Inspection Methods for Usability Evaluation
Calvin Kalun Or, Alan H. S. Chan
Abstract
Product usability can affect product success; therefore, conducting usability inspections to inspect product design flaws and allow them to be corrected in the early stage of a product development cycle is crucial. This chapter provides an overview of three classical usability inspection methods and their applications: heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, and pluralistic walkthrough. Several established usability design principles are also presented, allowing practitioners to understand how they can be applied for inspecting and improving product usability. Moreover, two real-life case studies that provide an in-depth analysis of the inspection methods are included. Other less common usability inspection methods, including persona-based inspection, feature inspection, action analysis, and consistency inspection, are also summarized. In sum, product usability is an important aspect of user–product interaction, which can be enhanced through usability inspections.