State of the Art on the Cognitive Walkthrough Method, Its Variants and Evolutions

Abstract

This article discusses interactive system evaluation from the perspective of inspection methods, specifically the Cognitive Walkthrough (CW) method. The basic principles of CW are reviewed as proposed in the original version and the first two revisions. Then 11 significant extensions of CW are examined: Heuristic Walkthrough, The Norman Cognitive Walkthrough Method, Streamlined Cognitive Walkthrough, Cognitive Walkthrough for the Web, Groupware Walkthrough, Activity Walkthrough, Interaction Walkthrough, Cognitive Walkthrough with Users, Extended Cognitive Walkthrough, Distributed Cognitive Walkthrough, and Enhanced Cognitive Walkthrough. Four summaries are proposed: The first one concerns the conceptual, methododological, and technological aspects; the next two summaries deal with existing studies, first comparative and then noncomparative; and the last summary provides help for choosing a version or variant.