Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web and Mobile Usability is a book about, you guessed it, usability. The broad topic of usability is something that has always fascinated me.
While studying for my degree, there was this notion pounded into my head that technical communicators are often the only user advocates (unless a company is investing in a user experience consultant). I’ve found that to be true in many instances in the last few years. There have been times I’ve raised issues that I have found or have even been asked to provide input on software applications or websites.
I think it’s important. I want to be more knowledgeable on the topic. To one extent or another, everyone should be concerned about user experience. Lucky for us, Steve Krug has a lot of experience with usability and has taken the time to condense his core guiding principals into a book.
Each week I will read a chapter (or three) from Krug’s book and outline what I’ve learned here on my blog. I’m excited to begin my dive into user design. It’ll add one more tool to my tool belt. And who doesn’t love having more tools?
So without further ado, keep reading to find my key take aways from the preface and Chapter 1 of Krug’s book.
Read Me First
In the preface, Krug briefly outlines his process when performing the duties of a usability consultant. Those duties are as follows:
- Test the website or application yourself
- Notate any areas that are difficult to navigate
- Observe an outside resource using the website or application and gather findings
- Meet with the client’s team to present the issues and provide recommendations
It’s important to note here that he says putting together a presentation for the client is much more effective since most companies are working within an Agile or Lean methodology and do not have time to read a long report. A to-the-point presentation saves everyone some work (and thinking).
Krug outlines that a lot of user-design is common sense. However, most people don’t realize it right away. In many cases, good or bad examples are only evident after being pointed out. It just takes an understanding of a few key concepts to start seeing them on your own.
Before we dive into chapter one, it’s important to know what Krug’s definition of usability is. His understanding is the guiding light for the rest of the book. So here it is:
“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.”
– Steve krug
Chapter 1: Don’t make me think!
The title of the chapter hit it on the head. That’s it. That’s all it says. There isn’t anymore content.
I’m kidding. But a lot of this chapter boils down to this main idea. Krug mentions that he doesn’t have any hard or fast rules about usability. If you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, you could find some rules. However, it just adds to your mental checklists that can make it more difficult to focus on other things.
He argues that when it comes to designing a website or application, stay away from clever or super technical names for things. If you try to get too creative with naming a button, the user may have to think about the meaning behind it for too long. It’s our job as a designers to eliminate those extra seconds of question marks.
Krug maintains that if users have lots of mental question marks when using something, their confidence in the company or organization behind the platform can be damaged.
His solution for this? Make everything self-evident. It should be as painfully obvious as you can make it. But if you’re working with a website or application that is of an inherently complicated nature and you can’t make it obvious, it’s okay to settle for self-explanatory. As long as the user can successfully interact with it.
That’s it for chapter one. At the start of this book, I was expecting more hard and fast rules. I’m pleasantly surprised that this isn’t the case. As Krug mentioned, a lot of it is common sense. You just need a trained person to point out the obvious to you for it to click. I’m excited to read more and see what other nuggets of wisdom he has for the beginner.
Monica Dailey 