Nielsen's 10 Usability Heuristics

The canonical evaluation lens. Walk any interface against all ten; each violation is a concrete, fixable defect.

1. Visibility of system status — keep users informed with timely feedback.
2. Match between system and the real world — speak the user's language, follow real-world conventions.
3. User control and freedom — clear undo / redo / escape hatches from mistaken states.
4. Consistency and standards — same word/action means the same thing; follow platform conventions.
5. Error prevention — design out error conditions before they happen (confirmations, constraints).
6. Recognition rather than recall — make options, actions, and objects visible; minimize memory load.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use — accelerators (shortcuts, defaults) for experts, without blocking novices.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design — every extra unit of information competes with the relevant.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors — plain-language messages, precise problem, constructive fix.
10. Help and documentation — searchable, task-focused, concrete steps, kept small.

How to apply