<s>
A	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
is	O
a	O
usability	B-General_Concept
inspection	O
method	O
for	O
computer	O
software	O
that	O
helps	O
to	O
identify	O
usability	B-General_Concept
problems	O
in	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
specifically	O
involves	O
evaluators	O
examining	O
the	O
interface	O
and	O
judging	O
its	O
compliance	O
with	O
recognized	O
usability	B-General_Concept
principles	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
evaluation	O
methods	O
are	O
now	O
widely	O
taught	O
and	O
practiced	O
in	O
the	O
new	O
media	O
sector	O
,	O
where	O
user	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
are	O
often	O
designed	O
in	O
a	O
short	O
space	O
of	O
time	O
on	O
a	O
budget	O
that	O
may	O
restrict	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
money	O
available	O
to	O
provide	O
for	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
interface	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
goal	O
of	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluations	I-Application
is	O
to	O
identify	O
any	O
problems	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
user	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Usability	B-General_Concept
consultants	O
Rolf	O
Molich	O
and	O
Jakob	O
Nielsen	O
developed	O
this	O
method	O
on	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
several	O
years	O
of	O
experience	O
in	O
teaching	O
and	O
consulting	O
about	O
usability	B-General_Concept
engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heuristic	B-Application
evaluations	I-Application
are	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
informal	O
methods	O
of	O
usability	B-General_Concept
inspection	O
in	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
human	O
–	O
computer	O
interaction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
sets	O
of	O
usability	B-General_Concept
design	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
;	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
mutually	O
exclusive	O
and	O
cover	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
aspects	O
of	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quite	O
often	O
,	O
usability	B-General_Concept
problems	O
that	O
are	O
discovered	O
are	O
categorized	O
—	O
often	O
on	O
a	O
numeric	O
scale	O
—	O
according	O
to	O
their	O
estimated	O
impact	O
on	O
user	O
performance	O
or	O
acceptance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Often	O
the	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
is	O
conducted	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
use	B-Architecture
cases	I-Architecture
(	O
typical	O
user	O
tasks	O
)	O
,	O
to	O
provide	O
feedback	O
to	O
the	O
developers	O
on	O
the	O
extent	O
to	O
which	O
the	O
interface	O
is	O
likely	O
to	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
intended	O
users	O
 '	O
needs	O
and	O
preferences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
simplicity	O
of	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
is	O
beneficial	O
at	O
the	O
early	O
stages	O
of	O
design	O
and	O
prior	O
to	O
user-based	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
usability	B-General_Concept
inspection	O
method	O
does	O
not	O
rely	O
on	O
users	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
burdensome	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
recruiting	O
,	O
scheduling	O
issues	O
,	O
a	O
place	O
to	O
perform	O
the	O
evaluation	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
payment	O
for	O
participant	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
original	O
report	O
published	O
,	O
Nielsen	O
stated	O
that	O
four	O
experiments	O
showed	O
that	O
individual	O
evaluators	O
were	O
"	O
mostly	O
quite	O
bad	O
"	O
at	O
doing	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluations	I-Application
and	O
suggested	O
multiple	O
evaluators	O
were	O
needed	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
results	O
aggregated	O
,	O
to	O
produce	O
and	O
to	O
complete	O
an	O
acceptable	O
review	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluations	I-Application
can	O
be	O
accomplished	O
in	O
a	O
matter	O
of	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
time	O
required	O
varies	O
with	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
artifact	O
,	O
its	O
complexity	O
,	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
review	O
,	O
the	O
nature	O
of	O
the	O
usability	B-General_Concept
issues	O
that	O
arise	O
in	O
the	O
review	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
competence	O
of	O
the	O
reviewers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
prior	O
to	O
user	O
testing	O
is	O
often	O
conducted	O
to	O
identify	O
areas	O
to	O
