Heuristics are generalized best practices (i.e., rule of thumb) that provide guidance for most situations. On their own they aren’t strict principles, but do provide a good baseline for creating more specific [[Design principles]] for a product or service. Usability heuristics: 1. [[Speak the user's language]] 2. [[Provide visibility of system status]] 3. [[Recognition rather than recall]] 4. [[Give users control and freedom]] 5. [[Allow for flexible and efficient use]] 6. [[Prevent errors from happening]] 7. [[Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors]] 8. [[Adopt familiar standards]] 9. [[Establish consistency]] 10. [[Limit design aesthetic to what’s essential]] 11. [[Provide help and documentation]] ## Reference [[Jakob Nielsen]]. “10 Heuristics for User Interface Design: Article by Jakob Nielsen.” *Nielsen Norman Group*, 24 Apr. 1994, [www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/](http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/). Accessed 1 Mar. 2021. “Learning Design Principles and Heuristics.” *Questo*, [www.questo.com.au/resources/learning-design-principles/](http://www.questo.com.au/resources/learning-design-principles/). Accessed 9 Mar. 2021. [Usability heuristic frameworks: which one is right for you? | by Michael Kritsch | Oct, 2022 | UX Collective](https://uxdesign.cc/usability-heuristic-frameworks-which-one-is-right-for-you-1962387b7cc) - On my "to read" list.