Table of contents

1. (1) System Status Visibility
2. (2) Correspondence between the System and the Real World
3. (3) User control and freedom
4. (4) Error prevention
5. (5) Consistency and standards
6. (6) Recognition rather than remembering
7. (7) Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. (8) Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. (9) Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors
10. (10) Help and documentation

“Heuristics are 10 general principles for design. They are called “heuristics” because they are basic rules and not specific usability guidelines.”

• Jacob Nielsen

Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics were created in 1994 by computer scientist Jakob Nielsen, also known as the father of usability. Alongside Don Norman, he later created the Nielsen Norman Group, a renowned American interface and user experience consultancy.

(1) System Status Visibility

The system should always keep users informed about what is happening through appropriate feedback within a reasonable time frame. This feedback is typically associated with action points and can be provided using a color change, loading, time remaining graphs, etc.

(2) Correspondence between the System and the Real World

The system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural, logical order.

(3) User control and freedom

Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extensive dialogue. Undo and redo support.

(4) Error prevention

Users should not wonder if different words, situations or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

(5) Consistency and standards

Even better than good error messages is careful design that prevents a problem from occurring. Eliminate error-prone conditions or check them and present users with a confirmation option before committing to action.

(6) Recognition rather than remembering

Minimize user memory load by making objects, actions and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for using the system must be visible or easily retrievable when appropriate.

(7) Flexibility and efficiency of use

Accelerators — unseen by the novice user — can often speed up the experienced user’s interaction, so the system can serve both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to customize frequent actions. Every system has two types of users, Beginners and advanced users. Your system must be designed to enable both.

(8) Aesthetic and minimalist design

Dialogues should not contain irrelevant or rarely necessary information. Each extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and decreases their relative visibility.

(9) Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors

Error messages must be expressed in simple language (without codes), precisely indicate the problem and suggest a solution in a constructive way.

(10) Help and documentation

Even though it would be better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. This information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to take, and not be too extensive.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve learned about all 10 Nielsen heristics and understood where each one fits into the scope of a product, the question that must be going through your head is:

Do I always have to use the 10 heuristics?

The answer is no, it is recommended that you use 6 to 8 heuristics, but of course this will depend a lot on the scope and needs of the project, in general this amount will already be used to ensure that the product is not unusable. These heuristics can be applied to a paper prototype, wireframe or finished product as a rule of thumb for good usability.

Want to delve deeper into the subject?

Visit the website Nielsen Norman Group and see more content related to Nielsen’s heuristics.