INFO90004

INFO90004 Evaluating the User Experience The University of Melbourne
Copyright ©The University of Melbourne
Assignment 1 (20%) Expert review and Critical Reflection
Assignment 1 is an individual assignment in three parts.
• In Part A (7%), you will conduct a Heuristic evaluation of a given website.
• In Part B (7%), you will conduct a Cognitive Walkthrough of three tasks on the
same website you studied in part A.
• In Part C (6%), you will write a Critical reflection of the two different
techniques, considering the benefits and limitations of each technique.
Templates for Parts A and B are provided on the LMS.
Submit your assignments to Turnitin (via LMS) by the following due dates:

Wednesday of Week 5, 11:59pm, April 3rd
AssignmentTutorOnline

What should I evaluate?
Select one website from the following list for your evaluations.
Please note that I have no control over the content of the sites; they are all commercial,
educational or government sites. Some sites might sometimes carry advertisements – I
do not endorse the content of any of them!
• Arngren http://arngren.net/
• The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website http://www.ato.gov.au
• Board Game Geek http://www.boardgamegeek.com
• Gates n fences http://www.gatesnfences.com/
• James Bond Museum http://www.007museum.com/
• Ling’s Cars https://www.lingscars.com/
• The University of Melbourne Library https://library.unimelb.edu.au/
You do not need to pay for these sites to do this assignment.
INFO90004 Evaluating the User Experience The University of Melbourne
Copyright ©The University of Melbourne
Part A: Heuristic Evaluation – 7%
A ‘heuristic evaluation’ is an evaluation where an expert compares a product or design
to a set of accepted usability principles or “heuristics”.
In this assignment you will be performing a heuristic evaluation against the criteria
outlined by Nielsen (2000).
As you conduct the heuristic evaluation, you will need to work through the interface
several times. You may wish to consider the usability heuristics in turn, or to consider
several together.
The following article contains a good overview and description of the ten usability
heuristics that you will use for this assignment:
• Nielsen, J. (2000). 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
Use the template provided to show your findings.
• Assess the severity of each finding according to the template.
• Finish your heuristic evaluation with a short (1-2 paragraph) section outlining
your key findings.
You should aim to identify 10-12 issues that apply to at least 7 heuristics.
INFO90004 Evaluating the User Experience The University of Melbourne
Copyright ©The University of Melbourne
Part B: Cognitive Walkthrough – 7%
A ‘walkthrough’ means a technique where you move slowly through a sequence of
actions with the device and consider how the design works at each point. A ‘cognitive
walkthrough’ is a technique where you consider what is likely to occur in the user’s
mind.
In this assignment you will be performing a cognitive walkthrough for three tasks.
Cognitive Walkthrough Questions
As you work your way through the tasks you consider what may go on in the mind of the
user. Will they perceive the right information and understand what to do, as intended by
the designer? To be systematic, you must answer the following questions in sequence.
Most will be answered very quickly and no issue or problem will arise. But some will
take some discussion and will turn up issues and problems with the design.
Will the user know what to do?
Will the correct action be sufficiently evident to the user? Will the user
know what to do to achieve the task?
Will the user see how to do it?
Will the user notice that the correct action is available? e.g. can users
see/understand which button or menu item that they should use for the
next action? Is it apparent when it is needed?
Will the user understand from the feedback whether the action was correct
or not?
Will the user associate and interpret the response from the action
correctly? Will users know from the feedback that they have made a
correct or incorrect decision based on the options that were available?
You must also produce a summary of the issues for each problem at the end of the
cognitive walkthrough.
Overview of problems
Identify main problems; assumptions about what causes the problems;
estimate of the proportion of users who would experience problems;
severity of problems.
Response to problems
What changes should be made to address problems?
Use the template provided to show your findings for three tasks.
• Write a summary of your findings that explains significance of the findings.
• Try to explain the important findings and what they tell us about the design.
INFO90004 Evaluating the User Experience The University of Melbourne
Copyright ©The University of Melbourne
Part C: Critical Reflection – 6%
The final part of this assignment is a Critical Reflection on the two techniques (500
words).
• What were the benefits and limitations of each approach (Heuristic evaluation /
Cognitive walkthrough)?
• Did you find one easier or more informative than the other?
This is a reflective task; we are interested in your opinions and observations. You are
not required to use any academic references in your discussion, although the best
discussions typically do.
Submit your Critical Reflection in a single document with your Cognitive Walkthrough.