In the field of UX design, both card sorting and tree testing are research methods that help designers to sort and categorize the content that will be contained within a website or app. Card sorting is a great place to start when determining the information architecture of a design, and tree testing is a good way to validate or iterate on assumptions about how users will categorize and group content. Both methods gather information directly from the foremost experts on categorizing a product’s content, the users.

Card Sort

Traditionally a card sort consisted of writing concepts, topics or products down on index cards, and recruiting participants to sort the cards into categories that made sense to them. Ideally you would have 15 participants, and no more than 40 cards. These days most card sorts are conducted virtually via software like Optimal Workshop. This saves time and money.

Closed

In a closed card sort, participants group cards based on predetermined labels. This gives the participants less freedom and flexibility to categorize things in a way that makes sense to them, but it is more likely to reveal patterns and trends in all the information gathered.

Open

An open card sort allows for participants to group cards into labels of their own creation, or without labels at all. This method is less likely to reveal trends or consistent patterns among the different participants, but it can reveal insights into individual users’ thought processes. This method is best used in the more exploratory phase of a project.

Hybrid

To get the best of both worlds, you can conduct a hybrid card sort. This means providing some categories for participants to sort cards into, but allowing them to also create and label their own categories if they feel a specific card doesn’t fit those given.

Tree Testing

In my mind, tree testing is like the inverse of card sorting. Starting with an existing website, a tree test can validate the information architecture or illuminate where the user is getting lost when looking for specific information.

For this test, done virtually, you take the hierarchy of the information contained on a website and create something similar to a site map. Then participants are given a scenario and test the information architecture of the site by trying to locate specific information. Based on the results of the test you can determine whether your labels and categories make sense to users, and iterate on the system as needed.

My UX toolkit: Card sorting and tree testing was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Personas

Oftentimes products can get lost in trying to cater to all users, trying to cast a wide net. This is oftentimes a mistake, as watering down a product to suit all users can alienate the target user. Creating a user persona, a fictional user of your product that is specific, not generic, is a way to avoid this pitfall.

Personas are a popular UX tool that inspire empathy and encourage a team to always keep the user in mind when working on a project. When working on a UX project it is possible to have a lot of different players giving their input into the final product. CEOs, managers, researchers, designers, developers. One person that may not get a voice at the table is the user. Creating a persona is a way to humanize the user, understand their goals and pain points, and see their point of view. It is also a way to communicate with the team and advocate for user centered design decisions.

Personas are best made during the research synthesis phase, after research on the real life users has been gathered. You can then take the demographics of your target user, and insights you have made into their habits and behavior with the product, and build your persona from there. Generally a single persona will be sufficient to inspire designer empathy, but certain projects call for 2 or more.

Generally a persona will have a few key elements. It is a good idea to include a photo of this fictional person, to make them feel more real. You will also want to include some stats like age, location, profession, and household members. To give context to their problem, you also will want to create a persona specific problem statement, and a scenario giving context for their experience with the product.

Also important to include are

Goals: What does the user want to accomplish with the product?

Needs: What does the user need to accomplish said goal?

Pain Points: What is frustrating or getting in the way of the user accomplishing their goal?

You can also include things like habits, quotes, and any product specific information necessary.

As a UX Designer I genuinely enjoy creating user personas. It is a chance to zero in on a target user, build their story and understand their journey with the product. It is also one of the ultimate empathy tools. Personas usually come in the form of a stylized infographic, where they are easy to digest and a great communication tool for other stakeholders on the team.

My UX Toolkit: Personas was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Storyboarding

What is a storyboard?

Those who are familiar with the film and television industry may be aware of storyboards and how they are used. storyboard is a set of sequential images that visually block out the main events of a story. They can vary in fidelity, being low or high on details, either hand drawn sketches, graphic illustrations or photos. When filming a movie, storyboards are usually used as a communication tool for the team after the script has been written but before the sets have been built.

How does this fit into the world of user experience design?

Just as storyboards are used as a visual form of communication in movie making, they are also used to communicate ideas in the UX process. Using a visual medium can foster a deeper understanding, reveal more context and create more empathy for those involved with the project. This comes in handy especially when presenting to a cross functional team, with members like stakeholders and developers that may not be involved in every step of the UX process.

