Don’t Make Me Think

Steve Krug Krug is a usability consultant who is contracted by companies

to help make their websites more user-friendly and less confusing for viewers.

Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think provides the reader with great examples and tips when it comes to effective design techniques that anyone can understand.

Usability Throughout the book, Krug’s main focus is on the usability of

website designs. He breaks “usability” down, to simply meaning:

“A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing to accomplish something without it being more trouble than it’s worth” (pg. 9).

Don’t Make Me Think! Krug’s First Law of Usability A webpage should be self-explanatory Users will scan the site, not read everything on the page Get rid of potential question marks for the viewer Self-explanatory website makes everything else seem better

Create Effective Visual Hierarchies

All visual cues should portray the relationships of things on the page

The more important it is, the more prominent it should be If something is related logically, it is related visually Things are “nested” visually to show what goes with what

Categorize properly

Don’t Force People to Over Think

Krug’s Second Law of Usability It doesn’t matter how many times I have to click, as long as

each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice Clear and easy to understand means users feel they are doing

the right thing Users don’t mind the repetitive nature as long as it makes

sense

Omit Needless Words Krug’s Third Law of Usability Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of

what’s left Reduces noise level Makes useful content more noticeable and prominent Allows for more of each page to be seen, without forcing

scrolling

Page Names Page names are like street signs – you don’t notice them

when you don’t need them, but they’d better be there when you get lost

EVERY page needs a name Name needs to be in the right place – frame the content Name should be prominent Name needs to match the clicked content of the page

Getting the Message Across

Tagline should be next to site ID Welcome blurb – description of site, not mission statement “Learn more” – more than what most people have time for,

but some will want this Use as much space as is needed to get your message in there Don’t ramble or waste space Homepage NEEDS to be tested by others

Speaking of Testing… Usability tests tell you so much more about the site’s

usability than a focus group Find a wide variety of users for testing It’s much easier to fix problems earlier than later Fix the most serious problems first

The Design of Everyday Things

Don’t Make Me Think parallels with Don Norman’s The Design of Everyday Things beautifully. Norman would be a huge fan of Krug’s constant focus on improving the “usability” of things. Each author is fascinated by the way things are designed. While Norman centers his focus on the design and understanding of many physical products, Krug delves into the design and understanding of websites. Each seem to agree that keeping things simple usually leads to the best results for users.

Brain RulesWhile John Medina’s Brain Rules differs from the design focus that dominates the pages of Don’t Make Me Think and The Design of Everyday Things, it still has some interesting tie-ins. Medina and Krug certainly spend a great deal of time looking at what the brain considers to be important. One of Medina’s “Brain Rules” is that we don’t pay attention to boring things. I think Krug would definitely consider this a vital point to remember when designing a website. A page must be put together to keep the user’s interest, or else they will quickly find something better.