Heuristics made simple

This afternoon we have had a presentation on Jakob Nielson's Heuristics. What's that you might ask? Nielson was a pioneer in rules for usability on websites. It was great to have a run-down on the 10 usability heuristics (or 'rules of thumb'). We were shown examples such as how the bbc website is great at layout, remembering that people read from top-left to bottom-right. Also, looking at their help documentation and how it is easy to read as it is not a massive pdf file to download, but is right there for if you have a muppet-moment and need something clarified.

Another key rule is to be consistent with colours, menus, as well as providing feedback for users by highlighting things when they click on certain links/functions. These rules are all well and good as far as I am concerned with making websites the best they can be.