a great guideline for anyone who is interested in designing websites and products. full of great examples and clear explanations. BUT the book is a little bit outdated especially the mobile view part.

If you're designing your first product/service or trying to figure out "how to make your product actually good" the chapter on testing alone is worth the price of the book.

As you've probably read in other reviews, there are no secrets in this book but sometimes you just need someone to help you remember the obvious and already known.

What comes to your mind when you think about usability in web design? “Less clicks is better”? “Design to the average user”? “Content is king”? “Users leave your website if it doesn’t load in X seconds”? If you take any of these as a rule for your websites then you need to read this book: Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug.

The Book

Although usability is becoming more and more popular among web projects these days, it is still an underrated feature. In this book, Steve Krug explains usability in a fun and direct way, using illustrations to mimic real life situations in which we all have been before. The examples and the websites featured in this book are a little outdated – the first edition was released in 2000 – but the problems are still around only with a modern design.

Myths and Tips

Every chapter contains precious gems and “facts of life” (as the author says) that show us how we really use websites. One example is the fact that he explains how we scan pages instead of reading them, and how this makes “content is king” a myth. Speaking about content, Steve Krug advices us to get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left. This may sound weird, specially under a SEO point of view, but if you think again, by doing this you will end up having only the essential content (or keywords), the one that matters to your user.

Conclusion

Don’t let the fact that the book was originally written the year 2000 put you off. As I said before, we still face the same issues today. In 2005 was released the second version of this book which has three new chapters, including one where he talks about CSS & web usability and another one – one of the best IMHO – where he advices us on how to answer to our bosses when they have bad ideas. If you’re still wondering if buying the book is a good idea or not, the fact that it is recommended by Jeffrey Zeldman should be enough for you to buy it!

[Visit my website and read the book review.]

This book was required reading for one of my grad school courses and I’m so glad it was! It’s a fantastic guide for graphic designers. The tone is practical and funny. I like lots of other design books this one was fun to read and I got a lot out of it. Absolutely recommend, especially if you’re new to the industry.

A quick read, but worth it for the nuggets of wisdom to be found throughout. Web design impacts digital marketing and content people's jobs more than they might think, and it's good to know how to play with design to produce a better product.

The perfect mixture of humor and information. This book reads like a live conversation.

كتاب مميز و بسيط جداً
فكرته قائمة على العنوان " لا تجعلني أفكر "
فهو يعطي فكرة لكل مبرمج أو مطور للمواقع أن يقدم موقع للزائر بحيث يكون الموقع بسيط و سلس و واضح دون حاجة ذلك الزائر لإن يدخل - بالحيط - حتى يتمكن من فهم قصدك كمبرمج للموقع .
و حتى إن لم تكن مبرمجاً يمكنك بكل بساطة التعامل مع الكتاب

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

По сути, эта книга является аналогом книги «Дизайн привычных вещей» с той разницей, что речь в этой книге идёт не о физических объектах, а о виртуальных. Однако принцип, на котором построены обе эти книги - один и тот же. Оба автора главной своей идеей провозглашают удобство пользования. И если для автора книги «Дизайн привычных вещей» важно было чтобы физические товары, как например бритва, коробка для CD или простая дверь, были удобны. То для книги «Не заставляйте меня думать» важным является простота использования сайта или мобильного приложения. В данном случаи под простотой понимается не минималистический дизайн, а лёгкость в использовании, удобство. Если человек зашёл на сайт чтобы купить книгу, то процесс выбора и покупки должен быть максимально прост и удобен. Вот главная и единственная идея книги. Мне кажется, ещё со времён Баухауса большинству маркетологов стало ясно, что удобство использования товара является важным фактором конкурентного преимущества. Разумеется, это не 100% гарантия успеха, ибо существуют всё ещё товары, которые приобретаются даже несмотря на то, что они не очень-то и удобные в использовании. Но я встречаю всё чаще и чаще в профессиональной маркетинговой литературе аргумент, что удобство пользования товара может стать важным свойством товара в борьбе за кошелёк потребителя. Так что да, я считаю, что эта книга является обязательной для любого маркетолога или предпринимателя.

Что касается содержания, то половину составляют советы в стиле self-help, которые даёт автор по улучшению сайта. Учитывая, что в книге практически на каждой странице присутствуют цветные иллюстрации, то самого текста тут не очень-то и много. Однако это тот редкий случай, когда автору удалось сохранить баланс, создав практически идеальный вариант. В итоге мы имеем небольшую (200 страниц) книгу с предельно понятными иллюстрациями для каждой идеи автора и полное отсутствие пустых слов и повторений (текст, что называется, без воды).

Я бы отдельно отметил такой важный инструмент как тестирование сайта. Лично мне это чем-то напомнило тестирование в маркетинге, когда потребителей просят использовать товары у себя дома, но под запись видеокамеры. Т.е. разработчики хотят узнать, как на самом деле потребляется товар, а не как сами разработчики предполагают, он будет использоваться. Это интересное наблюдение, что и в физическом мире и в виртуальном важную роль играет тестирование.

