Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
13th March 2006 by Sean
| Author: Steve Krug |   |
If your organization has any sort of Web site or if you are in any way involved in the usability and design of software, this book is the place to learn how to make your customers enjoy using what you design. Everyone from Joel Spolsky to marketingsherpa.com recommends this book.
I’ve thumbed through it a few times but haven’t actually read it yet. It has a very conversational style of writing and should be an easy read, yet not just a bunch of fluff, judging by the types of people that recommend it.
What Sitepoint.com says.
Unlike many other books packed to the brim with dry statistics, “Don’t Make Me Think” gets straight to the point of what you really need to know. I should be upfront here: the book doesn’t cover every aspect of usability. And in my opinion, that’s a good thing. The application of the few key principles in the book will make your Website better than 99% of what’s out there. And, by keeping the book brief and direct, Steve Krug has made it more likely that his work will actually be used by those creating Websites.
What a reader says.
Even if you have conducted usability testing and think you know what constitutes a usable web site, read this book! Krug has distilled years of experience into a few principles that are easy to grasp but not always so easy to implement. His insights are sometimes counterintuitive and often not what a designer would want to hear. (I know because I am a web designer!)