Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Developing and extending usability heuristics evaluation for user interface design via AHP

  • Application of Soft Computing
  • Published:
Soft Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although Nielsen’s heuristics are the most renowned usability heuristics, there is still vagueness and a lack of clarity which can be improved upon through modification or extension. Thus, Nielsen’s ten heuristics and the four criteria of the Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of USE Questionnaire were merged and modified to form the 14 main heuristics of the proposed usability heuristic. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis of the USE Questionnaire enabled the study to identify the top three questions per criteria. These were converted into sub-heuristics along with the tips provided via Nielsen’s updated heuristics (2020), forming a total of 42 sub-heuristics. After the sub-heuristics were established, the research conducted AHP pairwise comparisons of the main heuristics to extract priority based rankings that will guide evaluators regarding which heuristics require more attention. The results validate the purpose of this usability heuristic evaluation, since the experts identified more problems than they did with Nielsen’s heuristics proving a higher level of effectiveness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.

Data availability

Enquiries about data availability should be directed to the authors.

References

  • Agarwal S (2004) Usability online information services in the social sciences. Chandos, Oxford, pp 117–130

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Allen M, Currie LM, Bakken S, Patel VL, Cimino JJ (2006) Heuristic evaluation of paper-based Web pages: a simplified inspection usability methodology. J Biomed Inform 39(4):412–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alomari HW, Ramasamy V, Kiper JD, Potvin G (2020) A User Interface (UI) and User eXperience (UX) evaluation framework for cyberlearning environments in computer science and software engineering education. Heliyon 6(5):e03917

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alonso-Virgós L, Espada JP, Martínez OS, Crespo RG (2020) Compliance and application tests of usability guidelines about giving information quickly and comprehensibly. Complex & Intelligent Systems 7(4):1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey C (2017) Interface design guidelines to improve usability of websites for teenagers. Thesis etd.auburn.edu

  • Benaida M, Namoun A (2018) Technical and perceived usability issues in Arabic educational websites. Int J Adv Comput Sci Appl 9(5):391–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Benaida M (2014) Developing Arabic usability guidelines for e-learning websites in higher education. Dissertation, University of Salford

  • Bhushan N, Rai K (2007) Strategic decision making: applying the analytic hierarchy process. Springer Science & Business media, Berlin

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Bowie JL (2012) Sound usability? usability heuristics and guidelines for user-centred podcasts. Commun Des Q Rev 13(2):15–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunelli M (2014) Introduction to the analytic hierarchy process. Springer Briefs in Operations Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12502-21

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Burghardt M, Schneidermeier T, Wolff C (2013) Usability guidelines for desktop search engines. In: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Springer: Berlin. pp 176–183

  • Chang DY (1996) Applications of the extent analysis method on fuzzy AHP. Eur J Oper Res 95(3):649–655

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Chen SY, Macredie RD (2005) The assessment of usability of electronic shopping: a heuristic evaluation. Int J Inf Manage 25(6):516–532

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi J, Bakken S (2010) Web-based education for low-literate parents in neonatal intensive care unit: development of a website and heuristic evaluation and usability testing. Int J Med Informatics 79(8):565–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson E, Arkin R C (2007) Applying heuristic evaluation to human-robot interaction systems. In: Flairs Conference. pp 44–49

  • Cooper A, Reimann R, Cronin D, Noessel C (2014) About face: the essentials of interaction design. John Wiley & Sons

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong M, Lentz L (2006) Scenario evaluation of municipal web sites: development and use of an expert-focused evaluation tool. Gov Inf Q 23(2):191–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delice EK, Güngör Z (2009) The usability analysis with heuristic evaluation and analytic hierarchy process. Int J Ind Ergon 39(6):934–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimaguila GL, Gray K, Merolli M (2020) Enabling better use of person-generated health data in stroke rehabilitation systems: systematic development of design heuristics. J Med Internet Res 22(7):e17132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Do Amaral L A, de Mattos Fortes R P, Bittar T J (2018) A4U-an approach to evaluation considering accessibility and usability guidelines. In: Proceedings of the 24th Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web. pp 295–298

  • Dowding D, Merrill JA (2018) The development of heuristics for evaluation of dashboard visualizations. Appl Clin Inform 9(03):511–518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrahi R, Jeddi FR, Nabovati E, Jabali MS, Khajouei R (2019) The relationship between user interface problems of an admission, discharge and transfer module and usability features: a usability testing method. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 19(1):1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueroa I, Jiménez C, Allende Cid H, Leger P (2019) Developing usability heuristics with PROMETHEUS: A case study in virtual learning environments. Computer Standards & Interfaces 65:132–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goepel K D (2018) Implementation of an online software tool for the analytic hierarchy process (AHP-OS). International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, 10(3)

