Cognitive Walkthroughs

Core Method
Collected by Google

A Cognitive Walkthrough (CW) is a usability inspection Design Sprint method that places emphasis on the most frequent tasks done by new or infrequent users. In a CW, usability experts evaluate the product completing a variety of tasks using two questions:

  1. Will the user know what to do at this step?
  2. If the user does the right thing, will they know they did the right thing and are they making progress toward their goal?

The idea is to evaluate the product in detail on the task level (rather than holistically). Examples of when you set up a Cognitive Walkthrough:

  • Can users identify how to complete a task?
  • Can users successfully merge contacts in an app?
STATS
Time
30-34 mins per session mins
Activity
Researcher and Participant
Sprint Type
All

Directions

  1. Pick the tasks. Determine the level of detail you want to use for each task and allocate time accordingly. The level of detail depends on the product and research questions
  2. Create a “happy path, a list of all the actions needed to complete the task. You may need to bring participants back to this path if they veer off of it
  3. Invite the participants (UX folks and possibly other members from the team) to a meeting and do the walkthrough in a group setting. Using the questions as a foundation, the usability expert documents as each participant describes, in turn, how they would complete the task. The moderator should ask the two questions before, during, and after each task. If an issue is found, make a note of it and continue this process until every task is completed to the level of detail you determined in the beginning