Cognitive walkthrough

Analytic evaluation methods can be used early in the development process, well before there are users or prototypes available for empirical tests. Furthermore, it is often less expensive than making studies with users. Examples of analytic methods are heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs, usability-expert reviews, group design reviews [864, 1025]. A hazard of analytic evaluation is that system developers or software designers may feel that they are being evaluated [941]. 

Cognitive walkthrough (CW) is an inspection technique developed by Wharton et al. [9] which focuses on learning through exploration of the system. It is a particularly useful method for systems where the user has little or no previous experience or training (such as a kiosk or consumer-facing website). The method has however been applied to a wide range of systems in many different industries. 

Wharton C, Rieman J, Lewis C, Poison P. The cognitive walkthrough method a practitioner s guide. 1994. 

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