Storyboards can be used to show how a user interacts with a product, or where the pain points and roadblocks are. Generally storyboards are used retrospectively, showing how users already behave. Prospectively a storyboard can be used to help visualize and predict how a user might interact with the changes being implemented in a given process.

One specific case where storyboards come in handy is when presenting the outcome of usability testing. You can use storyboards to create a visually compelling narrative of how the tests went and to support the results. Photos or video stills from the test can be used as the visuals, showcasing specific interactions that need to be addressed in the design.

There are three components to a storyboard. The scenario will usually include a persona or main user, and a short description of the story. This gives context that is helpful in understanding the storyboard. The visuals can be sketches, high fidelity illustrations, or photos. Finally captions can be added to describe the user’s thought process or actions.

Storyboards are a compelling visual tool that help get everyone on the team on the same page. They are one of many ways UX designers can support and justify their design decisions, and create a narrative that inspires empathy and understanding for the user.

My UX toolkit: Storyboards was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Usability Testing

Usability testing is an observational research methodology where a UX professional asks a participant to perform a specific task on a user interface. It is often used at the end of a project cycle to uncover problems or validate designs before they are rolled out to the public. It can also be used as a new project is starting, to reveal areas of opportunity within an existing design.

Usability tests make great bookends to a UX process, where iteration means that the end of one cycle is the beginning of another. As a research method, usability tests can return both Quantitative and Qualitative information.

Quantitative information can be metrics like the time to accomplish a task, task success, and number of errors. Within the test plan there should be built in benchmarks of success,like minimums for time or errors for the test to be considered successful.

Qualitative information can be insights into how a user interacts with the product and why. If they go astray in trying to achieve a specific task, what line of thought led them in that specific direction. At times these tests may unveil that users are interacting with the product in totally unexpected ways.

Test Plan

You will most likely be evaluating a new feature or design, and can build the test plan around that function. You will want to decide which task you are testing and create a scenario to give context to the test participants. You will also need to decide which metrics you want to evaluate and any qualitative information you want to focus on. It can be helpful to create a script or conversation outline to help guide the flow of the test if it is being moderated.

Participants

First you must decide the number of participants and the criteria they must meet to be useful for the study. Generally for a test group 5–10 participants is considered best practice. More participants than that have a swiftly diminishing return on problems found within the product.

Criteria will be based on the product and task being tested. If you are testing a takeout delivery service app like postmates, you may want to focus on participants that already regularly use such apps. However if you are focused on attracting new users you may want to seek out participants that don’t have familiarity with delivery service apps.

Moderation

Moderated usability tests are more expensive and time consuming to conduct. However they produce a great deal more qualitative information than tests that take place without a moderator present. With someone conducting the test, they can prompt users to elaborate on their thinking as they perform the given task and ask insightful pointed follow up questions once the task is accomplished.

An Unmoderated usability test is a faster, less expensive way to quickly evaluate how users are interacting with a product. While you can ask participants to share their thoughts aloud as they accomplish the given task and follow up with comments and concerns you cannot ask any clarifying questions or dig for deeper context.

One of the main pros to this technique is that participants may feel less “put on the spot” or tense when there is no moderator present. However they will know they are being recorded in some capacity so may still feel awkward or stilted.

Usability testing is technically considered to be a part of UX Research, but this method should be a part of any UX design process. It is important to identify issues before rolling out a new design, issues that could frustrate casual users and send them away from a product.

My UX toolkit: Usability Testing was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Behavior Analytics

What is conversion?

All digital interfaces, products, and services are created with a specific goal, a specific task that the target user needs to carry out. This is true even for the most altruistic of user products. Take a website for a non-profit organization that provides food and shelter for the homeless population. The purpose of the site is probably to inform visitors on the work the non-profit does and how the visitors themselves can help. The action they would like the users to take is to donate money to the organization or sign up to volunteer with them. Successfully facilitating a user completing this task is what marketers and UX-ers would call conversion.

What is conversion? It is the point at which a user completes a desired action. Conversion can be done on a micro or macro level. For the non-profit described above, getting a user to sign up for a newsletter is a micro conversion. Getting them to donate cash or sign up to volunteer their time is the ultimate goal, and the ultimate conversion.

For a more common example, take a big retail corporation with a well known online presence like REI.

If a user

• Opens an email they received from REI
• Clicks a link in the email that brings them to REI’s website
• Clicks on a product that interests them
• Adds the product to their cart
• Purchases the product

Each step of that process is considered conversion.

