HEURISTICS SUPPORTING USABLE AUTHORING TOOLS Matching the right tool to the right user

Over the past few years while e-learning has been gaining momentum, the user profile of instructional authoring tools has also evolved. It seems that commercial authoring products have not yet been adapted to address all user groups, which impedes lecturers in their working environment while preparing e-learning materials, with the materials not achieving the required quality as a result. In this paper heuristics to design an authoring tool aimed at a specific user group, namely the ordinary lecturer, are described to enable subject-expert lecturers (not necessarily technically skilled) to create and reuse their own e-materials without undergoing intensive technical training. The significance of these heuristics lies in the fact that they provide a method to overcome many of the complexities associated with the design of instructional authoring tools. Furthermore, tools developed according to these heuristics might enable institutions to cope with the universal design demands associated with e-learning, without their e-learning programmes being delayed by the scarcity of professional instructional designers and instructional programmers.