Virtual citizen science (VCS) uses computer-mediated interaction (usually a Web-based platform) to enable the public to work with professional scientists conducting research. However, there is currently a lack of research about the core features of VCS projects. This would aid professional scientists in engaging in best practices for creating their own VCS projects. This research presents a pilot study applying usability-based categories towards the creation a VCS classification scheme. We selected categories from the literature empirically related to the usability of commercial and non-commercial websites. Two independent sets of judges rated the extent to which certain forms of technology were manifested in VCS projects and how well the VCS projects reflected the usability principles. We used Zooniverse, a collection of different VCS projects that share a common brand. This allows us to study a diverse but integrated sample of typical VCS projects from the Zooniverse.