How to Conduct a Cognitive Walkthrough

IXD Foundation overview of the cognitive walkthrough method.

If given a choice – most users prefer to do things to learn a product rather than to read a manual or follow a set of instructions.

Four questions during a cognitive walkthrough:

Blackmon, Polson, et al. in 2002 in their paper “Cognitive walkthrough for the Web”

1. Will the user try and achieve the right outcome?
2. Will the user notice that the correct action is available to them?
3. Will the user associate the correct action with the outcome they expect to achieve?
4. If the correct action is performed; will the user see that progress is being made towards their intended outcome?

How cognitive walkthroughs differ from heuristic evaluation.

• Cognitive walkthroughs - goal and task focused
• Heuristic evaluation - focus on entire product