What is an Expert Heuristic Evaluation?

An Expert Heuristic Evaluation, or expert review, is a method of assessing the ease-of-use inherent in a product or service. The objective of a heuristic evaluation is to 1) define and document usability and design issues based on established human factors principles, 2) identify pain points in the design, and 3) any safety risks and concerns to the intended user. Our evaluations not only identify what is wrong, but tell you how to iterate and improve your product with a detailed set of recommendations. In an Expert Heuristic Evaluation usability engineering professionals evaluate a product or interface against a large set of usability and design heuristics or human-computer interface rules and principles. In addition, this often includes conducting contextual inquiry interviews with real customers in order to understand typical usability issues that users encounter.

Our Role & Expertise

At IAA typically, four to six of our human factors engineers will evaluate and perform and Expert Heuristic Evaluation on a client’s product. While each specific project contract determines exactly what the IAA deliverable will be, most often clients receive a single, comprehensive report. Included are identified issues at both a global (across the entire product or service) and local (specific and/or isolated) level. We also will provide solutions and design recommendations, all presented in a format that makes correctly actioning each item a straightforward process.

Project Assistance

Please contact us if you would like further information on conducting an expert heuristic evaluation, or if you wish to discuss any other of our consulting services.