This document summarizes key points from the book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steven Krug. It discusses how to design websites for usability by making pages self-explanatory, eliminating question marks for users, using visual cues and consistency, and testing sites with real users. The goal is to make information easily accessible without frustrating users so they will keep using the site rather than go elsewhere. Proper design creates order and clarity for users.

1. Carl Larson
Highlights from the book
“Don’t Make Me Think “
By Steven Krug
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2. Short Term Memory
The brain has many different types of memory systems.
One type follows the four stages of processing:
Encoding, Storing, Retrieving, and
Forgetting.
The more elaborately we encode
information at the moment of
learning,the stronger the memory.

3. So Why Then?
• Create site pages that are self evident or at least
self explanatory.
• Understand that unless its a site specific to the
user like a bank site or a school
assignment/learning platform. Having a captive
audience navigate and retrieve information with
out frustration is an ideal site goal.
• If a site is not well designed and not efficient at
relaying needed and wanted information then
some might just go elsewhere for their
information retrieval.
• Although this is not always true> It would be a
surprise to understand that most people with a
choice will continue with a poorly designed site
rather than have to start all over some were else.

4. Understanding the big
question in site design.
• When you create a web site your
first and primary job for the end
user is to get ride of the question
marks.
• Laying out and the design of the
site page is to make the deduction
process less of a mystery and more
of a mastery.

5. How does existing
conventions work for your
site development?
• The best way to retrieve information and
make it easily available is the use of a
standardized design plan for your site and
its navigation process.
• A great example is would you be able to
understand material on a sites page that
was written in a different language if they
relied heavily on standard conventions?
» YES NO
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QuickTime™ and a
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QuickTime™ and a
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6. How do you combine visual
clues that accurately
represent the relationship of
items on the sites page?
• Consistency is an important goal for
your site or app design.
• Understand as well that if you make
something significantly clearer by
making it slightly inconsistent
choose in favor of clarity.

7. Affordance is what and how
it works for you.
• Affordances require visual distinctions.
• They are visual clues in an objects design that
make suggestions and inferences on how we can
use it.
• They need to be noticeable for them to work.
• An affordance is often taken as a relation between
an object or an environment and an organism,
that affords the opportunity for that organism to
perform an action. For example, a knob affords
twisting, and perhaps pushing, while a cord
affords pulling.

8. How Important is it?
• The more important somethingThe more important something
is the more prominent it shouldis the more prominent it should
be displayed on your sitebe displayed on your site..
• Items that are related logically should also be related visually.
• Items are grouped into visual categories to show what is
related to what and what’s part of what.
• A good visual hierarchy saves us work by preprocessing the page for
us, allowing organizing ad prioritizing its comments in a way that we
can grasp almost immediately.

9. • Break up pages into clearly defined areas
• ( This helps the end user find information
and focus on that topic while other
information may never or rarely gets seen
or used.
Make what is clickable obvious
Understand the information seeker
Use plenty of headings to help separate and
organize material. Once again this makes
scanning the information easy.

10. Usability Testing and
how it IS for you.
• The usability testing model use one
person at a time to interact with
the material or technology and then
fix the problem or frustrating
components of the material or site.
• Great site + Usability testing= less
user frustration and better user
satisfaction.

11. The last understanding
• What constitutes good design?
• “Design in its broadest sense, is the enabler of
the digital era-it’s a process that creates order out
of the chaos, that renders technology useable to
the masses. Design means being good not just
looking good.
• Clement Mok
• “Good design is obvious great design is
transparent”
• Joe Sparano