Blog 30: Usability heuristics to improve user experience

Blog 29 highlighted UX best practices. Also called laws of UX. In addition to these laws, these 10 usability heuristics act as a checklist while improving your user experience. Heuristics mean learning by experimental methods. 

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/

1. Visibility of system status:

   a. Always keep users informed about what is going on, through timely feedback.

2. Consistency between the system and real world:

a. The design should speak the users' language.

b. Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user.

c. Follow real-world conventions.

3.     User control and freedom:

a. Users might accidentally perform actions. Hence, clearly mark the ‘exit’ button.

4.     Consistency and standards:

a. Follow platform and industry conventions.

b. Jakob's Law states that people spend a lot of time on other apps.

c. Failing to maintain consistency with other apps will increase users' cognitive load.

5.     Error prevention:

a. Best designs carefully prevent problems from occurring.

b. Prevent high-cost errors first, then little frustrations.

c. Avoid slips by providing helpful constraints and good defaults.

d. Prevent mistakes by removing memory burdens and warning your users.

6.     Recognition rather than recall:

a. Minimise the user's memory load by making elements and options visible.

b. Information (e.g. field labels or menu items) should be easily retrievable.

7.     Flexibility and efficiency of use:

a. Shortcuts, may speed up the interaction for the expert user.

b. Provide personalisation in content and functionality.

c. Allow for customisation.

8.     Aesthetic and minimalist design:

a. Interfaces should be focussed on the necessity.

b. Should not have distracting elements.

9.     Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors:

a. Use traditional error-message visuals, like bold, red text.

b. Tell what went wrong in simple language.

c. Offer users a solution, like a shortcut that can solve the error immediately.

10.  Help and documentation:

a. Provide documentation to help users understand how to complete their tasks.

b. Help and documentation content should be easy to search and focused.

c. Present documentation in context, right at the moment that the user requires it.

Note: Refer Blog 52 that talks about a popular design process i.e., Five Stage Design Thinking.

Jump to blog 100 to refer to the overall product management mind map.

I wish you the best for your journey. 😊