Reviewing some of the vital elements of Don't Make Me Think.

1. Don’t Make Me Think

2. Steve Krug
 Krug is a usability consultant who is contracted by companies
to help make their websites more user-friendly and less
confusing for viewers.
 Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think provides the reader with great
examples and tips when it comes to effective design
techniques that anyone can understand.

3. Usability
 Throughout the book, Krug’s main focus is on the usability of
website designs.
 He breaks “usability” down, to simply meaning:
 “A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience
can figure out how to use the thing to accomplish something without
it being more trouble than it’s worth” (pg. 9).

4. Don’t Make Me Think!
 Krug’s First Law of Usability
 A webpage should be self-explanatory
 Users will scan the site, not read everything on the page
 Get rid of potential question marks for the viewer
 Self-explanatory website makes everything else seem better

5. Create Effective Visual Hierarchies
 All visual cues should portray the relationships of things on
the page
 The more important it is, the more prominent it should be
 If something is related logically, it is related visually
 Things are “nested” visually to show what goes with what
 Categorize properly

6. Don’t Force People to Over Think
 Krug’s Second Law of Usability
 It doesn’t matter how many times I have to click, as long as
each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice
 Clear and easy to understand means users feel they are doing
the right thing
 Users don’t mind the repetitive nature as long as it makes
sense

7. Omit Needless Words
 Krug’s Third Law of Usability
 Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of
what’s left
 Reduces noise level
 Makes useful content more noticeable and prominent
 Allows for more of each page to be seen, without forcing
scrolling

8. Page Names
 Page names are like street signs – you don’t notice them
when you don’t need them, but they’d better be there when
you get lost
 EVERY page needs a name
 Name needs to be in the right place – frame the content
 Name should be prominent
 Name needs to match the clicked content of the page

9. Getting the Message Across
 Tagline should be next to site ID
 Welcome blurb – description of site, not mission statement
 “Learn more” – more than what most people have time for,
but some will want this
 Use as much space as is needed to get your message in there
 Don’t ramble or waste space
 Homepage NEEDS to be tested by others

10. Speaking of Testing…
 Usability tests tell you so much more about the site’s
usability than a focus group
 Find a wide variety of users for testing
 It’s much easier to fix problems earlier than later
 Fix the most serious problems first

11. The Design of Everyday Things
Don’t Make Me Think parallels with Don Norman’s The
Design of Everyday Things beautifully. Norman would be a
huge fan of Krug’s constant focus on improving the
“usability” of things. Each author is fascinated by the way
things are designed. While Norman centers his focus on the
design and understanding of many physical products, Krug
delves into the design and understanding of websites. Each
seem to agree that keeping things simple usually leads to the
best results for users.

12. Brain Rules
While John Medina’s Brain Rules differs from the design
focus that dominates the pages of Don’t Make Me Think and
The Design of Everyday Things, it still has some interesting
tie-ins. Medina and Krug certainly spend a great deal of time
looking at what the brain considers to be important. One of
Medina’s “Brain Rules” is that we don’t pay attention to
boring things. I think Krug would definitely consider this a
vital point to remember when designing a website. A page
must be put together to keep the user’s interest, or else they
will quickly find something better.