No guts, no glory

How usability heuristics can give you the guts to improve your interaction design

This article is day 16 of a 31 day series. A mash-up of the Inktober 2022 prompt list and UX terminology. Read more about the challenge here.

Day 16 | Inktober prompt: Fowl | UX Term: Usability Heuristics

What are usability heuristics?

I love the Wikipedia definition for heuristics

A heuristic, or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal or approximation.

Essentially, they are guiding principles derived from previous experiences with similar problems. A “rule of thumb” so to speak. Like getting advice from your parents or an older sibling. The difference is, that these principles won’t shake their head when you don’t listen. But your users might.

Usability heuristics in particular focus on interaction design. The most common that you hear talked about in UX are Jakob’s Ten Usability Heuristics.

I will not be listing them all here, and I’ll tell you why. Doing so, would be like taxidermy. You’d see the animal and all of it’s features, but you’d be missing all the guts. Instead, we’ll talk about their importance to UX. And you can check them out in their natural environment here.

Why is it important to UX?

At the risk of sounding redundant, user experience design is about improving user experience with design. Usability heuristics allow us to make informed decisions that improve the likelihood of those design decisions landing. They essentially anticipate the expectations of users so that you can create with half the job already done for you. Easier for you, easier for your user.

UX is less about the pretty and more about the nitty gritty. And as we learned from our piece about cognitive biases, if it rhymes, it must be true.

How do you use Usability Heuristics in your work?

The key thing, is first knowing them. Your homework here is to actually read about the specifics of what they are. Learn them, love them. (Or print out the handy summary sheet that is available at the end of the article linked above.) That’s what I did, and it’s hanging on my wall to this day. I also printed out the full posters and have document frames waiting on my Amazon list. One day…

Then you have to reference them as you make decisions about your design. What good is it to have that information and not use it?

And then you test. I feel like I should go back to the definition above and add “You’ve been warned” to the end. Even an informed assumption is still an assumption. We use heuristics for the same reason we don’t reinvent the wheel every time we need one. But they do not and should not replace the process of confirming our assumptions and being open to taking user feedback.

Takeaway

Usability heuristics are a great tool. However, they are not a solution to all of your interaction design problems. They can get you moving quickly and trying things out, but don’t forget to experiment and explore new possibilities. That is how we grow.