Use heuristics to find risks, research to understand users
Choose expert review for rule-based interface risks and customer research for questions about real behavior, language, needs, or context.
Use a heuristic review to identify likely interface problems against explicit principles. Use customer research when the decision depends on what real shoppers understand, need, expect, or do in context. Do not label expert opinion as user evidence.
A heuristic evaluation is an inspection: evaluators judge an interface against a set of usability guidelines. Nielsen Norman Group describes it as useful for likely problems but not a replacement for user research.[1] GOV.UK guidance treats opinions that do not come from users as assumptions to be tested through research.[2]
The rest of this lesson is available once the Atlas is unlocked.