What does all this have to do with Behavior Analytics?

In order to increase conversion, something called conversion rate optimization (CRO), it is important to understand how users are interacting with your product. How are they finding your website? What brought them their in the first place? Where are you losing or leaking users? This is where behavior analytics can be a valuable tool.

Behavior analytics is a quantitative analysis and research tool that tells you what is happening when users interact with your product. Once you have data on how users use your product and where you tend to lose them, you can start to hypothesize how to increase user engagement and conversion.

Key information to consider

Traffic Sources — The origin through which people found your site. Are they coming to your website from a direct link? Are they finding it after searching google? What were the keywords searched? The answers to questions like these can give clues as to what the user was looking for when they came to your product, and whether or not they found it.

Heat Maps — These maps show the user behavior on individual pages. Heat Maps are a data visualization tool that show how users click, scroll or move the cursor on a website page. Using the color spectrum, red signifies a popular area and blue signifies a cold area. This tool can be used to analyze which calls to action are effective, any spots where users expected a link or button that doesn’t exist, and how far users tend to scroll on a page.

Bounce Rate — The percentage of people that enter a site and leave without viewing other pages. When a user “bounces” it can indicate that they did not find the content they were seeking on your site. This is another clue, directly related to traffic sources, that can indicate that your site does not provide the content that a user believes it will.

Conversion Rates — This is the percentage of users that your product successfully converts over a specific period of time compared to the overall number of users.

Behavior analytics is a quantitative evaluation of user behavior, and has pros and cons. It is a quick and inexpensive way to gain insight into user behavior. It reveals in black and white exactly how users interact with a product. Qualitative research methods such as user interviews or diary studies are self reported, and while users may believe they are answering truthfully about their own behavior, oftentimes their recollections can be over exaggerated or faulty.

The main drawback of behavior analytics is that it tells you the “what”, what users are doing on your product, but not the “why”, why they behave the way they do. When short on time and resources it is a great way to gain some insight into user behavior. Even better, when used as a jumping off point and combined with qualitative research it is a solid foundation to a deeper more nuanced understanding of the user.

My UX Toolkit: Behavior Analytics was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

User Flows

In UX design, a user flow is a flow chart or diagram that maps out the path a user takes when interacting with a product. It can be a total overview of all the ways a user can interact within the system or how they can accomplish a specific task, but unlike a simple task flow chart they take into consideration decision points in the process. In the UX double diamond method user flows are usually a part of the ideation phase, after research has been conducted and synthesized. This underrated tool is helpful both in designing a product from scratch and when addressing issues with existing products such as low conversion rates.

When designing a new website or app, user flows can help to identify how users will move through the product before it is built. Creating a user flow before wireframing is useful to help identify which screens will need to be made and what features or options they will require. It is also a great way to communicate to other team members how the product is intended to work.

Creating a wireflow of an existing product helps designers to better understand how users interact with the product, and can illuminate the culprit behind low conversion rates or high bounce rates. By mapping the product out into a simple flow chart you are able to evaluate the logic of the sequential steps and analyze issues where you see users stalling or bouncing.

A simple version of a user flow can be a bulleted list, but generally they take the form of a flow chart. There are usually 3 or 4 different types of actions that are represented in a user flow, all indicated by a different element. The steps include entry/exit, actions, and decision. Sometimes a 4th element is included to indicate which screen the user is interacting with, which can be represented by either a simple distinct shape or a wireframe. The other elements used in user flows are arrows indicating where the previous action leads and yes or no text indicating the user’s choice at a decision point.

User flows are often overlooked in the UX process, but they can be a valuable tool in the arsenal. When designers take the time during their ideation process to map out the steps a user takes to move through a product they will save themselves time later when designing wireframes and figuring out how they work together.

My UX toolkit: user flows was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My UX Toolkit is a series of posts exploring different tools and techniques used in the user experience design and research process, my understanding of them, and when they can be applied. UX is a broad and varied space that can range from quantitative statistical analysis to graphic design, from branding and content strategy to storyboarding. Here I am trying to scratch the surface of how UXers UX, share my knowledge and further my own understanding of this vast career field.

Back when user experience design as a practice originated, experts in the field generally followed the Waterfall Development Method while working through a UX project.

