Specific Heuristics for Smartwatch Usability Evaluation: Development, Validation, and Comparison

This study examined the effectiveness of specialised heuristics for smartwatches, focusing on unique usability challenges of wearable interfaces. The study used a combination of literature review, focus groups, and expert evaluation to develop ten heuristics for smartwatch interfaces. Subsequently, an empirical study of five typical tasks on smartwatch was conducted, with three groups of participants using Nielsen’s heuristics, specialised heuristics, and user testing to collect data. By combining theoretical development and empirical validation, this research proposed a framework for adapting and validating heuristic evaluations to emerging wearable technologies. Our findings showed that the heuristics set for smartwatch was more effective than general heuristics due to its better accuracy in anticipating notable usability concerns.