One of the most valuable aspects of UX (user experience) design is being able to evaluate how easy an app is to use based on certain criteria. The app I will be evaluating is Snapchat. The reason I’m interested in this app is I use it because it has many easy and useful features and it has its own unique notification sound and also many message prompts.
One way we evaluate a product, app, or service in UX is through something called Heuristics. There are 10 main heuristics, and I’ll be covering consistency,system status and flexibility.
The first Heuristic I’ll be using is consistency. This heuristic has to do with the tab placement on devices are the same. One example of this heuristic is the camera is placed in the center on all devices.
With Snapchat,The placement of the tabs remain the same throughout the transfer of devices. They do a good job of using this heuristic because it won’t confuse users if they choose to use a different device and they’ll not have an issue trying to find what they need.
The second Heuristic I’ll be using is flexibility. This heuristic has to do with how you're able to use many different filters and camera effects whether default or created by users. One example of this heuristic is the doggy filter which places ears and a nose on your photo and if you open your mouth there’s a tongue effect.
With Snapchat, people use combinations of filters to create unique pictures. They do a good job of using this heuristic because it gives full creative freedom to users while being able to reach new audiences and users are able to more freely express themselves.
The third Heuristic I’ll be using is system status. This heuristic has to do with the loading times and map. One example of this heuristic is they have a snap map which shows where your friends are. It might bring up a red flag but users can choose whether or not they want to be visible on the map. The loading times are near instantaneous and if there is a point of loading they have a prompt that shows the percentage of completion.
With snapchat, people try to fill up their snap maps with friends for fun. They do a fair job of using this heuristic because it’s a unique feature and rarely have apps used a map feature and the impressive loading time.
Overall, I would give Snapchat a 4 score based on there are tons of features and near endless possibilities when taking pictures and just staying entertained throughout use.
Hopefully, you can get a sense of how valuable the UX process is. Leave comments about with any questions or ideas you might have.
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