In this study, the evaporation characteristics of water or nanofluid droplets on a heated surface was investigated by visualization of the evaporation process and evaluation of the heat transfer coefficient using the droplet temperature measured. The evaporation characteristics was compared between water and nanofluid droplets and the effects of the mass ratio of nanofluid and the inclination of heated surface were analyzed. The heat transfer rate of nanofluid droplet was higher than that of water droplet. The heat transfer coefficient was increased with the increase of the mass ratio of nanofluid. The effect of the inclination of heated surface was much higher than that of fluid type used, which indicates that the inclination of heated surface should be considered as one of influential parameters in the spray cooling process.