I read this handbook on Web usability for work related reasons. It was originally published in the early 2000’s, shortly after Jakob Nielsen’s Designing Web Usability. Both Krug and Nielsen have since become (along with Steve Jobs and Jony Ives, at Apple) the head honchos of Web Design.

This short and highly readable book covers topics such as: how people really use websites (they don’t actually read, they like to scan and browse mindlessly… but we already knew that, didn’t we?), how to design navigation and breadcrumbs, etc. Krug insists on the importance of usability testing: one chapter is actually a cookbook on how to conduct user tests without getting top-heavy on the matter. This recent republication also includes a chapter on designing for mobile and accessibility.

A very enjoyable, casual (and oftentimes fun) read, that the staff at Goodreads should consider rereading from time to time: a word to the wise is enough!

Thus far, I'd say our old bookahs are still more usable than anything digital… or aren’t they? :)

I bought this book because I needed a quick overview on usability testing. It succeeded on that front. I even had no issues skipping to the usability testing chapters, reading those first, and coming back to the rest of the book: each chapter is pretty self-contained.

Steve Krug's book is a classic for a reason. Great overview of a lot of topics, including pointers for where to dig more deeply into usability testing, accessibility considerations, etc. Very high-level, simple, clearly-written advice and easy on the eyes in terms of reading and knowing what topic you're reading about. He follows his own advice, especially about cutting out unnecessary words---this book is dense with information not because it's written at a really high level but because he doesn't waste your time making you read sentences you don't need.

Cons: second edition published in 2005, most of the screenshots are still of websites from 1999. The advice is slightly tainted by browser features at the time and conventions have changed slightly.

The book was a short, quick and easy read that can easily be finished on a plane ride. It's in full color with a couple of helpful diagrams, but I mostly found the comics in it annoying and patronizing. A lot of what Krug brings up in the first half seems like common sense, but he does delve deeper into some points, which may be helpful for some.

The most valuable information I found in Don't Make Me Think was the little quizzes in the middle of the book where readers are presented with sample websites and asked what was wrong or needed improvement. Krug walks through important aspects of those sites in a clear and concise manner. I wish that more of the book was made up of examples like those.

Great for people new to design that want to get a grasp of most of best practices and mindsets to have while designing digital products. I found it a bit too basic and quite outdated, but still great to get more design books into my library

4.5 stars. I’ve been busy traveling for work and not getting the chance to read as much for fun, but managed to read the update to this timeless reference book for basic website (and now mobile) usability. It’s very basic (and even calls itself out as such), but I think it’s a great introduction to the areas of web and mobile usability and is something anyone who is a fan of well-designed products would enjoy!

A no nonsense approach on how to design web sites to be as effective as possible. The second edition adds information on treating users well and designing for accessibility while trimming the focus on how to conduct usability testing. It has been a number of years since I first skimmed this book and I found the changes welcome. My biggest complaint with the book continues to be a lack of a summary or checklist on the high level points with references to where the topic is covered in more detail. While the book is concise enough to easily skim through I frequently found myself wishing for some more than just the index to find material when I wanted to review a topic. If even half the advice given in the book was followed the web would be twice as easy to use.

Some perennial tips for streamlining UX online, but much of it feels dated since websites have made way for web applications.

(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.

In this book, Krug shows you how to make things easy for visitors to your site by making sure everything on it is obvious at a glance and easy to find and get to. And he practices what he preaches - I picked this book in large part because of its clear, attractive, reader-friendly design. It's a quick read, but you may want to take your time on it a bit to make sure you fully register everything he says.

There are applications of what he says far beyond web design. I teach pronunciation, and know that people really don't want to have to grapple with poor pronunciation and incorrect grammar to get at what a speaker actually meant to say. Those who say the listener should do some of the work too are not thinking about how competition for attention and resources works in the real world.

If you have a web site, blog, or any other online presence, I highly recommend you get and read this book NOW!

Interesting, practic, easy to read! Surely recommend developers and designers.

An excellent introduction to creating usable websites. As the title states, every website’s design and functionality should be so simple that people barely need to think to use it. The book’s 2nd edition is from 2005, so some examples are dated, but the concepts are quite relevant. This was a fun read due to its straightforward style and Krug’s humor.

When I started looking for web design books, Steve Krug’s classic on web usability frequently appeared at the top of most lists, along with Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman (see my review). I highly recommend both books.

Steve Krug’s Laws of Usability
First Law: Don’t make me think. Make things obvious and self-evident, or at least self-explanatory. People scan; they don’t read. People choose the first reasonable option. People muddle through things rather than figure them out.
Second Law: It doesn't matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice. Make choices mindless for ease of use.
Third Law: Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left. Be ruthlessly concise.

Usability testing
Test early and often. Test with 3 or 4 users. Have each user think out loud as they use the site. Use a screen recorder to record the session for reference. Fix any problems, then test again. Review the results as soon as possible.

Additional notes
Navigation helps users find things, tells them where they are, reveals content, and tells how to use the site. It must be good enough to help people who land on any page.
The home page should have a personable, lively tagline conveying a value proposition. The home page also needs a short, scannable welcome blurb describing the site.
Know what people want, and make those things obvious and easy.
Only ask for information necessary to complete the transaction.
Only make a site look good if it’s not at the expense of making it work well.

É o livro zero para quem quer gosta dessa área de UX e UI porque trata daquilo que é e vai ser atemporal: o usuário está sempre perdido e quer a interface mais simples e mais familiar possível. Mas não só isso, o livro parece ter sido um dos primeiros a antecipar a importância da prototipagem e acessibilidade, que hoje está na boca de todo mundo.