Brian Norris
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Usability Heuristics and Scoring

A custom set of 12 usability heuristics and a 1-5 scoring system.

Type
Education / Research
Client
Personal
Role
Writer and researcher
Year
2022
Stack
Document
A halftone-style illustration of a hand holding the handle of a cup, rendered in red and blue dots on a light background.
Illustration of a hand holding the handle of a cup

Context

Site audits benefit from a consistent framework: something that turns subjective usability observations into structured, repeatable findings. Existing heuristic sets, including Nielsen/Norman's well-known 10, are solid starting points but vary in coverage and have some overlap depending on the source. Rather than adopt one wholesale, I researched several sets and synthesized my own: 12 heuristics with good coverage and minimal redundancy, paired with a 1-5 scoring system that produces actionable audit results. These are not wholly original... some may be word-for-word from other sources, but the goal was to create a set that felt complete without being redundant.

Role

Process

  1. 01

    Synthesizing rather than adopting

    The goal was to arrive at a set that felt complete without being redundant. Reviewing multiple sources made it clear that different researchers emphasize different things, and that a synthesized set could draw the best from each and feel like they would fit with my own approach and voice.

  2. 02

    A scoring system that produces actionable results

    Scoring runs from 1 to 5, with 5 indicating excellence. The scale is designed to distinguish between failures users can't overcome, failures they can work around, functional but improvable experiences, and genuinely exceptional ones. Heuristics that don't apply to a given element are skipped rather than scored.

Heuristics

heuristics.md
  1. Transparency of Structure: Controls and navigation should give users a sense of overall structure, location, and available actions.
  2. Sense of Control and Flexibility: Users should feel in control, with an interface that works for both novice and experienced users.
  3. Responsiveness and Feedback: User actions should have noticeable effects, with clear communication of status, success, and failure.
  4. Predictability: Users should be able to anticipate the likely outcome of actions via cues and affordances.
  5. Error Avoidance and Recovery: The system should help users avoid errors and recover from them when they occur.
  6. Familiarity and Learnability: Interface elements should conform to real-world or familiar patterns; unfamiliar elements should be well-labeled and memorable.
  7. Preference for Function Over Aesthetics: Elements that could confuse or interfere with a streamlined experience should be avoided.
  8. Availability and Visibility of Information: Information and actions should be easy to find, reducing reliance on memory.
  9. Support and Help: Fallback help should be available when the system alone isn’t enough.
  10. Consistency and Clarity: Verbiage, icons, and actions should be standardized and predictable throughout.
  11. Fulfillment and Follow Through: Users should have confidence their requests are being fulfilled over time.
  12. Accessibility and Design: The system should be accessible by assistive technologies, meet contrast guidelines, and feel visually unified.

Outcome

A practical, repeatable framework for structured usability audits that is usable across client sites regardless of industry or complexity. The scoring system produces findings that are specific enough to prioritize and communicate to stakeholders.

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