В заключении скажу, что главным лозунгом книги, а следовательно, и целью разработчика при создании удобного сайта или мобильного приложения является лозунг «Не заставляйте меня думать». Т.е. процесс использования сайта должен быть настолько понятным и простым, что фактически на интуитивном уровне должно происходить путешествие по страницам сайта. Собственно в этом отличие профессионально созданного сайта от халтуры. Ведь и халтура может быть, на первый взгляд, сделана достаточно красиво. Проблемы начнут проявляться, когда обнаружится, что под фасадом сплошные ошибки и недоработки или что вся конструкция может разрушиться. Разумеется, эта книга не научит читателя создавать сайт. Я даже думаю, что эта книга ориентирована не на программистов, которые и создают сайты, а на тех, кто принимает их, т.е. на заказчиков.

In essence, this book is analogous to the book "The Psychology of Everyday Things" with the difference that this book is not about physical objects but about virtual ones. However, the principle on which both books are based is the same. Both authors proclaim usability as their main idea. And if for the author of the book "The Psychology of Everyday Things" it was important that physical products such as a razor, a CD box, or a simple door were convenient. Then for the book "Don't Make Me Think!" the important thing is the ease of use of the website or mobile app. In this case, simplicity does not mean a minimalistic design, but the ease of use, convenience. If a person goes to the website to buy a book, then the process of selection and purchase should be as simple and convenient as possible. It is the main and only idea of the book. It seems to me that since the time of the Bauhaus, it has become clear to most marketers that the ease of use of goods is an important factor of competitive advantage. Of course, this is not a 100% guarantee of success because there are still products that are purchased even though they are not very user-friendly. But I am seeing more and more often in the professional marketing literature the argument that product usability can be an important product attribute in the fight for the consumer's wallet. So yes, I think this book is a must-read for any marketer or entrepreneur.

As for the content, half of the book consists of self-help tips from the author on improving a website. Considering that the book has color illustrations on almost every page, there is not much text. However, this is the rare case where the author managed to keep balance, creating a near-perfect version. As a result, we have a small (200 pages) book with illustrations for each of the author's ideas and a complete absence of empty words and repetitions (the text, as they say, without water).

I would mention such an important tool as site testing. Personally, it reminds me of testing in marketing, when consumers are asked to use products in their homes, but under the recording of a video camera. That is, developers want to know how the product is actually consumed, not how the developers themselves assume it will be used. It's an interesting observation that in both the physical world and the virtual world, testing plays an important role.

In conclusion, I will say that the main slogan of the book, and consequently the goal of the developer when creating a user-friendly site or mobile application, is the slogan "Don't make me think". That is, the process of using a website should be so clear and simple that it should actually be an intuitive journey through the pages of the website. Actually, this is the difference between a professional website from a shoddy one. After all, even shoddy work can be, at first glance, made quite beautifully. Problems will begin to manifest themselves when it is discovered that under the facade are solid errors and flaws, or that the entire structure can collapse. Of course, this book will not teach the reader how to build a website. I even think that this book is not aimed at programmers, who create websites, but at those who accept them, i.e., customers.

I was predisposed in favor of this book because it's the most-voted-for on the UX Stack Exchange. It wasn't all I'd hoped it would be. If this were the first text about usability I'd read, I might have gotten more out of it. As it was, the overwhelming majority of the topics presented seemed patently obvious to me.

One thing this book has going for it is its brevity. Before agreeing to publish a second edition, Krug insisted upon first discovering what could be removed from the first edition so that no extra length would be added. Rather than writing about details of debates relevant only to people completely immersed in usability, he aims to convey the most essential concepts of the usability field as briefly as possible. In this he succeeds. The book is a clear introduction to some of the most important principles of the field. However, it glosses over them without going into depth.

Perhaps the most useful part of the book is a transcript of a sample usability test, including what to say and do at the beginning of the test. The introduction says that this chapter was abridged from three chapters in an earlier version of the book and some of the content was moved to Krug's site and expanded upon in a later book, which I am now interested in reading.

