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

by Steve Krug (Author), Roger Black (Foreword)

293 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0789723109

ISBN-10: 0789723107

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Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter)
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People won't use your web site if they can't find their way around it. Whether you call it usability, ease-of-use, or just good design, companies staking their fortunes and their futures on their Web sites are starting to recognize that it's a bottom-line issue. In Don't Make Me Think, usability expert Steve Krug distills his years of experience and observation into clear, practical--and often amusing--common sense advice for the people in the trenches (the designers, programmers, writers, editors, and Webmasters), the people who tell them what to do (project managers, business planners, and marketing people), and even the people who sign the checks.

Krug's clearly explained, easily absorbed principles will help you sleep better at night knowing that all the hard work going into your site is producing something that people will actually want to use.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Usability design is one of the most important--yet often least attractive--tasks for a Web developer. In Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krug lightens up the subject with good humor and excellent, to-the-point examples.

The title of the book is its chief personal design premise. All of the tips, techniques, and examples presented revolve around users being able to surf merrily through a well-designed site with minimal cognitive strain. Readers will quickly come to agree with many of the book's assumptions, such as "We don't read pages--we scan them" and "We don't figure out how things work--we muddle through." Coming to grips with such hard facts sets the stage for Web design that then produces topnotch sites.

Using an attractive mix of full-color screen shots, cute cartoons and diagrams, and informative sidebars, the book keeps your attention and drives home some crucial points. Much of the content is devoted to proper use of conventions and content layout, and the "before and after" examples are superb. Topics such as the wise use of rollovers and usability testing are covered using a consistently practical approach.

This is the type of book you can blow through in a couple of evenings. But despite its conciseness, it will give you an expert's ability to judge Web design. You'll never form a first impression of a site in the same way again. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

User patterns
Designing for scanning
Wise use of copy
Navigation design
Home page layout
Usability testing

From the Author

Even if every Web site could afford a usability expert (which they can't), there just aren't enough of us to go around. So I tried to boil down what I've learned over the years (principles like "Don't make me think" and "Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left") into a short, profusely illustrated book--one that even the guy who signs the checks (the one who looks at the site when it's ready to launch and says "I hate green. And there should be more big pictures.") might read.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ New Riders Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 195 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0789723107
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0789723109
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.04 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.75 x 6.75 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #517,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #530 in Web Design (Books)
- #4,815 in Computer Science (Books)

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293 ratings

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4 star		15%
3 star		7%
2 star		3%
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Top reviews from the United States

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TwoNiner

Happy talk must DIE!

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2004

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I work for a small business that constantly redesigns our websites because management, marketing and development can't decide on a single aspect of our website. Everyone thinks their own ideas are the fruit of eden so all we do is talk in circles for hours on end. I found this book very helpful (especially with the political problems within my company) because it cuts out the "I think blah blah is best because I'm the coolest person in the world and my opinions are better than yours" and gets you focused on "this is what works best because it actually works for real people". This book can give you actual support behind your opinions in a meeting about a website because everything is based on usability. Web navigation, layout, instructions and concise content are a few examples of topics covered.
My favorite quote of the book is: "Happy talk must die." I absolutely worship this short section of the book in which Steve Krug explains how happy balk is like a voice in the back of your head saying "blah blah blah blah blah..." Seriously, maybe 80% of my company's website is this BS "happy talk" which has no relevant content or beef to helping our customers or selling our own products. Happy talk is superfluous babble that wastes time and confuses and frustrates web users.
All in all, I think this is a great read (I think it took me about 2 1/2 hours) I recommend it for web designers and web project managers, as well as other individuals that have a large personal stake in a website. I am starting my own company with is heaviliy web-based, and I will be applying many of the topics in this book toward it.
My ownly caveat is that this book is a bit brief - although the author appeared to have written it this way. I would have liked more information on navigation and examples on service-based industries where companies try to sell solutions to customers rather than physical products.

11 people found this helpful

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Penfist

This book is to a web designer what a gun is to a soldier

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2006

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Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability is to a web designer what a rifle is to a soldier.

If you've ever been involved in building a web site that will serve as the virtual world shingle for a corporation or government entity, you should have had this book with you during the project. Get it now if you'll be building such sites in the future.

