A comparison of heuristics applied for studying the usability of websites

Procedia Comput Sci. 2020:176:3571-3580. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2020.09.029. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

Abstract

The study of the usability of interfaces of all types of applications, including websites, is still a very topical research area. The heuristic method is among the methods applied to evaluate the usability of interfaces. Many researchers use Nielsen's heuristics developed in 1996, while others propose their own heuristic sets. This article aims to present the results of a study which consisted in a comparison of original heuristic sets with Nielsen's heuristics. The original heuristic proposals selected for the analysis concern different interface types, but they have in common is the possibility of using them to study the usability of websites. On the basis of the literature research conducted, 9 sets of heuristics were distinguished, each of which was compared with Nielsen's heuristics. The contribution of this article consists in a tabular comparison between 9 original proposals and 10 Nielsen's heuristics.

Keywords: Heuristic evaluation; Human-Computer Interaction; User interface; Web usability; Web usability study.