Heuristic evaluation definition

Question

I'm having an issue within my company. We are building a UX playbook within the guild to keep consistency. We are dealing right now with heuristic evaluation. My leader wants do analyse only the 10 heuristics, but I also think it is important to consider other topics such as accessibility, the taskflow itself, Cognitive bias, UX Writing and so on.

Question is: Can we include those "plus topics" within the heuristic evaluation? Or this would be a different method? Any tips?

Answer 1

UX playbooks are great but they should also be flexible - Over time you will learn new things that require you to change the way you research, evaluate, and design.

Your playbook needs to allow for change - It should never be set in stone - This of it as a toolbox: Every now and then you'll find that you don't have the right tool for a particular job so you'll find the right tool and add it to the toolbox. Similarly, there will be times when the tools you have are actually stopping you from doing a job the right way so you'll need to get rid of them.

Having a playbook is better than having no playbook.

My approach would be to convince your leader of the necessity to keep re-evaluating the playbook on a specific cadence (say once every six months) to see what's working and what's not. Then just fill this first iteration with whatever is needed to get it up and running.

If in six months' time, there is a demonstrable need for considerations about accessibility, task flow, Cognitive bias, UX Writing and so on, then you can start to add those things based on how important they are to your current needs.

BTW: I personally believe that good accessibility provision IS the foundation of good UX.

Answer 2

I think that the main problem that you and your leader have is a different vision of the structure of the playbook and what needs to be added to it. Below I have made a small example of what it might look like. You can update it according to your vision and offer it as a draft to your manager.

1. Introduction

• Project overview
• Purpose of the playbook
• Target audience

2. Design Principles

• Core design principles that guide the project
• Examples of how they are applied in the project
• Discussion of the rationale behind each principle

3. User Research and Analysis

• Overview of user research methods used in the project
• Personas and user scenarios
• Insights and findings from user research

4. Information Architecture and Navigation

• Description of the site or app architecture
• Navigation patterns
• Sitemap and/or wireframes

5. Visual Design

• Color palette
• Typography
• Iconography
• Imagery
• Branding guidelines

6. Interaction Design

• Design patterns
• Interactivity and animations
• Microinteractions

7. User flows

• Accessibility and Inclusivity
• Guidelines for designing for accessibility and inclusivity
• Best practices for creating accessible and inclusive design

8. UX Writing

• Content style and standards

9. Prototyping and Testing

• Prototyping tools and methods used
• Description of the testing process
• Discussion of test results and findings

10. Handoff and Collaboration

• Guidelines for handoff to development team
• Collaboration with stakeholders
• Communication standards