Statistical Heuristic Assessment a Tangible Way of Assessing Product or Software Current Usability State

Abstract

'Statistical Heuristic Assessment is an exploratory technique from the User Experience (UX) Design 'Tool Kit'; and is an integral component of Usability/ UX Assessment of software applications or products. This technique of investigating Usability 'Show Stoppers' helps in highlighting key changes necessary for enhancing User Experience and integrating the most critical Usability recommendations into the system/ product. The said technique is slightly different from the conventional "Heuristic Evaluation" as it utilizes the combination of System Usability Scale (SUS), Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) parameter and the contextual Usability Parameters (Heuristics) with respect to software ergonomics, Information Architecture, UI standardization, Consistency & Aesthetic Sense. The software/ product is assessed against specified checklist, parameters & criteria; and based on this the problem area is "Rated" between 1 to 5 Scale of severity & criticality. This paper is an outcome of our experience with various UX customer engagements wherein the current experience/ usability state was to be determined. It describes the use/ functioning of the 'Statistical Heuristic Assessment' technique in a User Experience Consulting Engagement Model. We describe our experiences, theories, mechanisms, offerings and benefits availed from employing the 'Statistical Heuristic Assessment' (SHA) technique during the Software Development Life Cycle.