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Heuristics    

Overview
Gallery

First Impressions
Goals
Target Audience
Visibility
Language
User in Control
Consistency
Error Prevention
Recognition
Efficiency
Aesthetics
Error Recovery
Online Help
Additional Resources

Usability is about experience - the feeling of being able to do what you want to do easily, comfortably, without mental strain. Heuristic evaluation is a quick way to determine what is wrong with a site. What follows is a lecture on the main ideas of heuristic evaluation.

We will be looking at:

• one page on why designers need to understand usability analysis,
  

• and a brief discussion of Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics recast for the web.

Goals:

• to use Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics to evaluate sites
  

• to understand the features a well designed and usable site has to have

You Will Learn:

1. why branding your site is important
   

2. how to address the concerns of single or multiple target audiences
   

3. aesthetics vs efficiency.
   

4. the techniques needed to design a user friendly and helpful site

Relevant Links
Designers Understanding Usability Analysis
Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics