Heuristic Evaluation: Comparing Generic and Specific Usability Heuristics for Identification of Usability Problems in a Living Museum Mobile Guide App

Table 1

Nielsen’s Heuristics.

No	Nielsen’s heuristics	Description
	Visibility of system status	The system keeps users informed about the current situation through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
	Match between system and the real world	The system speaks users’ language in which it uses words, phrases, and concepts that users are familiar with. It follows real world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical manner.
	User control and freedom	Provides clearly marked “emergency exit” for users to leave the unwanted state without go through an extended dialogue. System supports undo and redo.
	Consistency and standards	Users not wondering whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follows platform conventions.
	Error prevention	The system either eliminates error-prone conditions or checks for them and presents users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
	Recognition rather than recall	The system minimizes the users’ memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible which indicated that users do not have to remember every detail. Instructions for use of the system.
	Flexibility and efficiency of use	Speeds up the interaction for both inexperienced and experienced users. The system allows users to adapt frequent actions.
	Aesthetic and minimalist design.	Elimination of information which is irrelevant.
	Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors.	Error messages are expressed in plain language, concisely indicate the problems, and constructively suggest solution.
	Help and documentation	Although it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation for searching information easily and other purposes.

Note. Adopted from “Heuristic evaluation,” by J. Nielsen, 1994 [61].