Cognitive Walkthrough

Step-by-step evaluation of a task flow from a user's perspective to identify usability issues.

Budget

low

Timeline

short

Team Size

single

Goals

evaluation usability

Pros

  • ✓ Focuses on user goals and tasks
  • ✓ No user recruitment needed
  • ✓ Identifies learnability issues
  • ✓ Can be done early in development

Cons

  • × Limited to predefined tasks
  • × Doesn't involve actual users
  • × May miss unexpected usage patterns
  • × Requires understanding of user mental models

Example Use Case

Evaluating how a new user would complete a registration process by analyzing each step from their perspective.

Additional Use Cases

  • • First-time user experience
  • • Task completion analysis
  • • Learnability assessment