NN/g 10 heuristics

Category: User interface

10 heuristics of Nielsen for user interface design

10 heuristics of Nielsen are a set of principles for designing user interfaces, developed by Jacob Nielsen in 1990. They represent the most famous and widely used guidelines for evaluating usability (usability) of software products and websites.

10 heuristics:

  1. 1

    Visibility of system state

    The system must always inform users about what is happening, through appropriate feedback in a reasonable period of time.

  2. 2

    Match with the real world

    The system must speak the language of users, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user.

  3. 3

    Control and freedom of the user

    Users often select system functions by mistake and need a clearly marked "emergency exit".

  4. 4

    Sequence and standards

    Users should not wonder whether different words, situations or actions mean the same thing.

  5. 5

    Prevention of errors

    A better design prevents problems from happening. Eliminate conditions that lead to errors.

  6. 6

    Recognition instead of memory

    Reduce the user's memory load by making objects, actions and options visible.

  7. 7

    Flexibility and efficiency of use

    Quick keys - invisible to the novice user - often speed up interaction for experts, so the system can serve both novice and experienced users.

  8. 8

    Elegant and minimalist design

    Dialogs should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely needed.

  9. 9

    Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors

    Error messages should be expressed in simple language (without codes), pinpoint the problem and offer a constructive solution.

  10. 10

    Help and documentation

    Although it is better for the system to be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation.

Application and benefits:

  • Used for quick evaluation of usability of interfaces
  • Help identify basic usability problems
  • Used in heuristic evaluation - method of evaluation without user participation
  • Serve as a guide for designing new interfaces
  • Reduce testing costs with users

These 10 principles remain relevant today, although they were formulated more than 30 years ago, and continue to be fundamental in the practices of UX design.