In the waterfall method all the work flows linearly, in one direction, and the next step in the process cannot be started until the last is completed. The waterfall method focuses on planning first, then development, and is generally worked on by one team at a time with minimal communication between teams.

This was a deliverables focused method, that changed the focus and goal of UX designers from creating amazing user experiences to delivering deliverables. This is fundamentally not what the UX ideology sets out to do. Generally throughout the waterfall process approval and validation is constantly needed from a potentially large team and stakeholders. This method could take anywhere from 4 month to 2 years.

In today’s tech world, and for startups particularly, that length of design cycle is not really acceptable. Even worse, if something holds up one of the phases of the project, the work cannot continue until the issue is resolved.

These days, user needs and the competition evolve at a breakneck speed, and UX designers need to be able to create at the same pace. It is possible that even within a 4 month project, the initial project might be out of date by the time it is delivered.

Enter the Agile approach, related to Lean UX. This approach focuses on working in short 2–3 weeks sprints, in cross functional teams consisting of 5–9 people. The team usually consists of clients, designers and developers working on small changes or a minimum viable product (MVP), constantly iterating on products.

For UX specifically, these sprints can follow the Double Diamond Approach. This is a design process that starts with a problem or issue you want to address. You take what you know about this problem and begin researching to broaden your understanding of the problem and the people who are your target users. You then synthesize all the information you have gathered, narrowing it down to gain a more pointed and nuanced view of the original problem you were addressing.

From here you begin to brainstorm solutions to address the problem you have uncovered in your synthesis, and lastly you test your solutions to verify and iterate on the designs and deliver a final product.

And here finally we get to the focus of this post!

Synthesis

Synthesis is an important stage in UX Research and in the overall UX process. In the double diamond methodology it is the second step, that comes after research. Without synthesis, the information gathered in your research will have less value. If the research has more of a quantitative focus, this synthesis could look like data analysis or statistics, crunching the numbers to reveal patterns and trends.

If the research done is more qualitative, say for example user interviews, synthesis might look more like affinity mapping or other exercises that find patterns in the information gathered. Once you gather up the key insights distilled from your interviews, you can really get the ball rolling creating problem statements, which will lead to how might we questions which will eventually lead you into the next step in the process, ideation.

My UX Toolkit: Research synthesis and the double diamond methodology was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Wireframes

When people in the design industry think of the tools of a UX Designer, wireframes is probably where their mind jumps to. It is one of the most important tools in the UX toolkit, communicating a product’s structure, information architecture and functionality.

A wireframe is to a website or mobile application what a blueprint is to a construction project. Wireframes are intended to be a greyscale skeleton for a product, showing the layout of a site or app without any of the design elements such as styling, imagery, color or graphics.

Wireframing is usually done somewhere in the ideation phase of a project, after all of the research has been gathered and synthesized, and perhaps after some of the information architecture has already been created.

Hand sketches should be the first step in the wireframing process. Initial hand sketches should be seen as a brainstorming tool. Oftentimes UX designers will hold a design studio with different crossfuntional team members and stakeholders involved in the project. This should be a “no bad ideas” exercise where everyone feels free to share even their most far fetched ideas. A lot of inspiration and creativity can occur as a result.

Once a more solid idea of the design requirements is developed, starting off hand sketching before moving into digital wireframing can save a lot of time later. Depending on the project scope, hand sketches may be sufficient to move into the usability testing or design phase of the project.

Low fidelity digital wireframes contain the most basic, bare bones content and layout visuals. They are a good place to start when working in a larger team. Before getting in too deep on a specific interface, you can create a low fidelity version of the wireframe and use it to check in with other members of the team to make sure you all are on the same page about the design.

While lo-fi wireframes are not typically turned into prototypes for usability testing, when done it can yield some enlightening results. Lo-fi wireframes can be used to great effect to test very simple ideas, and because they contain so little frills and distractions users may have some valuable insights about the functionality of the product.

High fidelity wireframes begin to add in more details such as content, fonts, colors and graphic elements and are a more realistic view of how the end product will look. They are usually made into interactive prototypes that demo basic interactions and flows of the product. They are used to present a more realistic version of what the final product will look like and how it will behave.

Why wireframe instead of going straight into design? Wireframes force UX designers to focus on the functionality and content of a product without getting lost in details like design elements and branding. While design elements play an important part in a users enjoyment of a product, the overall user experience will be greatly enhanced by a strategically thought out interface.