  • Hermawati S, Lawson G (2016) Establishing usability heuristics for heuristics evaluation in a specific domain: Is there a consensus? Appl Ergon 56:34–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Z, Benyoucef M (2014) Usability and credibility of e-government websites. Gov Inf Quart, 31(4), 584–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeddi FR, Nabovati E, Bigham R, Farrahi R (2020) Usability evaluation of a comprehensive national health information system: A heuristic evaluation. Informatics in Medicine Unlocked 19:100332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamper RJ (2002) Extending the usability of heuristics for design and evaluation: lead, follow, and get out of the way. Int J Human-Comput Interact 14(3–4):447–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar BA, Goundar MS, Chand SS (2019) Usability guideline for mobile learning applications: an update. Educ Inf Technol 24(6):3537–3553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao Y H, Shen C Y (2012) Heuristic evaluation of digital game based learning: a case study. In: 2012 IEEE Fourth international conference on digital game and intelligent toy enhanced learning. (pp 192–196). IEEE

  • Ling C, Salvendy G (2005) Extension of heuristic evaluation method: a review and reappraisal. Ergonomia 27(3):179–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Lund AM (2001) Measuring usability with the USE Questionnaire12. Usability Interface 8(2):3–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Metzger J, Welebob E, Bates DW, Lipsitz S, Classen DC (2010) Mixed results in the safety performance of computerized physician order entry. Health Aff 29(4):655–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moraes M C, Silveira M S (2006) How am I? Guidelines for animated interface agents evaluation. In: 2006 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Intelligent Agent Technology (pp 200–203). IEEE

  • Mtebe J S, Kissaka M M (2015) Heuristics for evaluating usability of learning management systems in Africa. In: 2015 IST-Africa Conference (pp 1–13). IEEE.

  • Muhanna MA, Amro RN, Qusef A (2020) Using a new set of heuristics in evaluating Arabic interfaces. J King Saud Univ-Comput Inf Sci 32(2):248–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen J (1994) Usability Inspection Methods. John Wiley & Sons, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen J (1999) User interface directions for the web. Commun ACM 42(1):65–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen J (2020) 10 Usability heuristics for user interface design. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/tenusability-heuristics/. Accessed 25 Aug 2022

  • Nielsen J, Molich R (1990) Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp 249–256).

  • Otaiza R, Rusu C, Roncagliolo S (2010) Evaluating the usability of transactional web sites. In: 2010 Third International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions (pp 32–37). IEEE.

  • Paddison C, Englefield P (2004) Applying heuristics to accessibility inspections. Interact Comput 16(3):507–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paz F, Paz F A, Pow-Sang J A, Collantes L (2014) Usability heuristics for transactional web sites. In: 2014 11th International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (pp 627–628). IEEE

  • Pierotti D (1995) Heuristic evaluation. A system checklist. [Usability Analysis & Design, Xerox Corporation]

  • Prascevic N, Prascevic Z (2017) Application of fuzzy AHP for ranking and selection of alternatives in construction project management. J Civ Eng Manag 23(8):1123–1135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusu C, Roncagliolo S, Rusu V, Collazos C (2011) A methodology to establish usability heuristics. In: ACHI 2011: The Fourth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions.

  • Saaty RW (1987) The analytic hierarchy process, what it is and how it is used. Math Model 9(3–5):161–176

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Saaty TL (2008) Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. Int J Serv Sci 1(1):83–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Saaty T L (2016) The analytic hierarchy and analytic network processes for the measurement of intangible criteria and for decision-making. In: Multiple criteria decision analysis (pp 363–419). Springer, New York

  • Schmidt K, Aumann I, Hollander I, Damm K, von der Schulenburg JMG (2015) Applying the Analytic hierarchy process in healthcare research: a systematic literature review and evaluation of reporting. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 15(1):1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shneiderman B (1998) Designing the user interface: strategies for effective human-computer interaction, 3rd edn. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Sim G, Read J C, Cockton G (2009) Evidence based design of heuristics for computer assisted assessment. In: IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp 204–216). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Tan WS, Liu D, Bishu R (2009) Web evaluation: Heuristic evaluation vs. user testing. Int J Ind Ergon 39(4):621–627

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viitanen J, Hyppönen H, Lääveri T, Vänskä J, Reponen J, Winblad I (2011) National questionnaire study on clinical ICT systems proofs: physicians suffer from poor usability. Int J Med Informatics 80(10):708–725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wind Y, Saaty TL (1980) Marketing applications of the analytic hierarchy process. Manage Sci 26(7):641–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The author did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Computer and Information Systems, Islamic University of Madinah, Medina, Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Benaida

Authors
  1. Mohamed Benaida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Benaida.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests

The author has no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Benaida, M. Developing and extending usability heuristics evaluation for user interface design via AHP. Soft Comput 27, 9693–9707 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07803-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07803-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation