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Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability 1st Edition

by
Steve Krug (Author)
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Steve Krug (Author), Roger Black (Foreword)
4.7 out of 5 stars 297 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0789723109
ISBN-10: 0789723107
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 195 pages
  • Publisher: New Riders Publishing; 1st edition (October 23, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0789723107
  • ISBN-13: 978-0789723109
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.4 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThis is how it should be done
By atmj TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on January 10, 2001
Format: Paperback
The "show me" what you mean book of web usability review. I particularly like the common sense handling of the main web problems.
Some of the key things that are pointed out in this book are:
1. Don't make me think: Basically the web user does not want to venture into a site that requires them to figure it out. It should be self-evident. How do we use web pages:
a. We don't read pages, we scan them
b. We don't make optimal choices, we satisfice
c. We don't figure out, how things work, we muddle through
2. It doesn't matter how many times I click as long as each click is a mindless unambiguous choice
3. Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left.
The first 5 chapters clearly illustrate the three "Krug's Laws of Usability" listed above with lots of pictures and examples. Well done.
His chapters on navigation and finding your way around are a cookbook on how to do it right. He finishes the chapters with several examples, first asking the reader to look at the examples and then discusses how he feels it should be redone. Excellent teaching tool. Similarly, he broaches the topic of the Home page and how it should be structured and the various forces pulling in different directions. The examples he gives at the end here too are a good teaching tool.
The remainder of the book discusses the design processes and the usability tests. These are excellent chapters in the forces at work and it is evident, he has done this many times from the information he has gathered.
He provides specific suggestions for web usability testing for various stages of sites as well as for various problems. This is wonderful guidance if you are new at this. He also provides a guideline on scripting and report writing. Nice job.
He winds up the book with recommended reading and also providing a website for readers of this book: [...]
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5.0 out of 5 starsCommon Sense Usability
By Andrew B. King on September 25, 2001
Format: Paperback
A practical Web design usability guide, "Don't Make Me Think!" is based on empirical observation not exhaustive statistics. Steve Krug's five years of usability consulting and testing are distilled down to this thin yet gem-filled how-to. Krug observed how people actually use the Web rather than how we *think* they use it, gleaning key usability guidelines. Most folks can't afford a full-blown usability consult, but they can afford to buy a $35 book. This book shows you how to conduct your own usability tests on the cheap. What follows is a summary of the book's major rules and observations:
1. Don't Make Me Think!
The number one usability rule, most often expresed by users. Web pages should be self-evident, obvious, and self-explanatory. Buttons should have short text and look clickable. The default search for your site should be simple.
2. Design for scanning not reading
By observing users Krug found that people glance, scan some text, and click on the first reasonable option (called "satisficing"). People scan Web pages, they don't read them. We don't make optimal choices, we satisfice.
Here are some things you can do to make sure users understand as much of your site as possible:
a. Create a clear visual hierarchy to show relative importance of content (H1/H2 etc.)
b. Take advantage of conventions
c. Break pages up into clearly defined areas
d. Make it obvious what's clickable
e. Minimize noise
3. Users like mindless choices
Make each click an unambiguous orthogonal alternative.
4. Omit needless words
Get rid of half of the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left. This is especially important on home pages and
gateway pages.
5.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe farmer and the cowman should be friends.
By A Customer on April 13, 2002
Format: Paperback
This book walks it's talk. It is written and arranged exactly as a useable web site should be, clear and concise, with scannable (as well as enjoyable) text. The clean attractive design and graphics accurately and efficiently illustrate the text, which is easy to read and to understand. I love the use of cartoon people with thought balloons to suggest how people think while using a web site.
There is no clutter of technical gibberish or endless verbose rambling on statistics. The chapter on usability testing takes us step by step through the process and is descriptive and instructional instead of theoretical. Steve Krug doesn't feel he has to sacrifice creativity, visual interest, individuality, or effective advertising in order to develop a usable web site. "Good tag lines are personable, lively, and sometimes clever. Clever is good, but only if the cleverness helps convey - not obscure - the message."
I can't agree with those who dismiss this book as nothing but common sense. While I see nothing wrong with publishing a reference and instructional manual that is full of common sense, this book also presents the reasoning behind every method that is suggested. The clashes between designers, programmers, and advertisers are explored and addressed. While I agree that the simple and obvious conclusion is that the focus should be on the user, it is refreshing and helpful to find a book which distills information from all of the varied and opposing developer viewpoints, and applies to them to that end. The book is, after all, subtitled "A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability." Also, like most common sense, it isn't really so obvious until after someone has pointed it out to you.
Here are a few things you won't find in this book, which makes it all the more effective and convincing.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsSchool book

This was for a web design class. Good book for simplifying web sites

Published 7 days ago by Out of the blue
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I don't know much about style but this book is changing that.

Published 3 months ago by Joe
2.0 out of 5 starsThe book's content is great. Yet the book I received is a bit ...

The book's content is great. Yet the book I received is a bit too old with water marks on all the pages that smelled like old pet pee.

Published 6 months ago by Nam Tran
4.0 out of 5 starsSilly me did not need it. I had already ...

Silly me did not need it. I had already had my website built by the time I made the purchase. Sure it would help anyone who is in the process of building one

Published 8 months ago by Bahama Mama
5.0 out of 5 starsEverything was fine with this transaction

Everything was fine with this transaction. Item was as described, and I received it in a timely way. THank you

Published 9 months ago by Barbara Maniaci
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Excellent book. A must have. I rated 4 stars because the back cover had a part cut out.

Published 9 months ago by Mario
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

You must read it!!!

Published 12 months ago by Amalia Banuelos
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Not the best book but was required for class.

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5.0 out of 5 starsThe web would be a better place if more web administrators and...

A must read. The web would be a better place if more web administrators and marketers read this book.

Published 14 months ago by Darcy
4.0 out of 5 starsStill Applicable

After this book arrived, I realized it was the first-edition, which I assumed would make it woefully outdated in our fast-moving digital world. Read more

Published 17 months ago by K.M. Weiland, Author of Historical and Speculative Fiction

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