Validation of a Usability Evaluation Protocol based on the Heuristic Inspection Method: An Experimental Case Study in the Web Domain

The usability is nowadays an aspect that can determine the success of a software product. For this reason, there are methods that allow specialists to verify if the properties of the system interfaces contribute to achieving the desired degree of usability. Although the heuristic evaluation is one of the most recognized methods, there is not a formal process to execute this technique. The original author only proposes general recommendations. Based on the analysis of different studies that report the use of this method, we established a new usability evaluation process that can be used for any professional in Computer Sciences. This work is focused on the validation of our protocol to conduct heuristic evaluations. For this purpose, a case study was conducted with the participation of twenty postgraduate students. The analysis establishes that the results are more accurate when a formal process is used.