Heuristic Evaluation for Software Visualisation
Obtaining the Evaluation Materials
Overview
Heuristic Evaluation (Nielsen and Molich, 1990; Nielsen, 1994)
is a method of usability evaluation where an analyst finds usability
problems by checking the user interface against a set of supplied
heuristics or principles.
Three new heuristics for software visualisations have been added to the set
described in (Nielsen, 1994). A set of evaluation materials for these
heuristics are presented, in particular:
A structured description of Heuristic Evaluation to ease learning and use
A self assessed test to allow analysts to assess their understanding of
Heuristic Evaluation
A checklist of heuristics for use in the analysis
Problem record sheets to record usability problems during analysis.
Currently, these only record the usability problem predicted. In future,
these could be modified to include recommended solutions to these problems
(Jeffries, 1994)
A questionnaire to fill in after the analysis
Conditions of Use
We welcome collaborators in our research into analytic evaluation methods.
These materials can be used for Research and Development subject to the
following conditions:
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You must E-mail Darryn Lavery
(darryn@dcs.gla.ac.uk) informing him of the use and purpose of use of these
materials.
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You will inform Darryn of any results or experiences
from using the materials by filling in the supplied questionnaire.
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All acknowledgements and copyright messages must
remain on the materials.
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The materials must not be copied by a third party. Please direct them to
http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/asp/materials/,
where they can download the latest version of these materials.
Accessing the Materials
You can access the evaluation materials in the following ways:
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HTML
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Use HTML only to view the materials on-line. Use RTF or postscript
for a permanent hard copy.
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Postscript
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Use the postscript version of the materials if you are using a UNIX/X based
browser.
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RTF
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Use RTF if you are using a MAC or Windows based browser.
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PDF
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Use PDF if you have the Adobe Acrobat viewer. A free copy can be obtained from
Adobe.
References
Jeffries, R. (1994). "Usability Problem Reports:
Helping evaluators communicate effectively with developers",
In Nielsen, J. and Mack, R. L. (Eds.),
Usability Inspection Methods. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Nielsen, J. (1994). "Heuristic Evaluation",
In Nielsen, J. and Mack, R. L. (Eds.), Usability Inspection Methods.
John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 25-62.
Nielsen, J. and Molich, R. (1990).
"Heuristic Evaluation of User Interfaces", In
Proceedings of ACM CHI 90 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems, pp. 249-256.
Created 2-4-96
Last updated 12-6-97
Darryn Lavery