Heuristic Principles Research Paper 2022

Heuristic Principles
Contents
Executive Summary................................................................................................... 2
Introduction................................................................................................................ 2
Results / Visualizations.............................................................................................. 3
Conclusion................................................................................................................ 27
Appendix.................................................................................................................. 27
Executive Summary
1

Heuristic Principles
The 10 heuristic principles given by Jakob Nielsen’s ( called Usability Heuristics ) are described
here. The heuristic evaluation helps to identify the problems associated with the user interface in
a computer software. The 10 principles are – the system’s status visibility, matching between the
system and real world, the freedom as well as control of the user, preventing errors, recovery
from errors for user, standards and consistency, flexible and efficient use, recognition, a minimal
design and proper documentation and help section. The 2 sites considered here for the study are
– ebay.com and etsy.com. These are 2 online shopping sites. The product to be bought is a
Television Set. A comparison of both the sites has been done here. The comparison is made on
the basis of the 10 principles mentioned. When a user registers on the site and then buys a
particular product, then all the aspects related to the 10 principles are studied. All the points are
noted in the form of images and observations made critically. This helps to make a detailed
comparison on the performance of both the sites. A comparison can be made based on the user
experience in following the various steps.
Introduction
A heuristic evaluation is performed on two different software/apps and a formal report is written
about the findings.
Method
Firstly, the Heuristic evaluation checklist is reviewed and the 10 questions are studied to evaluate
a website. The scenario for the test is reviewed. A technology (computer or app) is chosen and 2
types of software are evaluated with that technology. The websites used are Etsy.com and
Ebay.com. We create a new user and login for each website, receive a test email and search for a
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Heuristic Principles
large item like TV at the lowest price. The item must be from a location in/near Huntsville. The
picture quality and quantity must be reviewed. The item is added to the cart and total cost is
reviewed and the order planned is confirmed.
Experimental Design/Procedure
The review has been noted carefully in the table provided in the Appendix. The appendix
consists of various sections which are closely related to the 10 principles mentioned. These
principles are studied based on the requirement fulfilled by the site. It gives a pint wise study of
various parameters related to study of the performance of the site.
Results / Visualizations
Here, the results are shown for various steps of the process involved in buying a TV
set from 2 different sites.
Ebay
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Heuristic Principles
Figure 1
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Heuristic Principles
Figure 2
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Heuristic Principles
Figure 3
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