be	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
evaluation	O
or	O
to	O
eliminate	O
perceived	O
design	O
issues	O
prior	O
to	O
user-based	O
evaluation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
can	O
uncover	O
many	O
major	O
usability	B-General_Concept
issues	O
in	O
a	O
short	O
period	O
of	O
time	O
,	O
a	O
criticism	O
that	O
is	O
often	O
leveled	O
is	O
that	O
results	O
are	O
highly	O
influenced	O
by	O
the	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
expert	O
reviewer(s )	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
are	O
conducted	O
in	O
variety	O
of	O
ways	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
scope	O
and	O
type	O
of	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
various	O
pros	O
and	O
cons	O
to	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
must	O
start	O
individually	O
before	O
aggregating	O
results	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
reduce	O
group	O
confirmation	O
bias	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jakob	O
Nielsen	O
's	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
are	O
probably	O
the	O
most-used	O
usability	B-General_Concept
heuristics	B-Algorithm
for	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
early	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
appeared	O
in	O
two	O
papers	O
by	O
Nielsen	O
and	O
Rolf	O
Molich	O
published	O
in	O
1989-1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
User	B-Application
control	I-Application
and	O
freedom:Users	O
often	O
choose	O
system	O
functions	O
by	O
mistake	O
and	O
will	O
need	O
a	O
clearly	O
marked	O
"	O
emergency	O
exit	O
"	O
to	O
leave	O
the	O
unwanted	O
state	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
go	O
through	O
an	O
extended	O
dialogue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Nielsen	O
is	O
considered	O
the	O
expert	O
and	O
field	O
leader	O
in	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
,	O
Jill	O
Gerhardt-Powals	O
developed	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
cognitive	O
engineering	O
principles	O
for	O
enhancing	O
human-computer	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
,	O
or	O
principles	O
,	O
are	O
similar	O
to	O
Nielsen	O
's	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
but	O
take	O
a	O
more	O
holistic	O
approach	O
to	O
evaluation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Practice	O
judicious	O
redundancy:Principle	O
10	O
was	O
devised	O
by	O
the	O
first	O
two	O
authors	O
to	O
resolve	O
the	O
possible	O
conflict	O
between	O
Principles	O
6	O
and	O
8	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
be	O
consistent	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
sometimes	O
necessary	O
to	O
include	O
more	O
information	O
than	O
may	O
be	O
needed	O
at	O
a	O
given	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ben	O
Shneiderman	O
's	O
book	O
was	O
published	O
a	O
few	O
years	O
prior	O
to	O
Nielsen	O
,	O
Designing	O
the	O
User	B-Application
Interface	I-Application
:	O
Strategies	O
for	O
Effective	O
Human-Computer	O
Interaction	O
(	O
1986	O
)	O
covered	O
his	O
popular	O
list	O
of	O
the	O
,	O
"	O
Eight	O
Golden	O
Rules	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
Susan	O
Weinschenk	O
and	O
Dean	O
Barker	O
created	O
a	O
categorization	O
of	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
and	O
guidelines	O
used	O
by	O
several	O
major	O
providers	O
into	O
the	O
following	O
twenty	O
types	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
User	B-Application
Control	I-Application
:	O
The	O
interface	O
will	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
perceive	O
that	O
they	O
are	O
in	O
control	O
and	O
will	O
allow	O
appropriate	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modal	O
Integrity	O
:	O
The	O
interface	O
will	O
fit	O
individual	O
tasks	O
within	O
whatever	O
modality	B-General_Concept
is	O
being	O
used	O
:	O
auditory	O
,	O
visual	O
,	O
or	O
motor/kinesthetic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
an	O
application	O
with	O
a	O
specific	O
domain	O
and	O
culture	O
,	O
the	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
mentioned	O
above	O
do	O
not	O
identify	O
the	O
potential	O
usability	B-General_Concept
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
limitations	O
of	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
occur	O
because	O
these	O
heuristics	B-Algorithm
are	O
incapable	O
of	O
considering	O
the	O
domain	O
and	O
culture-specific	O
features	O
of	O
an	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
results	O
in	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
domain-specific	O
or	O
culture-specific	O
heuristic	B-Application
evaluation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
