What is a heuristic evaluation — and why should digital workplace leaders care?
If you've ever stared at your company intranet and thought, “This should be working better than it is,” but couldn't quite put your finger on why — you're not alone.
The challenge many internal communications, IT, HR, and operations leaders face is this: the intranet technically works. Pages load. Content exists. Search returns results. And yet … employee engagement is flat. Self-service isn't taking hold. People still message HR for information that's right there on the site.
So what's the disconnect?
Often, it's not about what's on the intranet. It's about how the intranet experience is structurally designed to support trust, findability, and efficiency at scale.
That's where a heuristic evaluation comes in.
What is a heuristic evaluation?
A heuristic evaluation is a structured, experience-based review of your digital workplace that answers one core question:
“Is the current experience equipped to scale as our organization grows?”
It's not a usability test with real users (though those are valuable). It's not a content audit. And it's definitely not a thinly veiled sales pitch disguised as consulting.
Instead, it's a diagnostic lens applied by someone who has seen hundreds of intranets — what works, what doesn't, and what patterns quietly erode trust and efficiency over time.
We evaluate your intranet against six proven experience signals:
Useful – Does this help employees get real work done?
Usable – Is effort proportional to value? (e.g., Does it take 5 clicks to do something that should take 1?)
Findable – Can employees locate things quickly, or are they giving up and asking colleagues?
Credible – Does the system reinforce trust? (e.g., Can employees tell when content was last updated? Are outdated policies still surfacing?)
Desirable – Is there a clear reason to return, or does it feel like a compliance checkbox?
Accessible – Does it work across devices and abilities, or is it designed only for desk workers?
The result? A clear strengths vs. constraints narrative that helps you separate content quality from infrastructure limitations — and gives you the language to align stakeholders around what needs to change.
Why digital workplace leaders find this so helpful
Here's the thing: you probably already know something isn't quite right. You hear it in anecdotal feedback. You see it in support ticket volume. You feel it when a big corporate initiative launches and engagement is … underwhelming.
But when leadership asks, “Is the intranet working?” it's hard to give a confident answer without data. And by the time you run a formal user study, you've already lost weeks (or months) of momentum.
A heuristic evaluation gives you:
✅ Clarity without needing user research approval or timelines
✅ Prioritized experience risks you can act on now
✅ Internal alignment language to get stakeholders on the same page
✅ Confidence that you're focusing on the right things
It's especially valuable when you're:
Navigating globalization or AI enablement and wondering if your foundation is ready
Hearing feedback like “people can't find anything” but can't yet prove it
Facing pressure to justify continued investment in the digital workplace
Preparing for a platform decision but need to understand current state first
Here's what might surprise you
In most cases, a heuristic evaluation doesn't surface anything you don't already know.
If you're a digital workplace leader who's been in the trenches — managing content, fielding support requests, watching engagement metrics — you probably have a pretty good sense of where the friction is.
So why is an outside perspective still valuable?
Because knowing something internally and being able to act on it are two very different things.
A heuristic evaluation gives you:
External validation for concerns that might otherwise be dismissed as “just your opinion”
Credibility to challenge the “good enough” mindset that often surrounds the intranet
Permission to have harder conversations about what's really needed to scale
It's not about tearing down what's been built — it's about creating space to acknowledge the good work that's been done and push the program to its next level.
Sometimes that requires an outside voice to say, “Yes, this is working … and here's why it won't work much longer if we don't evolve.”
That's the conversation a heuristic evaluation opens up.
What a heuristic evaluation is — and what it isn't
Let's be clear about what a heuristic evaluation is not:
❌ It's not a usability test
❌ It's not a migration sales pitch
❌ It's not a replacement for analytics
❌ It's not a content audit
A heuristic evaluation is:
✅ A structured, expert review of experience patterns
✅ A way to surface structural risk before it becomes an adoption problem
✅ A tool that separates content issues from infrastructure limitations
✅ A conversation starter that helps you ask better questions internally
And here's the best part: It stands on its own. Even if you do nothing next, you still walk away with actionable insights and a clearer sense of where your intranet truly stands.
Core components of a heuristic evaluation
A well-executed heuristic evaluation generally includes a concise, executive-ready report that outlines:
Strengths vs. constraints narrative
3–5 prioritized experience risks or opportunities
Annotated screenshots with specific callouts
Strategic implications (not just UX observations)
Next steps you can take—whether or not you change platforms
🕐 Typical turnaround: 7–10 business days
🎯 Common scope: Homepage and 1–3 high-impact pages (e.g., News, Benefits)
The goal is speed, clarity, and usefulness — not perfection.
Ready to see where your intranet really stands?
If you've been feeling that nagging sense that your digital workplace should be doing more — but you're not sure where to focus first — a heuristic evaluation might be exactly what you need.
Got questions? Send me a message on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear what's top of mind as you think about your own digital workplace strategy.
