usability-review

Usability Review

Review $ARGUMENTS against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics using the mandatory process below.

Step 1: Define scope and walkthrough (mandatory)

Before evaluating heuristics, walk the flow as a user would:

### Scope

**Feature/flow:** [what is being reviewed]
**Target user:** [who uses this — reference a persona if available]
**Entry point:** [where the user starts]
**Success state:** [what "done" looks like for the user]
**Walkthrough notes:**
1. [First thing the user sees/does — note friction or delight]
2. [Second interaction — note any confusion]
3. [Continue through the complete flow]

Rules for walkthrough:

• Complete the ENTIRE flow, not just the happy path
• Note every point of friction, confusion, or delight — even minor ones
• Try to break the flow: what happens with empty states, errors, back-navigation, browser refresh?

Output: Scope definition and annotated walkthrough notes.

Step 2: Evaluate against heuristics (mandatory)

For each of Nielsen's 10 heuristics, check the flow for violations:

#	Heuristic	What to check	Common violations
1	Visibility of system status	Loading states, progress indicators, confirmation messages, sync status	Missing spinners, no feedback on save, silent failures, stale data indicators
2	Match between system and real world	User's language, familiar concepts, natural ordering	Internal jargon, technical error codes, unintuitive ordering, developer vocabulary
3	User control and freedom	Undo, back, escape, cancel, redo	No undo, modal traps, irreversible one-click actions, no way to cancel in-progress operations
4	Consistency and standards	Same action = same result, same term = same meaning, platform conventions	Different buttons for same action, inconsistent terminology, non-standard icons
5	Error prevention	Confirmation for destructive actions, smart defaults, input constraints	Easy misclicks, no confirmation on delete, no input masks, ambiguous defaults
6	Recognition over recall	Visible options, breadcrumbs, recent history, contextual help	Hidden features, memory-dependent workflows, no context clues, buried settings
7	Flexibility and efficiency	Keyboard shortcuts, bulk operations, customisation, expert paths	Mouse-only interactions, one-at-a-time operations, no shortcuts for power users
8	Aesthetic and minimalist design	Every element earns its place, information hierarchy, visual clarity	Decorative clutter, unused UI elements, information overload, poor hierarchy
9	Help users recognise and recover from errors	Clear message, cause, recovery action	"Error 500", "Invalid input" with no guidance, blame language, no recovery path
10	Help and documentation	Contextual help, searchable docs, tooltips, onboarding	No in-context help, docs buried or outdated, no search, tooltips on wrong elements

For each violation found:

### Finding: [short description]

**Heuristic:** [number and name]
**Location:** [exact screen/component/interaction]
**Severity:** [Critical / Major / Minor / Enhancement]
**What happens:** [what the user experiences]
**Why it's a problem:** [impact on task completion or user confidence]
**Recommendation:** [specific fix — not "improve this" but "add a loading spinner that appears after 200ms"]

Output: Individual findings with severity, location, and specific recommendations.

Step 3: Rate severity (mandatory)

Apply consistent severity ratings:

Severity	Criteria	Impact	Example
Critical	Users cannot complete the task at all	Task failure	Form submits but nothing happens, no error shown
Major	Users struggle significantly or abandon frequently	High friction, potential churn	5-step process to do a common action, confusing error messages
Minor	Users notice but find a workaround	Annoyance, reduced confidence	Inconsistent button placement, missing breadcrumbs
Enhancement	Users would benefit but aren't blocked	Opportunity for delight	No keyboard shortcuts for frequent actions, no bulk operations

Rules for severity:

• Severity is based on IMPACT TO THE USER, not technical difficulty to fix
• A critical finding that affects 5% of users is still critical for those users
• If you're unsure between two severities, pick the higher one — it's better to over-prioritise than to dismiss a real problem

Output: All findings with consistent severity ratings.

Step 4: Prioritise and synthesise (mandatory)

### Findings summary

| # | Heuristic | Severity | Finding | Location | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [heuristic name] | Critical | [what's wrong] | [where] | [specific recommendation] |
| 2 | [heuristic] | Major | [finding] | [location] | [fix] |
| ... | | | | | |

### Severity distribution
- **Critical:** [count] — must fix before launch/release
- **Major:** [count] — fix in current cycle
- **Minor:** [count] — fix when touching the area
- **Enhancement:** [count] — backlog

### Heuristic coverage
| Heuristic | Findings | Worst severity |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Visibility of system status | [count] | [severity or "No issues"] |
| 2. Match real world | [count] | [severity] |
| ... | | |

### Top 3 Recommendations (by impact)
1. **[Highest impact fix]** — [which findings it addresses, expected improvement]
2. **[Second]** — [detail]
3. **[Third]** — [detail]

Output: Prioritised findings table, severity distribution, heuristic coverage, and top 3 recommendations.

Rules

• Specific fixes, not vague feedback. "Improve the error handling" is not a recommendation. "Replace the 'Error 500' message with 'We couldn't save your changes. Check your network connection and try again. If this persists, contact support@example.com'" is a recommendation.
• Every finding needs a location. "The app has consistency issues" is not a finding. "The Save button is blue on the Settings page and green on the Profile page" is a finding.
• Walk the unhappy path. Most usability issues hide in error states, empty states, edge cases, and recovery flows — not in the golden path. Test what happens when things go wrong.
• Don't conflate aesthetics with usability. "I don't like the colour" is a preference, not a heuristic violation. Every finding must map to a specific heuristic and explain the impact on task completion.
• Zero findings is a valid result. If the flow is genuinely well-designed, say so. Do not manufacture findings to appear thorough.
• Acknowledge what works. Note 1–2 things the flow does well. This builds trust in the review and helps the team understand what to preserve.

Output Format

## Usability Review: [scope]

### Scope and Walkthrough
[From Step 1]

### Findings
[Prioritised table from Step 4]

### Severity Distribution
[Counts from Step 4]

### Heuristic Coverage
[Coverage table from Step 4]

### Top 3 Recommendations
[Prioritised fixes from Step 4]

### What Works Well
- [1–2 positive observations]

Related Skills

• /ux-researcher:persona-definition — define the target user before reviewing. A usability review is more valuable when done from a specific persona's perspective.
• /ux-researcher:journey-map — for mapping the end-to-end experience across multiple touchpoints, not just a single flow.
• /ui-designer:accessibility-audit — for accessibility-specific evaluation (WCAG compliance), which complements heuristic review.