Class assignments

Heuristic evaluation assignment: review a public service website

Review a public service site against the 10 heuristics, then rank the problems. 60 minutes, free, printable.

Use it in a class

At a glance

For the teacher

Before class.

  • Choose a public service journey everyone can try without an account, such as finding opening hours or applying for a parking permit.
  • Give the class the task to attempt so everyone reviews the same journey.

Tools used: Heuristic evaluation, RICE and ICE calculator. Create a class, pick this assignment and students get the brief when they join, with a link to start.

Student brief

What students get.

Heuristic evaluation of a public service

60 minutes · Individually, then in pairs · Tool: Heuristic evaluation

Goal

Find usability problems without users, and decide which to fix first.

Steps

  1. Each student works through the journey alone for 20 minutes, logging problems in the heuristic evaluation tool.
  2. For each problem, pick the heuristic it breaks, add a screenshot or note, and give it a severity from 0 to 4.
  3. Pair up and merge your lists. Where you found the same problem, keep one entry and note that two people saw it.
  4. Send the merged issues to the RICE calculator and add reach, confidence and effort.
  5. Compare the severity order with the RICE order. Mark where they disagree.
  6. Choose your top three fixes and write each as a short recommendation.

What to hand in

  • The merged issue list as CSV.
  • A top-three list with the heuristic, the severity, the RICE score and the proposed fix for each.

Questions to discuss

  1. How many problems did you find alone, and how many did your partner find that you missed?
  2. Which heuristic produced the most problems? Is that about the site or about you?
  3. Why might the severity order and the RICE order differ?
  4. What would a usability test with five people add to this review?

myuxacademy.com/tools/for-teachers/assignments/ · free class assignments

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How long does this take?

60 minutes. It works best individually, then in pairs.

What do students hand in?

The merged issue list as CSV. A top-three list with the heuristic, the severity, the RICE score and the proposed fix for each.

Do students need an account?

Not to take part in a study. To build one and share it, the heuristic evaluation tool asks for a free email log-in. If you set up a class, students log in to join it so you can see their studies.

More assignments: Card sort a website navigation, Tree test a council website, Five-second test of two landing pages. See all six.