Summative Evaluations for Products

1. Select a Topic (the product to evaluate).
   1.1 Choose an existing product for summative evaluation. Think of a website or a smartphone/tablet application to evaluate.
2. For HEURISTIC EVALUATION:

2.1 Select 3 heuristics from Nielsen’s 10 heuristics.
2.2 Develop additional 3 heuristics tailored to assess the product you chose to evaluate (Product-specific heuristics created by you).
2.3 Conduct two heuristic evaluations (expert interviews).

Review ALL relevant chapters and lecture notes, including Turning Design Guidelines into Heuristics for the Web: Use these guidelines to create product-specific heuristics (that are targeted to evaluate your chosen product).

3. For USABILITY TESTING:

3.1 Decide (1) two tasks for usability testing, (2) procedures, and (3) questions to ask during the usability test.
3.2 Conduct two usability tests.

(Review ALL relevant chapters and lecture notes, including Don’t Make Me Think! (Krug): Read the whole book. Use the information in the book as guidelines.*)

⇒ Please note that the final paper should demonstrate your knowledge about conducting heuristic evaluation and usability testing.

PAPER

ORGANIZATION
Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Goals/plans (in detail), methods, and considerations (practical, ethical concerns, etc.)

Part 3: Procedures & Results
a) Plans/details for the heuristic evaluation (where, how long, who to interview, etc.)
b) Six heuristics and explanation about each heuristic.
c) Results of heuristic evaluations
d) Plans for the usability tests (explanation about the tasks, where, how long, who to meet, etc.)
e) Tasks, procedures, and questions to ask during the usability testing
f) Results of usability tests

⇒ Rich description is mandatory. In the paper, write in detail how you performed the heuristic evaluations and usability testing (when, what, with whom, how long).

Part 4: Discussion of the Results & Conclusion
⇒ Design ideas for improvements, Recommendations

Appendices
Notes, photos, etc.

FORMATTING:
■ Cite all the sources in APA style.
■ 12 pt. Times New Roman font size throughout the paper
■ Double-spaced line-spacing throughout the paper
■ One-inch margins on all sides

WRITING
For this final project, writing quality (organization, grammar, and general readability) matters. Your written answers should demonstrate the graduate-level analytical and writing ability expected of graduate students. Your grade may be decreased if the written work is far below such expectations, e.g., in terms of general readability.