research methods
Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics
What are Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics?
Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics are ten practical guidelines for spotting interface problems - keep users informed, speak their language, prevent errors, and so on. They form the basis of a heuristic evaluation and remain the most widely used standard in usability.
Also known as: Nielsen heuristics, 10 usability heuristics, heuristics for user interface design
Prefer to watch?
Watch the recap 0:42
The demo
The ten rules of thumb. Open any one - you will almost certainly recognise it from an interface that got it wrong.
-
Always tell users what is going on, through timely feedback.
✗A button that does nothing visible when tapped, so you tap again - and order twice.
✓A spinner, then a clear "Order placed" confirmation.
-
Speak the users' language, with familiar words and concepts - not internal jargon.
✗"Error 0x80070643."
✓"We couldn't save your changes - check your connection and try again."
-
People pick the wrong thing; give them a clearly marked exit and an undo.
✗A deletion with no way back.
✓"Deleted - undo?" for a few seconds.
-
Don't make users wonder whether different words or actions mean the same thing - follow conventions.
✗"Remove" here, "Delete" there, "Bin" elsewhere, all for the same action.
✓One word, one icon, one behaviour throughout.
-
Better than a good error message is a design that stops the error happening at all.
✗Letting someone submit a date that doesn't exist.
✓A date picker that only offers valid dates.
-
Show options so people can choose, instead of making them remember.
✗A blank command line you must type the exact word into.
✓A menu, or autocomplete that surfaces the choices.
-
Let novices take the slow path and experts take shortcuts - serve both.
✗Forcing everyone through a ten-step wizard every time.
✓Keyboard shortcuts and saved presets alongside the guided flow.
-
Every extra element competes with the important ones - keep only what helps.
✗A screen crammed with banners, badges and tips.
✓A calm layout where the primary action is obvious.
-
Error messages should say plainly what went wrong and how to fix it.
✗"Invalid input."
✓"Password needs at least one number."
-
Ideally none is needed; when it is, make it easy to search and tied to the task.
✗A 200-page PDF manual.
✓A searchable help panel with steps for the exact task at hand.
What this demo shows (text version)
An accordion of Nielsen's ten usability heuristics. Each expands to a plain-English description and a paired "broken versus fixed" example - covering visibility of system status, match with the real world, user control and freedom, consistency, error prevention, recognition over recall, flexibility, minimalist design, helpful error recovery, and help and documentation. Every heuristic and its examples are present in the page text regardless of whether the accordion is opened.
Nielsen's ten heuristics are practical guidelines for spotting interface problems - keep users informed, speak their language, prevent errors, and so on - the foundation of a heuristic evaluation. Keep them to hand as a quick lens for reviewing any screen; they catch a surprising share of usability issues before a single user is involved.
Open a few and you will recognise every one from interfaces that broke them - the form that lost your data, the jargon nobody understood, the dead end with no way back. The ten are less a test to memorise than a name for problems you have already felt.
They are heuristics, not laws: rules of thumb for catching obvious problems quickly and cheaply, not a guarantee. A heuristic evaluation against this list finds many issues before you spend on user testing - but it does not replace watching real people. Experts predict problems; users reveal them.
The most-broken in the wild are arguably visibility of system status (did it work?), error prevention (stop the mistake before it happens) and recognition over recall (show, don't make me remember). If you only ever audit for three, audit for those.
Use Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics official as your go-to checklist to catch interface problems before users even arrive - try the hands-on demo on this page to see them in action. These heuristics form the backbone of heuristic evaluation and remain the most widely referenced usability guide - test them live with our interactive tool to understand their practical power.