My UX toolkit: Wireframes was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My UX Toolkit is a series of posts exploring different tools and techniques used in the user experience design and research process, my understanding of them, and when they can be applied. UX is a broad and varied space that can range from quantitative statistical analysis to graphic design, from branding and content strategy to storyboarding. Here I am trying to scratch the surface of how UXers UX, share my knowledge and further my own understanding of this vast career field.

Critique: Giving and receiving feedback constructively

Being able to give and receive constructive criticism is not a skill that is unique to the UX career field, and maybe not the most obvious entry for MyUX Toolkit. But this week I wanted to include these two incredibly important communication tools. They are certainly critical skills to master in many professions and they take time and experience to hone. For this blog I am focusing specifically on instances of giving and receiving feedback on UX decisions and designs.

As a UX designer, you will almost never be working in a vacuum. In many projects you will find yourself collaborating with a cross functional team that could include other designers, researchers, developers, clients and stakeholders. Even if you are designing and launching a product solo, it is likely that eventually you will seek out the opinions of others whether it be a peer in your field, or even simply through the feedback you receive when usability testing.

The two related but different tools, giving feedback and receiving feedback, are soft skills that are an important part of communication in design. It should be something that is constantly practiced, whether hoping on a quick zoom call to bounce ideas off of a work colleague or formally presenting the most current version of a project to all the major stakeholders.

Giving

While giving constructive criticism may seem as easy as sharing your opinion, when done well I consider it to be an art form of communication. Especially in design, our ideas and creations can feel very personal to us. It is not always easy to share when you disagree with work someone else has labored over, and it is not always well received. However, if the ultimate goal is to put out the best version of the product you are working on, sharing your opinion is essential.

It is important to start with the basic communication skills to be able to accurately and concisely explain what it is you disagree with, and more importantly why. It is important to always include your reasoning and ideas of what can be done differently with your criticism.

For example, say you are designing a mobile app and a fellow designer created an informational page with paragraphs of text in 8 pt font. You can explain that you believe the font to be too small, because it may be hard on the eyes of users. You can then suggest that the information be edited into shorter paragraphs and the font size increased to 16 pt.

Another technique to balance out giving negative feedback is called the sandwich technique, where you start with what you like, sandwich the “negative” feedback or areas of improvement in the middle, and end on a positive note. For example, after a designer has given a presentation demonstrating a project they have been working on for months you can start with what you liked about the design, suggest the changes you think would be an improvement and then finish with a compliment on their presentation skills.

Overall when giving critical feedback it is best to be specific, concise and realistic. Don’t offer feedback that isn’t actionable, and be careful with timing to offer suggestions when they will still be realistic to implement.

Receiving

Being on the receiving end of constructive criticism is also a crucial skill to master. For some it is hard to not take this type of feedback personally. For others, when ego is involved, it can be hard to accept differing opinions on design.

It is important to go into a given critique situation with an open mindset, ready to accept changes if they will result in a better product. It is also crucial as you receive feedback to listen for understanding, and not wait for your turn to defend your position. Ask clarifying follow up questions to ensure you truly understand the changes being suggested and the reasoning behind it.

In some instances you will now have the power to decide whether to change your design based on the feedback given. If you are unsure you can ask for a second opinion. Whatever your decision, the reasoning should be communicated graciously and clearly.

In other instances you will not have decision power over the final design. For example, if you are a junior designer and your project manager is insisting on making changes. In this instance I still believe it is valuable for you to understand the reasoning behind their decision, and take that into account when producing future work.

In UX design, decisions are made based on user behavior, research, feedback and industry standards. Most work is done by cross functional teams, and communicating decisions and the reasoning behind them is one of the biggest requirements to be successful. The ability to give and take critique is one of the cornerstones of that communication and will help to foster a cohesive productive work environment.

My UX toolkit: critique was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My UX Toolkit is a series of posts exploring different tools and techniques used in the user experience design and research process, my understanding of them, and when they can be applied. UX is a broad and varied space that can range from quantitative statistical analysis to graphic design, from branding and content strategy to storyboarding. Here I am trying to scratch the surface of how UXers UX, share my knowledge and further my own understanding of this vast career field.

Heuristic of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize self-education techniques (such as the evaluation of feedback) to improve performance. A fast practical way to solve problems or make decisions.

