Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is the usability lens on a build. Where designpowers-critique asks "does this match the plan?" and the accessibility review asks "can everyone access this?", heuristic evaluation asks "will people actually be able to use this without getting lost, confused, or stuck?" This skill dispatches the heuristic-evaluator agent and integrates its findings with the other reviewers.

When to Use

• After design-builder completes a build — run alongside designpowers-critique and the accessibility review, not after them
• Before a fix round, so usability findings are reconciled with craft and accessibility findings together
• When a flow feels confusing but you can't articulate why — the heuristics name the problem
• When evaluating an existing design (see using-designpowers → Review Mode), not just freshly built work

This skill is not optional after a build. Skipping it is a Red Flag (see using-designpowers). Usability problems that craft critique and accessibility audits both miss are exactly what this catches.

Process

Step 1: Confirm Inputs Exist