Videos on This Topic
A cognitive walkthrough is a usability inspection method in which evaluators — not real users — step through a task in an interface and ask a fixed set of questions at every action a first-time user would have to take. Instead of asking "is this interface pretty?" or "is this expert-efficient?", the method asks a narrower question: could someone who has never seen this screen before figure out what to do next, and would they know their attempt worked? That focus makes it a learnability test you can run on a paper sketch, a wireframe, or a half-built prototype.
The method rests on a theory of exploratory learning: people often skip manuals and tutorials and instead learn a system by looking at the screen, forming a goal, scanning for something that looks like it matches that goal, acting, and then interpreting the feedback. The walkthrough questions mirror that loop. Understanding this theoretical basis matters in this course because it tells you why the questions are worded the way they are, and it keeps you from drifting into generic opinion-giving when you evaluate a classmate's prototype.
It also helps to see where cognitive walkthrough sits among other inspection methods. Heuristic evaluation, for example, is also expert-driven and cheap, but it sweeps broadly across an interface against a list of principles, while a walkthrough drills narrowly into one task sequence from a novice's point of view. As you watch, note three things: the specific questions asked at each step, the assumption that the user is new to the system, and how the output differs from what a heuristic review produces.
Video 1: Cognitive Walkthroughs Help Assess Interface Learnability
About this video
A short overview from Nielsen Norman Group defining the cognitive walkthrough as a task-based usability inspection technique aimed at evaluating learnability. Based on its title and description, it should explain what the method is for, how evaluators walk through a task step by step on behalf of a first-time user, and the kinds of questions asked along the way. Expect a compact, example-driven treatment rather than a deep theoretical lecture.
Why this video
This is the most directly on-topic video for the subtopics "What Is a Cognitive Walkthrough?" and "Learnability as the Primary Focus," and NN/g is a long-standing authority in applied usability practice.
Video 2: How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation
About this video
This video walks through how to run a heuristic evaluation: systematically reviewing a product against established usability principles to surface potential usability and experience problems. It covers the practical process an evaluator follows and the kind of issue list the method produces.
Why this video
It gives you the comparison case for the subtopic "Cognitive Walkthrough vs. Other Inspection Methods" — same family of expert inspection, but broad principle-checking rather than a narrow novice-task simulation.
Video 3: Chapter 4: Cognitive Aspects
About this video
A chapter-style lecture on cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction, including the distinction between experiential cognition (actions needing little mental effort) and reflective cognition (actions requiring deliberate thought, comparison, and decision-making). It situates attention, perception, and thinking within interface design.
Why this video
It supplies the underlying cognitive-psychology vocabulary behind the "Core Theoretical Basis: Exploratory Learning" subtopic, helping you reason about what a first-time user is actually doing mentally at each walkthrough step.
How These Videos Support the Learning Outcomes
Together these videos build the conceptual base the module's outcomes depend on. The NN/g walkthrough video introduces the method's purpose and step-by-step questioning structure, supporting MO1 and preparing you to actually run a walkthrough on a prototype for MO2. The cognitive aspects lecture explains the mental processes a novice user goes through, which is what lets you judge whether a step is genuinely hard rather than merely unfamiliar — directly useful when you assess severity and user impact for MO3. The heuristic evaluation video clarifies by contrast what a cognitive walkthrough is and is not, so that the issues you document in MO2 stay task- and learnability-focused instead of becoming a general critique list.
About These Videos
These videos were chosen from YouTube on October 3, 2026. Each has captions; the player turns them on. Videos on YouTube can be changed or removed — if one no longer plays, tell your instructor. If a player does not appear, use its Watch on YouTube link.