10 Usability Lessons from Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think ... [Link]
10 Usability Lessons from
Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me
Think
Many people in the usability
Author:
Redd Horrocks
community regard Steve Krug’s
book Don’t Make Me Think: A
Published:
July 7th, 2009 Common Sense Approach to
Popularity:
Web Usability, 2nd Edition
([Link]
Category:
Blog, Usability
/gp/product
/0321344758?ie=UTF8&tag=ux-
Pictured above:
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booth-20&linkCode=as2& Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think”
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creativeASIN=0321344758) as the
laypersons usability bible. This book explains briefly and concisely
everything one needs to know about getting started with web usability. For
more advanced users, it’s a great refresher course.
UX Booth has been open for more than half a year now, and when we started I was
always regarded as the layperson of the group. After getting all serious about
usability, I’ve re-read Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think and pulled out what I
consider to be the most insightful and best thoughts in this book.
I highly recommend picking up a copy if you get a chance, but here are some things
to think about in the meantime. Some are simple and straightforward but worth
remembering, some are just phrased beautifully, and some will make you think.
The Lessons
1. Usability Means…
Usability means making sure something works well, and that a person of
average ability or experience can use it for its intended purpose without
getting hopelessly frustrated.
2. Web applications should explain themselves.
As far as humanly possible, when I look at a web page it should be
self-evident. Obvious. Self-explanatory.
3. Don’t Make Me Think
As a rule, people don’t like to puzzle over how to do things. If people who
build a site don’t care enough to make things obvious it can erode
confidence in the site and its publishers.
4. Don’t waste my time
Much of our web use is motivated by the desire to save time. As a result,
web users tend to act like sharks. They have to keep moving or they’ll die.
5. Users still cling to their back buttons
There’s not much of a penalty for guessing wrong. Unlike firefighting, the
penalty for guessing wrong on a website is just a click or two of the back
button. The back button is the most-used feature of web browsers.
6. We’re creatures of habit
If we find something that works, we stick to it. Once we find something
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10 Usability Lessons from Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think ... [Link]
that works — no matter how badly — we tend not to look for a better way.
We’ll use a better way if we stumble across one, but we seldom look for
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7. No Time for Small Talk
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Happy talk is like small talk – content free, basically just a way to be
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sociable. But most Web users don’t have time for small talk; they want to
get right to the beef. You can – and should – eliminate as much happy talk
as possible.
8. Don’t lose search
Some people (search-dominant users), will almost always look for a search
box as they enter a site. These may be the same people who look for the
nearest clerk as soon as they enter a store.
9. We form mental site-maps
When we return to something on a Web site, instead of replying on a
physical sense of where it is, we have to remember where it is in the
conceptual hierarchy and retrace our steps.
10. Make it easy to go home
Having a home button in sight at all times offers reassurance that no
matter how lost I may get, I can always start over, like pressing a Reset
button or using a “Get out of Jail free” card.
What are your words of wisdom?
So what words of wisdom on Usability do you have? What are the best books
about Usability that you have read?
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