Recently, I was reviewing evaluation methods and I noted that so-called rule based methods might be particularly useful for open source projects. They are relatively easy to learn and, as found out in empirical studies, deliver good results. They also can be easily “donated” by experts who take a few hours time to review an interface (in contrast to an empirical UX test which is harder to do for someone in one’s free time).
I summarized the methods (and some discussions surrounding them) on my blog in Rule-based UX Evaluations and hope that they are useful for fellow (open source) designers.