Simplifying Heuristic Evaluation for Older Children

Abstract

This paper aims to identify whether children can perform a heuristic evaluation based on a new modified method. In total 12 children placed in groups of 4 participated in the study, evaluating a music making game on a laptop. The results showed that children could perform a heuristic evaluation, identifying genuine usability problems using the simplified method. The effectiveness of the method was measured against ease of use for aspects such as mapping problem to game rules (heuristics), using the 'Bad Scale' (severity) and the number of observed errors reported. The children struggled to map all the problems to the game rules and had difficulty rating some problems to the new 'Bad Scale'. Further research will be performed to refine the process in an attempt to eliminate reported issues thus improving the method for children.