes is probed and classified for analysis. This takes us to the realms of web sites, their design and development, their deficiencies and other issues, a discussion of which enable us to create more effective, error free, user friendly web ambiance.

General interface design and architecture issues

General interface design and architecture issues like navigation system, interface problems hindering task accomplishment, need a mentioning here. The problem areas that possibly violate heuristic evaluation principles include “user control and freedom”, “error prevention”, “recognition rather than recall”, “consistency and standards” and “flexibility and efficiency”. In the general lay out flaws could occur in creating “visibility of system status” and “aesthetic and minimal design”. At times a gross mismatch between the system and the real world, their expectations and system functions lead to extensive inconvenience in performing the task.

Adequate Help

Another major usability problem is the inadequacy or the absence of the help page. Ideal system should do away with any documentation or help in the sense that the issues should be anticipated and addressed without any need of help at all. But a help desk may be required by a novice web browser. Documentation and help should be precise and to the point concentrating on the possible user problems. It must contain information that can be searched easily with concrete steps of guidance.

Providing contextual help is another user interface design usability best practice. It should enable the user to invoke help from any page without leaving the page that he is at. Display of hovering help tips with answers to common queries and suitable instructions embedded with audio and video tutorial features to guide the user can showcase the distinct aspects of the design of the web page. This is why heuristic evaluation is of such importance.

Error messages without Jargons

Elaborate error messages in complex codes and jargon defeat the very purpose of effectively interacting with the user and instructing the user towards corrections, if any. The problem is to be prominently focused in simple and plain language in error messages and positive solutions must be suggested.

Comprehensive usability evaluation results should include and capture various usability perspectives like a broad approach to general usability interface problems and specific issues regarding obstacles in task performance. The interface features ultimately are based on the “ease of use” perspective of the designer rather than on “usefulness” perspective of the end user. A judicious fusion of these twin perspectives would be ideal with a thrust on multi- level analysis to enhance the efficacy of the human centered system with a focus on user, function, task and representation.

Easy navigation features

Another important aspect studied by heuristic evaluation is the easy navigation feature. Navigation features are largely taken for granted by the web page builders. Most of the users are not experts and are annoyed at the complex and invisible patterns of navigation displayed or embedded on the page. It is unfair to expect users to visualize detailed mental maps and navigate from that invisible environment. The user after initial navigation must be made comfortable with minimum of navigation to invoke the application from the page he is in. The illusion of work brought to him must be created rather than his groping and negotiating the annoying navigation. The visual navigation is always a soothing factor to the novice user lost in the complex menu-button maze. The inevitability of the inherent invisibleness of the web’s navigation should be severely conditioned since the overriding factor should be the user’s need and not what the architects provide us according to their comfort. The visual lay out must satisfy the utilitarian and aesthetic requirement of the user. To enhance the relative visibility of relevant information, irrelevant and obsolete bits of information should be avoided in dialogue.

Dynamic Content

A web page should pulsate with life and never be static with just a functional concept of several pages posted on a site map. Diagnostic interactions with the users by way of random testing enable the areas where the user is frustrated. User responses and requirements are to be respected and considered prime principles to be incorporated where ever possible in the design of a cherished web page. The actual process of web browsing should be a rewarding experience and not a tedious task to the user. Navigation features provided by the browsers should help users explore new information spaces. He should be aware of where he has been and where he can go and must be enabled to move between pages with ease.

Traffic Analysis

The ultimate test of any good web site is its user interface design usability and is judged on the basis of the number of visitors to the page. To create an effective web page the psychology and attitude of the viewer should be considered primarily. Heuristic evaluation discloses the patterns in which users really read the web page. Largely it is a cursory glance and quick scan and never word-by-word reading. If web pages cannot adhere to using a sort of scannable text, the page would be obsolete in no time. There are innumerable ploys available to achieve this purpose. Variations in color and font, highlighting key words, bulleting the lists, building paragraphs with just one idea in it are some techniques to arrest the attention of the user. Inverted pyramid style with conclusion in the opening sentence also captures the imagination of the web users. The word count is reduced by half in the process and the visibility of the chief factors in the page is enormously enhanced.

Addressing usability issues

User interface design usability of a page is directly proportionate to its credibility for user definitions. Providing hypertext links indicating authenticity of the sources, high quality graphics, statistical values and good writing endear the site to the user towards an implicit trust. Credibility suffers when the web designers resort to blatant exaggerations, subjective or promotional style of writing. The busy web users see through the ulterior motives and start detesting such sites.

User interface design usability problems of a web page fall into two broad categories of site-level usability and page-level usability. Perspectives pertaining to general lay out, home page, standard icons, architecture of information, linking strategies and search and navigation are considered at site level. Page-level usability issues include readability, individual pages, visibility, headlines, links, error messages, dialogues, and individual graphics.

An output of maximum work demanding minimum information from the user is the scale for effective performance of an application. In an interactive design of the web page the needs of the user are to be anticipated and all the information and tools must be at the disposal of the user rather than the user searching for them and evoking. Providing the user distinguishable land marks and well-marked roads for smooth navigation is what a web designer owes to his users. Multi-threading and multitasking allows the user to continue his work while the computation is taking place in the background. Assistance in areas of protecting users’ work must be ensured against the vagaries of transmission of internet or errors owing to ignorance on the part of the users.

Intellectual and imaginative faculties of the users can be sometimes satisfied by an intelligent and apt use of a metaphor that evokes a series of linked pictures. For instance the process of copying the files in CD Rom is called “burning” and one software that does the job is called “Nero” because the sound of “Rom” resembles “Rome” and triggers a series of snap shots including the famous emperor ’Nero’ playing on violin when Rome was burning. This imaginative rendering of names include “PC-cillin” and “Dr. Solomon” for antivirus programs. While suchluxuries are allowed, ruthless elimination of non helping applications is imperative.

Enhance the user experience with heuristic evaluation

Hence the current focus is on this most important but often neglected aspect in the design and development of a web site, called usability. A visitor transforming into a customer of the site depends on the user interface design usability. Perception of the psychology of potential end user will always enhance and enrich the quality in terms of effective usability of the web site. Since the dissatisfied users seldom visit the site again to check if any improvements are incorporated, its development in the right direction should ideally include the customer even from the designing stage. The progressive web designers will do well to realize this prominent principle of perceiving the pulse of the prospective end user in developing a good web site with the help of heuristic evaluation.