What is an Expert Review?
Here at FeedbackGuru.com, our design experts thoroughly inspect and review designs to identify possible usability and other design related issues. Our experts also propose practical solutions to help enhance website’s User Experience.
An expert review aims to quickly identify the UX problems
An expert review or website audit is a method of inspection designed to identify usability issues within an online product or service. The review is conducted by a small group of usability experts (between 1 and 4) who analyze the product or service in order to identify potential usability problems. This usability review by experts is one of the few methods that do not involve any direct contact with end users within the user-centered design process.
Why the formal approach may be too stiff
The mainstream literature on this method often refers to the more formal Heuristic Evaluation method, which refers to experts reviewing a graphical user interface for adherence to common guidelines (or heuristics) for usability.
While the heuristic assessment is a common method used in more formal or academic circles, it may be argued that this method is too rigid and often fails to meet most clients ‘ needs. Assessing an interface by simply checking boxes to determine whether or not it meets the so-called usability guidelines does not place sufficient value on the context of use or the system ‘s objectives. The evaluation is based solely on usability guidelines, which are often years old, and the result of research on graphical user interfaces, which may be completely different from the one reviewed.
Many guidelines are well-meaning, but if adhered to by the letter, they can often lead to poor usability decisions because the designer does not take their specific users into account, the context in which they will use the system, and the product or service goals. It can be misleading to simply follow guidelines and give a false sense of security that an interface can be used when it is not. For this reason, the following method of flexible usability review by experts is best suited to meet customer and business needs.
A particular method
This expert analysis approach pays careful attention to the context, the essence of the program being evaluated and the company objectives. The approach can be used more flexibly on screen-based applications as well as on physical goods and services, and seeks to better consider consumer expectations rather than boiling them down to a checklist.
Start thinking about the end user
First, this method requires a comprehension of who the system users are and what the business goals are, so the initial brief is crucial. The expert develops end-user information into user profiles or individuals (if not already provided) and works with the customer to narrow people into one or two priority groups. Should priority customer will then be looked at in more detail when using the product or service to outline their usual priorities and scenarios. Once this is completed, the usability analysis by experts can begin.
Seek to always put yourself in user’s shoes
In each of the priority users, the expert tries for the product or service in question to achieve the objectives of the priority users. By putting themselves in the future user’s shoes, the expert will analyze the interface in context and make suggestions that will help the consumer accomplish their business goals and the product owner better.
The approach requires an professional to perform the analysis and have the expertise (of performing usability tests and user research) and identify the possible pitfalls in the user journey to the full. The expert’s most important skill is to remove his or her own personal perspective from the review to provide an objective analysis.
The advantages
Businesses can get quick, low-cost, independent feedback at almost any stage of their product or service life-cycle development. This is supported by detailed feedback on each step of a typical user journey along with a more strategic perspective on how the product or service may need to focus on the needs of the customer in order to really fulfill their business strategy.
In Conclusion
In many modern projects, the more traditional heuristic usability assessment can be inflexible, since it relies solely on the experts to analyze the interface for adherence to usability guidelines. While usability guidelines can be extremely useful in helping guide decisions, they may also be dangerous to follow without taking the full context of use into consideration. An alternative method which takes into account the full user journey, and the product or service goals, is better suited to the business needs of today.
Although the expert usability review does not offer the level of confidence or depth that watching real users does, providing independent advice on a product or service is an extremely useful tool, quickly and easily. As this method is easy to execute it requires less budget than a usability test and can thus be used several times over a life cycle of a project.
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