A usability inspection is a review of a system based on a set of guidelines.
The review is conducted by a group of experts who are deeply familiar with the
concepts of usability in design. The experts focus on a list of areas in design
that have been shown to be troublesome for users.
Usability guidelines are usually derived from studies in human-computer interaction,
ergonomics, graphic design, information design, and cognitive psychology. Some
areas that get evaluated are the language used in the system, the amount of
recall required of the user at each step in a process, and how the system provides
feedback to the user. In particular, issues such as clarity, consistency, navigation,
and error minimization are analyzed. Once the problems are discovered, the experts
make recommendations for resolving these issues.
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