Usability Testing| 10 Nielsen Heuristic Evaluation
The aim of the evaluation is to estimate the level of usability and identify any issues with the interface and functionality of the Mobile Afya USSD App. (www.mobileafya.com)
Mobile afya is the first USSD application in Africa using internet-free mobile technology to provide basic health information in local and native languages starting with Swahili in East Africa.
METHOD
80 women and girls from Tandale performed usability tests on M - Afya app. The applied usability testing tool was Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics, the method was relevant as it did not require many resources in terms of time, money, and expertise and also allowed the use of paper prototypes or screenshots of the actual Mobile Afya app.
SUMMARY REPORT
There are five heuristics that scored very well(below 100), which means users did not encounter serious usability problems when interacting with M - the Afya app; such heuristics are Visibility of system status, Match between system and the real world, User control and freedom, Consistency and Standards, also Aesthetic and minimalist design because the language(Swahili) used is the mother tongue of Tanzania, also most of the participants use mobile money thus the system and its visibility was not a new concept to them.
However, Error prevention, recognition rather than recall, flexibility, and efficiency of use were usability categories that showed medium priority and that further analysis could potentially increase positive interactions between M - Afya and the users. In addition, the two usability categories that showed high priority levels and required system changes are Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors and Help and documentation.
