TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this research is to compare the results of two different usability techniques in evaluating the Web of Science interface.Design/methodology/approach– At first three human factors experts conducted a heuristic evaluation with the interface. Then, usability testing was conducted with 22 students recruited from various departments at Loughborough University, UK.Findings– A comparison of these techniques showed that heuristic evaluation revealed qualitative information whereas usability testing uncovered mostly quantitative data about usability of the interface. Although heuristic evaluation found more problems than usability testing, it also identified complementary information.Research limitations/implications– This paper recommends applying multiple usability techniques to ensure comprehensiveness in evaluating IR interfaces.Originality/value– This paper shows that using multiple usability techniques resulted in a high degree of comprehensiveness in evaluating IR user interfaces. VL - 9 IS - 1 SN - 1467-8047 DO - 10.1108/14678040810869422 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/14678040810869422 AU - Zabed Ahmed S.M. PY - 2008 Y1 - 2008/01/01 TI - A comparison of usability techniques for evaluating information retrieval system interfaces T2 - Performance Measurement and Metrics PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 48 EP - 58 Y2 - 2024/04/25 ER -