Comparing the Cognitive Walkthrough to Other
Methods
The cognitive walkthrough (CW) seems to be an effective
inspection method given its underlying theory, but how does it compare
to other usability methods? A study conducted by Jeffries, Miller,
Wharton, and Uyeda (1991) compared four different interface evaluation
techniques. They compared a heuristic evaluation, usability test,
a defined list of guidelines, and a cognitive walkthrough. Results
indicate that the heuristic approach found the largest number of problems,
including the most serious ones and at the lowest cost. However this
procedure requires access to highly trained individuals and is therefore
limited in its applicability. The usability group performed second
next to the heuristics group, and was good at avoiding low priority problems
while finding recurring general problems. The usability method was
also found to be the most expensive of all the methods, requiring
both trained personnel as well as specialized equipment. The CW and
the guidelines group performed approximately the same by identifying primarily
core system problems. The CW was found to take the most time compared
to the other methods but has the advantage of not necessarily requiring
a highly trained usability specialist and decreased cost. Therefore,
the type of evaluation method that is used is going to be determined by
the time frame of the study, the availability of trained specialists, and
the budget.
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