When a company wants to investigate existing pain points within their product, app or website, they will often start with a heuristic evaluation. This evaluation is a method of finding usability problems within a user interface so that they can be addressed and solved. This process is done by having a small group of qualified evaluators, ideally between 5 and 15, examine a product’s interface and assess the usability.

What do we mean by “usability?”

How intuitive is a product to navigate for both new and expert users? How easy is it to learn to use? And how well do users remember how to navigate the product when returning after some time? A heuristic evaluation is a great way to begin a UX redesign or overhaul.

There are several different established guides outlining specific heuristic principals that are commonly used when conducting a UX heuristic evaluation.

Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for Interface Design

Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for Interface Design is the gold standard for heuristic evaluations. Considered the original heuristic eval guide, it was developed by Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich in the 1990, and released in 1994. Jakob Nielsen is considered by many to be “the guru of web page usability” and his heuristic evaluation guide is still highly relevant today.

The 10 principles can be used as a guide for a heuristic evaluation.

1. Visibility of system status Communicating to users to make sure they are always aware of what is going on, or where they are in a process is very important. In user interface design this can be achieved through status or feedback indicators. Good examples of this would be breadcrumbs when viewing products through an ecommerce site, indicators that let users know how far along they are in filling out a form, or even the smart phone icon that indicates the percentage of battery life left in the device.

2. Match between system and real world Products should speak the users language with familiar words and concepts, and avoid technical language and jargon. Outside of language, it is also valuable to utilize real world models that are already familiar to users in design. For example, when deleting documents from a device you often move them to an icon that resembles a trash can.

3. User control and freedom In a nutshell, it is smart to support the users’ ability to quickly undo or redo mistakes. This ensures that users can quickly correct errors, and gives them confidence to explore the product freely. This can be accomplished by providing back, cancel, undo, or close options.

4. Consistency and standard For a product this refers to both internal and external consistency. Externally, there are industry standard conventions that will make your product more learnable and easier to navigate for users. Examples would be a magnifying glass to indicate a search function, or blue underlined text indicating a clickable link. Internally it is important to maintain conventions across a product or family of products. This can be achieved by creating a design system that can help teams maintain consistency.

5. Error prevention Errors disrupt the flow of a users’ process and can be frustrating, and therefore are best avoided. When a user intends to perform one action, and accidentally messes it up, that is considered a Slip. An example of this would be typing a word incorrectly, or typing an email address with improper formatting. Slips often happen when a user is on autopilot, or overly confident in the task they are performing. These errors can be prevented by offering unobtrusive guidance for users, utilizing default settings, and including limited and helpful constraints.

6. Recognition rather than recall I like to think of the difference between recognition and recall as the difference between a multiple choice exam and an open question exam. Recognition is easier than recall because more cues or context are provided. Finding a previously visited website using a search engine vs finding it by remembering the exact url is another example of recognition vs recall. More recently, search engines utilize search suggestions which further utilizes recognition. Functions such as search history for search engines or previously viewed items for ecommerce sites promote recognition over recall for users and make navigation easier.

7. Flexibility and efficiency of use This principle addresses the different experience expert users vs novice users desire with a product. It is important to include support for new users that can guide and instruct them step by step through using your product for the first time. It is also important to provide shortcuts or accelerators for expert users to increase their efficiency. This could mean providing multiple methods for different types of users to accomplish the same task.

8. Aesthetic and minimalist design This heuristic principle is all about balancing beautiful design with simple design. A beautiful or aesthetically pleasing design will make an impression on users and play a big part in how delightful they find the product. It also establishes brand and identity. Equally important is only including elements that are necessary and provide maximum utility. This simplicity makes your product more useful and prevents users from getting distracted from their task.

9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors The first step to meet this heuristic principle is to alert users to errors, utilizing polite, clear and constructive error messages, and the second is to indicate how the problem can be rectified with clear simple instructions.

10. Help and documentation Help can be both proactive and reactive. Onboarding tutorials and contextual education is a great way to proactively instruct users before they run across any problems. Once they have met an issue they can’t solve, it is important to provide reactive help in the form of documentation, FAQs or tutorials so that they can solve the problem.

A heuristic evaluation when combined with market research and design guidelines is a great starting point for a product redesign, or more simply, a tool to investigate usability and potentially increase ROI for a product.

My UX Toolkit: Heuristic Evaluation — Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for Interface Design was originally published in Bootcamp on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.