{"id":720559,"date":"2021-01-26T09:38:21","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T17:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=720559"},"modified":"2021-01-28T13:26:14","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T21:26:14","slug":"how-to-turn-your-heuristics-evaluation-into-a-party","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/articles\/how-to-turn-your-heuristics-evaluation-into-a-party\/","title":{"rendered":"How to turn your heuristics evaluation into a party"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Veronika Sipeeva (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"person<\/p>\n

Photo credit: iStock<\/p>\n

Researchers have access to\u00a0<\/span>a great number<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span>UX<\/span>\u00a0evaluation\u00a0<\/span>method<\/span>s<\/span>, ye<\/span>t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>testing a design\u00a0<\/span>with<\/span>\u00a05-6 users seems to be the most common response to research requests in small and large organizations. However, not all designs or prototypes are ready\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>or deserve to be put in front of our customers. In fact, many problems with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>experience<\/span>\u00a0can be uncovered by running a\u00a0<\/span>heuristic<\/span>\u00a0evaluation or conducting an experience review, as has been\u00a0<\/span>covered<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in this\u00a0<\/span>previous<\/span>\u00a0blog post<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

E<\/span>valuating a design against a chosen set of heuristics often help<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0scope and shape the focus of\u00a0<\/span>a researcher\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>next steps. And in some cases, a \u201cheuristic-evaluation-first” approach <\/span>yields\u00a0<\/span>feedback\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>convince<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>teams to re-work the designs before conducting studies with customers.\u00a0<\/span>But\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>hile<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>heuristic<\/span>\u00a0evaluations\u00a0<\/span>are less expensive<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>they\u2019re<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>typically\u00a0<\/span>not as exciting to run as usability studies or interviews, and they\u00a0<\/span>don\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0produce convincing videos for stakeholders.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how\u00a0<\/span>can we raise the stakes for\u00a0<\/span>heuristic<\/span>\u00a0evaluations<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0when should we?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"envelopeBringing a remote team together\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The idea came when I was asked to test a set of customer journeys. Initially, I wanted to approach this\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0running<\/span>\u00a0a quick\u00a0heuristic\u00a0evaluation before conducting a usability study. But with end-to-end journeys each spanning a multitude of pages, it would have been impractical for one person to tackle.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, I decided to bring in in-house evaluators. At that time,\u00a0<\/span>my team members and I were<\/span>\u00a0all working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/span>Had<\/span>\u00a0we been<\/span>\u00a0in the office, we could book a conference room, bring in some lunch, and go over the\u00a0<\/span>UI<\/span>\u00a0Tenets and Traps cards together. But with everyone so busy and immersed in their work,\u00a0<\/span>I <\/span>needed to find a way to entice people to spend time on a\u00a0generally not-so-fun\u00a0activity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"partyIt\u2019s\u00a0time for a\u00a0heuristic\u00a0evaluation\u00a0party<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I <\/span>marketed the effort as a party and posted a call to sign up on our Teams channels, adding a fun gif to bring attention and lighten this\u00a0<\/span>task.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of inviting only expert evaluators, I <\/span>extended the invitation to everyone interested in helping and learning about this technique. I <\/span>used this as an opportunity to bring people together and help them meet someone new or someone they\u00a0<\/span>had\u00a0<\/span>never worked with before. It was a perfect way to\u00a0<\/span>get<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>our<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>colleagues\u00a0<\/span>familiar<\/span>\u00a0with this method, to grow the next generation of evaluators, and potentially to\u00a0offload\u00a0myself from this kind of research in the future.\u00a0<\/span>For more about this, see<\/span>\u00a0our prior blog post<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>Give your research skills away: Why coaching product teams won\u2019t put you out of a job.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

As a result, a multi-disciplinary team of researchers,\u00a0UX\u00a0writers, and designers joined our parties.\u00a0<\/span>To<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>maintain\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>party theme<\/span>, I <\/span>assigned my colleagues to groups based on musical instruments e.g., guitar, piano, etc. I <\/span>paired people who were familiar with heuristics and people who were using them for the first time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from the agenda, each party opened with a customer quote and a video recording from one of the relevant studies. Then I <\/span>introduced the method, heuristics, or\u00a0rather\u00a0<\/span>UI\u00a0and UX tenets and traps<\/span>, and our reasons for choosing them. I also had a demo-practice together before each pair left to an assigned Teams room to work on a specific part of the journey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each party guest had a set of heuristics to focus on and a reference card with questions to guide them through. The journeys we evaluated were put together in PowerPoint, so we used this medium for capturing issues. When someone\u00a0<\/span>found<\/span>\u00a0a problem, they would just add a shape or an icon to\u00a0indicate\u00a0the area of the problem on a page and attach a comment with an explanation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When this effort was completed,\u00a0<\/span>we had<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>held six\u00a0<\/span>one-hour\u00a0<\/span>parties<\/span>\u00a0with a total of twenty-seven participants. In that time, we covered a tremendous amount.\u00a0<\/span>We<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>knew that we would get a lot done, but\u00a0<\/span>we<\/span>\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0anticipate\u00a0it being this powerful at the outset.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"partyWhen\u00a0to use\u00a0heuristic\u00a0evaluation parties<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As with traditional\u00a0heuristic\u00a0evaluation,\u00a0<\/span>your main goal is still to uncover potential problems with a design.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Similarly,\u00a0<\/span>you\u00a0<\/span>may not<\/span>\u00a0have access to\u00a0fast\u00a0unmoderated studies or\u00a0recruitment\u00a0budget<\/span>. And finally, you notice that\u00a0at a glance<\/span>\u00a0the design\u00a0<\/span>violates the best\u00a0practices\u00a0and you expect\u00a0<\/span>a usability study\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0uncover any\u00a0new information<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there are some\u00a0additional\u00a0<\/span>reasons for choosing a party format<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n