This week, our lecture introduced our final project for the semester, conducting a UX audit on selected digital products. I also received valuable feedback from Kyle on our ongoing SDG project, which was really helpful in refining ideas and understanding how to develop them further. In addition, we had a placement talk with Cirdan, a medical technology company, which offered great insight into how UX design is applied within the healthcare industry. I found it to be very informative and helped strengthen both my current project and my understanding of potential career paths.
The first part of this week’s lecture was a placement opportunity talk with Cirdan, a medical technology company based in Lisburn. We heard from Megan and Jing, who spoke about their roles within the company and provided an insightful overview of Cirdan’s Ultra digital platform, which utilises innovative design and technology to support and manage complex medical processes. They also discussed the placement opportunities available for students and what skills they look for in applicants. I found this talk to be really engaging and was particularly intrigued by how UX design plays a role in improving healthcare systems. I also had the chance to chat with both Megan and Jing afterwards, which was a great opportunity to ask questions about the placement process and gain advice. It’s definitely an opportunity I’m interested in.
Our main focus this week was understanding Heuristic Evaluation, which ****is an analytic method where experts assess a design by comparing it against a set of established UX heuristics or high-level design principles. This approach helps identify usability issues and areas for improvement early in the design process. I found this particularly insightful, as it provides a structured way to evaluate how effective and user-friendly a product is. Learning about heuristic evaluation also ties directly into our final project, writing a UX audit, as it gives us the foundation for analysing digital products critically. Applying this to my own design process, I can use these heuristics as a checklist to ensure my interfaces are intuitive, accessible, and meet user needs more effectively.
In a design industry setting, a Heuristic Evaluation is conducted during the mid to late stages of the design process, once wireframes or prototypes have been developed. This timing allows for identifying usability issues before final development, saving time and resources. It’s especially useful after initial user testing or before handing designs over to developers, as it ensures the product aligns with core usability principles such as consistency, visibility, and feedback. By conducting a heuristic evaluation at this stage, I can refine the overall user experience, strengthen design decisions, and deliver a more polished and intuitive final product.
Continuing, we then focused on understanding the 10 Usability Heuristics, which form the foundation for conducting effective UX evaluations. These principles act as a guide for identifying usability issues and ensuring that designs are intuitive, accessible, and user-centred. By analysing how these heuristics apply to real-world interfaces, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how to assess digital products critically, a skill that will be essential for our upcoming UX audit project. The heuristics include:
Visibility of system status – keeping users informed about what’s happening through feedback.
Match between system and the real world – using familiar language and conventions that make sense to users.
User control and freedom – giving users options to undo or redo actions.
Consistency and standards – maintaining familiar patterns and layouts across all pages.
Error prevention – designing systems that minimise user errors before they happen.
Recognition rather than recall – helping users by keeping options visible rather than relying on memory.