What I've Learned in the 21st Century - Steve Krug

What I Have Learned So Far in the 21st Century Steve Krug Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference San Francisco April 29, 2009

It’s been nine years
… since I first wrote DMMT
As this timeline shows:
© 2001 Steve Krug

People often ask me…
OK. People sometimes ask me…
OK. In nine years, two people have asked me…
“ Things have changed since you wrote your book. What have you learned in the meantime?”
Thought I’d try to figure it out
OK. Things I’ve learned in the 21 st century:
© 2001 Steve Krug

#1
Filling out college financial aid forms is as much work (and as much fun) as doing your taxes
© 2001 Steve Krug

#2
Even a small amount of Zoloft ® can make life seem much more manageable
© 2001 Steve Krug

#3
“ Economy class syndrome” is not an urban myth
Always get up and walk around on long flights
© 2001 Steve Krug

Public service announcement
Two tips
Get up and walk once an hour on long flights
Almost impossible to do nowadays
If you stand up, flight attendants glare at you
What works: walk standing in place in the airplane bathroom
If you feel sick on a Friday, don’t wait until Monday to call your HMO
© 2001 Steve Krug

#4
Wikipedia actually works
My candidate for “Most valuable social app”
I was a late adopter
Google made me do it
I didn’t use it until Google began returning Wikipedia pages as first result for my queries
Would not have believed a wiki approach could work
14%-17% of all people are either plain evil or at least “bad actors”
Evil often trumps good
© 2001 Steve Krug

The Kubla Khan can butt in line; The biggest brute can take what's mine; When heavyweights break wind, that's fine; No matter what a judge might say, The drunken driver has the right of way. Excerpted from: The Drunken Driver Has the Right Of Way by Ethan Coen (of the Coen Brothers)
© 2001 Steve Krug

#5
Mindmapping is my most valuable tool
Much better than just outlining, for reasons that remain a mystery
Probably the combination of visual and verbal
Plus super-easy re-arranging/juggling of thoughts
© 2001 Steve Krug

Oh, wait…
You probably wanted to know what I’ve learned about usability
Warning: I’ve only learned a few things
I’m a slow learner
Remember: I only had three “laws” in DMMT
I couldn’t find much to add to the Second Edition
Jakob Nielsen’s great explanation: Usability is much more about human nature than technology. Technology changes quickly; human nature very slowly.
None of them start with “Don’t make me…”
© 2001 Steve Krug

#1
Even in the age of The Internets, it’s possible to do something public (like write a book) and not get flamed on a regular basis
I was braced for incoming fire; almost none appeared
My son is still outraged by one review:
© 2001 Steve Krug

#2
User testing really does always work
I thought this was true before, but now I really know it is
I’ve done a lot of live demo tests
Take a URL from someone in the audience
Grab a volunteer as test participant
Make up a task
Do a 15 minute test
Out of 20 in three years, I’ve had only one where the site “owner” wasn’t blown away
All you have to do is do it; it just works
© 2001 Steve Krug

#3
If people need to notice something, you have to be “louder” than you’d like
On the Web, users miss most design subtleties most of the time
Designers love subtle visual effects
Things like hairline rules and tiny, low-contrast type are hallmarks of sophisticated design
They work in print
Best in show; not so good in the field
Amazon has taken this to heart
Spot the two things on the following page that Amazon needs to be sure you notice:
© 2001 Steve Krug

#4
Written reports for usability tests are largely a waste of time
Unless you’re doing quantitative testing
I don't do them anymore
Do a live presentation of results instead
I use/love GoToMeeting
Stakeholder questions/qualms/quibbles can be asked and answered in real time
No endless follow-up email threads
No 1-2 week lag time between test and report
I recommend debriefing the same day as testing
© 2001 Steve Krug

#5
Focus (relentlessly, ruthlessly) on the most important problems
Nobody has time or resources to fix all/most/more than a few usability problems
It’s very easy to find more problems than you can fix
It’s tempting to make the easier fixes
The harder-to-fix, more serious problems often linger
© 2001 Steve Krug

#5
I recommend only tackling 3-5 most important problems observed in each round of testing
Can work on more only after those are fixed
The profoundly-low-hanging-fruit exception: You can take on additional “quick fixes” only if they
… can be fixed by one person
… in less than 15 minutes
… without getting anyone else’s approval
E.g., fix a typo, or change the name of a button
© 2001 Steve Krug

#6
When fixing usability problems (as in life), do the least you can do
Temptation is to overhaul things; do a redesign
Instead, make the smallest change you think might fix the observed problem
Tweak, don’t redesign
Don’t break anything while you do it
Test the changes (“Tweak, but verify”)
If first tweak doesn’t fix the problem, consider trying a stronger version of the tweak before redesigning/rethinking/reinventing
© 2001 Steve Krug

#7
Stats are finally worth something
Used to be that expensive web analytics projects produced accuracy of ±50%
Free Google Analytics is a game changer
Free a/b testing (Google Web Optimizer) will hold my feet to the fire (thankfully)
We experts can't just mouth off with impunity any more
© 2001 Steve Krug

Thanks for all the fish
Feedback, gripes go to
[email_address]
Shameless Self-promotion Department
Join Lou Rosenfeld and I in London for our day-long workshops May 20-21
http://events.etre.com/events/2009/etre-get-together/
© 2001 Steve Krug

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What I've Learned in the 21st Century - Steve Krug

by SteveKrug on May 10, 2009

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