Criticmate: Stagewise Human-AI Co-Critique in Single-Screen UI Evaluation

AI tools are increasingly used for UI evaluation, yet most treat evaluation as a single-pass, black-box process that limits both effective model reasoning and human involvement. Grounded in Situation Awareness (SA) theory, we reframe single-screen heuristic evaluation of mobile UIs as stagewise human–AI co-critique, structuring evaluation into three editable stages: Perception (what is on the screen), Comprehension (what elements mean and do), and Projection (what problems and fixes follow). We instantiate this framing in Criticmate, an interactive system that exposes intermediate reasoning artifacts for intervention. Across offline benchmarks and a controlled user study, we show that stagewise co-critique yields more expert-like and better balanced critiques than single-pass approaches, while supporting higher trust and engagement without reducing perceived autonomy.