Web sites don't become popular because someone in a meeting says, "Woudn't it be great if..." They become popular because they are focused and usable. Don't Make Me Think takes you step by step through the process of making a web site focused and usable. Once your web site is focused and usable, you will find that your web site will attract the only thing that justifies pouring your heart and soul into a web site - an audience.

If you build it they will come was a very popular moniker in the 90s. It isn't true. It should be, if you build it right, they will come.

The premise of this book is that if you make people think too hard about finding something on your web site, they'll go away and they won't come back. So if you are interested in having people come to your site and then come back for a second visit, this is the right book. I won't tell you what the author tells you about the logic behind keeping visitors. What I will tell you is that Don't Make Me Think follows its own rules. The book is superbly designed. It's full of practical examples of what works and what doesn't. It answers important questions like are we really asking the right questions? It's good. Buy it if you need help building a web site that will actually keep people interested in the content of said web site.

4 people found this helpful

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A. Quintero

A book of common sense you can't put down!!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2003

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I thought this book was not going to have much information because of its small size but, I bought it because the reviews from other readers convinced me. Boy, am I glad that they did. I opened this book at 10pm and did not put it down until I was too tired to stay up anymore (1 am) I had to get up for work the next day at 6:30am (I live far from work, that's why). If not for work, I would probably have read the whole book that night.
I bought this book because I was tasked in building an intranet at work. I knew HTML and scripting but was not keen on usability. I wanted the intranet to be useful and to keep the users coming back for it's ease of use. After reading a few chapters Steve Krug has taught me to look at my intranet development with a common sense view and not a technical view where I wanted to fill pages with features and clutter. Most users want the information they are looking for right in front of them and not have to think and analyze the information. Simplicity for them and ease of development for me, a win-win situation! This is a small book with a gigantic message that will help you look through the eyes and thoughts of the user and will teach you how your sites will be used by them. This is a great book and it is a must have if you are developing internet/intranet sites. Especially, if you are a newbee to web design like me.

2 people found this helpful

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Susanna Hutcheson

An excellent worthwhile book if you want a useable site.

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2003

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I read this in a few hours. It was time and money well spent. As a copywriter, I do a lot of writing for the web. I'm not a designer, although I do design my own site and from time to time help clients with theirs. So my interest was perhaps from a different need than some other readers.
But I found a good deal of valuable information that I can instantly apply to my daily work, including my copywriting. Copywriters and designers almost always disagree which is more important, words or graphics. Of course, I vote the former and most if not all designers vote the latter.
But this book took no sides. It is something that both the graphics folks and we in marketing can adapt to our daily efforts to make the web useful. After all, we all want that. So there's no disagreement there.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has anything at all to do with a Web site. No matter if it's a one-person show or a corporate site, this book will be of value to you.
It's extremely well written. It's lively and entertaining and just full of information that you can immediately put to use.
Susanna K. Hutcheson
Creative Director and Owner
Powerwriting.com LLC

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Barney Stevenson

An I.T. book that you'll read from cover to cover!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2001

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This book is a real rarity amongst the breed of I.T. books - it's short!!! Whilst other authors seem to vie with each other to produce longer and longer tomes (that will probably be dipped into and then gather dust on bookshelves), Krug has broken the mould and produced a very readable book.
The book has obviously been written and put together with a great deal of care - so refreshing compared to the cavalier approach of many I.T.authors, whose books are full of typos and incorrect internal references. The text is taut and (genuinely) humourous and is illustrated in colour throughout. Credit should also go to Mark Matcho for the illustrations and cartoons.
The book keeps you firmly in the user's shoes. It is entirely non-technical, which, whilst this may disappoint the web developer looking for tips for creating the latest sexy interface effect, means that the book will appeal to a wide range of readers. Also the avoidance of current fads and fashions and the focus on timeless design principles means that the book will continue to be relevent for many years to come.
This book should be read by everyone who wants the web to be a useable and useful place. As the dust settles after the rush of hormones of the web's adolescence, you will be seeing the principles that Krug espouses in the grown-up sites of the web of the future.

One person found this helpful

COL

Not as described

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2019

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Product was ordered as used but “as new”. Book arrived grubby with marks and stickers on

alcie

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2017

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good if you thing about your own webiste

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2017

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Perfect condition, great price, thanks

designerliz

Good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

Really good book to get your teeth into

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