Five years and more than 100,000 copies after it was first published, it's hard to imagine anyone working in Web design who hasn't read Steve Krug's "instant classic" on Web usability, but people are still discovering it every day. In this second edition, Steve adds three new chapters in the same style as the original: wry and entertaining, yet loaded with insights and practical advice for novice and veteran alike. Don't be surprised if it completely changes the way you think about Web design. Three New Chapters!
Usability as common courtesy -- Why people really leave Web sites
Web Accessibility, CSS, and you -- Making sites usable and accessible
Help! My boss wants me to ______. -- Surviving executive design whims
"I thought usability was the enemy of design until I read the first edition of this book. Don't Make Me Think! showed me how to put myself in the position of the person who uses my site. After reading it over a couple of hours and putting its ideas to work for the past five years, I can say it has done more to improve my abilities as a Web designer than any other book. In this second edition, Steve Krug adds essential ammunition for those whose bosses, clients, stakeholders, and marketing managers insist on doing the wrong thing. If you design, write, program, own, or manage Web sites, you must read this book." -- Jeffrey Zeldman, author of Designing with Web Standards
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Great info but a little dated:
I loved this book when I first read it several years ago and I still follow Mr. Krug's guidelines today. But I do find that much of the book is now dated. The web changes so quickly and so do user experience best practices. However, his overall message is as valid as ever. Don't make them think!
Web Usability at its simplest:
This really is a beautiful book. It does a wonderful job of following its own principles. Not only is it clear and simple, but also very effective. Many of the examples are really out of date, but the ideas that they illustrate continue to be evident throughout websites. If you desire to learn more about simple web usability, this book is a must-read.
Direct and Simple Guidance for Designing Functional Websites:
Widely regarded as the best book on web usability, this short, concise, and fun to read book covers all of the basics of web designing for optimal user experience. It won't address specific issues that you may be dealing with on your site, but it will guide you on how to address them, and what process one should undertake throughout to produce results as easily, quickly, and cheaply as possible. The book is full of simple and very valuable facts that come from studies and Krug's experience as a consultant... more info
Stick to the basics:
My first impression was that this book was way too basic...but then, on second thoughts, the problem with most UI designs is that the basics are ignored while we are in search of the holy grail. Steve Krug identifies the fundamental tenets of UI design (simplicity, self-explanatory, design for scanning, importance of navigational elements etc.) and reminds us to internalize them. All the points mentioned in the book should be self-evident and obvious; if we take enough time to step back and think about... more info
