A Comparative Usability Study of Electronic Newspapers

On one hand, heuristic evaluation has been considered as a potential alternative for extensive user testing; on the other hand, some comparative studies showed that user testing could not be substituted by heuristic evaluation. In this basic usability study of some widely estimated electronic newspapers, we show that it is indeed the case, but moreover, that results from user testing can validate or invalidate some first results gained by heuristic evaluation. What has been interpreted as mostly important is the ability of user testing to corroborate some pre-detected usability problems highlighted by a heuristic evaluation. The heuristic evaluation consisted in examining five electronic newspapers in the light of appropriate web design guidelines, whereas the user testing consisted in carrying out a complete usability testing involving observation, questionnaires, video and interview.