Applying a methodology to develop user eXperience heuristics

A heuristic evaluation method allows the evaluation of the usability of application domains. To evaluate applications that have specific domain features, researchers can use sets of specific usability heuristics in addition to the well-known (usually Nielsen's) heuristics. Heuristics can also focus on the User eXperience (UX) aspects other than the usability. In a previous work, we proposed a formal methodology for establishing usability/UX heuristics. The methodology has 8 stages including activities to formulate, specify, validate and refine a new set of heuristics for a specific application domain. The methodology was validated through expert opinion and several case studies. Although when specifying the methodology, we explained each of its stages in detail, some activities can be difficult to perform without a guide that helps the researcher determine how the stages should be carried out. This article presents a detailed explanation regarding how to apply each stage of the methodology to create a new set of heuristics for a specific domain. Additionally, this paper explains how to iterate the methodology's stages and when to stop the process of developing new heuristics.