Heuristic Evaluation
The evaluation was performed using the heuristic evaluation method by Jakob Nielsen.
Heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method for finding the usability problems in a user interface
design so that they can be attended to as part of an iterative design process. Heuristic evaluation involves
having a small set of evaluators examine the interface and judge its compliance with recognized usability
principles (the "heuristics").
For this project, ten usability heuristics were used, focusing on the core functionalities of Voila:
screen capture and screen cast. The goal of this evaluation was to find the usability problems in the application
through the application of these ten general principles:
1. Visibility of system status
2. Match between system and the real world
3. User control and freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
10.Help and documentation
The usability problems found out were categorized according to the principles themselves. The main problems
can be broadly stated as:
- Proper instructions or messages are not displayed when a tool is selected or a task is done
- Labelling is incorrect and confusing
- Customization is a difficult process
- Redundant and confusing options for the same tasks
- Use of shortkeys for certain actions which user has to remember
- Tedious way to increase or decrease pixel sizes
- Aesthetically not very attractive
Page 9