Some other (less useful) things this book says are:

- The function of every element on the page should be as obvious as possible. Aim to make things self-evident, but make them self-explanatory at the very least.
- Expect users to skim, satisfice, and muddle through pages. Designers should make it easy to skim and make it so that users have to muddle as little as possible.
- Use a clear visual hierarchy to help users find things faster.
- Don't go against conventions unless your change brings a significant and easy-to-learn improvement.
- Assume that every element is visual noise.
- Use navigation elements not just to show people how to find what they're looking for, but also to give them a sense of where they are and what else the site contains.
- Navigation should be consistently laid out through all the levels of the site, not just the top two.
- Navigation elements (particularly those showing the location of the current page) should stick out.
- Tabs connecting to the pages below are strong navigational elements.
- All headers and labels should be clearly associated visually with the elements they relate to (framing those elements).
- Make sure that the homepage conveys the big picture. It should tell what the site is about. Use taglines rather than mottos next to site logos. (Tell what the site does, not what it's ideals are.)
- The navigation should be the same on all pages except for the homepage and pages with forms.
- Avoid the Tragedy of the Commons that occurs when too many things are added to the homepage. All departments will want homepage links, but too many homepage links will devalue the homepage. (The sections of the book about the homepage are decreasing in importance owing to the decreasing number of users actually landing on site home pages.)
- You shouldn't expect any one feature to be the best way of doing something for all users (or a mythic Average User); instead focus on whether it creates a good experience for users who encounter it in its current context.
- Focus groups are for initial planning; usability tests are for iterative improvement.
- Test early, informally, and often. This way, you can improve the product and encounter issues in later tests that weren't evident until issues from the first test were resolved.
- You can set up an inexpensive yet effective usability lab by placing a camcorder monitoring the screen in one room leading to a TV displaying the video to stakeholders in another room. Use a screen recorder as well.
- Before you have a working prototype, run tests on a couple of sites with similar features or functionality to get a sense of what works well about them.
- Be considerate of the user. Try to have their best interests at heart.
- To help make a site accessible to people with disabilities, first make sure it's usable for people without disabilities.
- Several small tweaks in the code can drastically improve accessibility.

Steve Krug offers a very good introduction to the topic of web usability and unsurprisingly it also deals with the web.
Someone who doesn't design websites but applications (supposedly there are still such people) can therefore do less with the book. And those who have been dealing with the topic of user experience design for a longer time may not find much new. But web designers who want to get into the topic of user experience can't go wrong with it!
Also very nice: The writing style is entertaining and the length is pleasantly short. There are some who literally can take a leaf out of his book.

Don't Make Me Think A Common Sense Approach To Web Usability, Second Edition, Steve Krug-- Review

Don't Make Me Think is a book about web usability. Usability is basically how easy it is too efficiently use a website. It tests how to make a website easier for the average visitor.

This book gives you insights into how to make a website easy to use. The first principle is to make your website as obvious as possible. For example, if the visitor is looking for employment information, it should use the most obvious words to describe employment like jobs or resume.

The other point it makes is that people don't read websites they do magazines or books, they scan through a website quickly. Most people do not want to scroll through screens of information. They want to go to the first place which gives them relevant information. They are seeking "satisficing", that is the place where they will get the information they need, not the best information.

Steve Krug describes how a website is more like a billboard than a magazine. The title should be prominently displayed on all the pages, and there should be a link back to the home page on every page. The most important piece of information on the web page should be the most visible.

Links should be obviously shown as links. This is why I usually put the full url in my blog posts for sites that you can visit.

Steve Krug quotes from The Elements of Style, "Omit needless words." He further says you must eliminate happy talk, marketing talk, and jargon from your site. People do not have very much patience on the internet.

There are some interesting concepts described about how people find things. He has many diagrams on how people seek out to buy things on the web. These diagrams explain how to make the experience quicker and easier. He also describes how to create a visual trail for the user on a web site. This often called "breadcrumbs." At times this gets a bit complex.

There is also a description of the basic elements of a homepage for a business. This book is mostly focused on business and professional websites, not the home user. It often describes how a development team in a business would build or test a website. This is my first experience with this kind of material.

Some of the elements in a professional homepage are search functionality, timely content, and shortcuts. He mentions that the title of websites should have a catchy tagline attached to them. This should explain exactly what the website is about.

The final chapters are how to do usability testing in a very inexpensive manner. He describes the basic setup with a camcorder, cabling, computers, and screen capture software. Then he tells how you can test a website with small groups of people to see whether or not it is easy for them to use. I understood the majority of this. However, it is not something I am planning on doing immediately.

Immediately after the cheap usability testing, he gives an outline of the context of what generates goodwill and bad will in a website. For example, some of the elements which generate goodwill are making it easy to recover from errors, putting in printer friendly pages, and knowing what the main thing people want in your website then implementing it.

The last few pages have several books which he recommends you read to improve your web site usability. Some of them look quite interesting. I may order several of them for my library. There is an index in the back of the book as well.

The book is illustrated in full color. There are pictures on almost every page. The artwork is pleasant to look and relevant to the content of the book. The book itself is designed so it is easy to read. The author claims you should be able to read through the book in about two hours. It took me three hours with several interruptions.

This book is very basic. It gives you an idea of what web usability is. I think it is helpful for basic tips on how to improve a website. The material is not advanced or complicated. It is the kind of thing you can read in an afternoon. This is a beginners book.

It is a generic book which is repetitive.