A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

I am a doctor, a surgeon, so you would say why are you reading “Don’t make me think”. Good question. Today we all live by the web, through smart phones and PCs, apps and websites, not to mention social networks that I personally have not yet discovered. The web and its usability is part of our common language, a new alphabet, grammar and syntax we have had to learn to live in our world and get along in our profession and free time. But if you met a person who was only able to speak and not read and write you would say he is an analphabet, the same is not true for a user of the web from whom no one expects she/he be able of composing or better designing a website or an app. Presently, many domain professionals are willing to designing web content necessary for their specific necessities, but not yet able to do it by themselves and look for “primers” or “how to..” books to help them start or go pro in this activity. “Don’t make met think” is I believe one of the basic books to learn from. Not only it is easy to read and very clear, but it is also funny, entertaining, full of useful information and at the same time systematic and complete. Steven Krug is evidently a guru of web usability and he has reached the 3rd edition of his book that has filled the minds and hearts of thousands of computer people. It has been and is so popular I believe because it gets to the point of how to think before starting to design. In some ways it is almost a psychology text or better it uses a practical psychological approach to give simple directives to follow in order to keep on the right tract while carrying out design. It sidetracks into information on attention, the use of time, expert remarks on design and interfaces and also on how people actually think. A whole chapter is focused on ethics of web design: a web site should be a “mensche” or as we would say in Italian “un uomo d’onore”, a man of honor, and another on mobile applications with all their space related problems. So, if you are a information technology specialist or if you are an amateur wanting to learn how to design an app or a website, this book is a good point to start from. Read it, love it and treasure its teachings.

I’ve read a lot of design related books in my career, and this may be the most engaging one. This book is simple, clearly written, interesting, and at times funny. He presents some high level ideas about user experience. He also offers practical advice on easy ways to improve your work. And the whole thing reads like a conversation with a friend. Highly recommended for anyone who works with the web or apps.

Love the book, but I do not like the paper that it is printed on. It’s kinda cheap paper and it feels strange on the skin. Otherwise the book contents are 100% golden information. It’s worth looking past the weird paper used.

If I were in a bad mood, I might hold back a star because many of the examples shown are outdated, even in this “revisited” version. But I’m not in a bad mood and I don’t see the outdatedness as Krug’s fault. The way the web evolves and advances, he’d have to publish a new version almost every year to keep up. And even though the visual examples may be “old,” the concepts and advice still apply. Now, what will you learn by reading Don’t Make Me Think? It’s possibly you’ll learn nothing, but rather be reminded of some common sense. That was my experience reading Don’t Make Me Think. Every rule or advice Krug would give, I would think “duh, of course!” And then immediately realize all the ways I or my colleagues were neglecting that rule or advice. It’s a humbling experience. A lot of the rules and advice boil down to KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. We humans have a habit of trying to be clever at times when we not only don’t need to be, but at times when we shouldn’t be. When we start trying to be clever, we confuse people — we make them THINK. As the book title suggests, if we want people to use our websites or apps or buy our products, we don’t want to make them think. It’s essentially a “back to basics” manifesto full of necessary reminders for how to design user-friendly websites and apps.

A must-read for anyone in UX design.

I read this book when starting studying user experience for web design and i can say i strongly suggest to anyone.

You can learn a great deal of UX best practices from this book alone. I highly recommend reading it. .

All reccommendations!

This book has been a classic since the first edition came out. It has been nicely updated and still reads well with relevant lessons for all who have any involvement with Web Usability.