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Don t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

CDN$ 27.64


Usability design is one of the most important though often least attractive tasks for a Web developer. In Don t Make Me Think, author Steve Krug lightens up the subject with good humour and excellent to-the-point examples. The title of the book is its chief personal design premise. All of the tips, techniques and examples presented within it revolve around users being able to surf merrily through a well-designed site with minimal cognitive strain. Readers will quickly come to agree with many of the book s assumptions. For example, We don t read pages--we scan them and, We don t figure out how things work--we muddle through. Getting to grips with such hard facts sets the stage for Web design that then produces top-notch sites. Using an attractive mix of full-colour screen shots, cute cartoons and diagrams, and informative sidebars, the book keeps your attention and drives home some crucial points. Much of the content is devoted to proper use of conventions and content layout, and the before and after examples are superb. Topics such as the wise use of rollovers and usability testing are covered using a consistently practical approach. This is the type of book you can blow through in a couple evenings. But despite its conciseness, it will give you an expert s ability to judge Web design. You ll never form a first impression of a site in the same way again. --Stephen W Plain

Quick Read - Good Arguments - I have read many other books on the subject of web design. Therefore, this one was not an eye opener for me. However, what I liked most is that it helped me organize my arguments on a number of design decisions. In web site building, everybody and his nephew has an opinion. This book will help me convince stakeholders to make the right decisions.

Good book, poor binding - The content is great and the book lives up to its reputation.I am very unhappy with the binding (New Riders) for this 2nd edition, however. Not more than an hour into reading the book the binding is falling apart at several places. Now I have a book I thought I d keep a long time barely being kept together with several pieces of scotch tape.

A truely amazing book... - I am a embedded software developer, not a web developer. I have been always interested in UI design, and I simply just picked up this book based on the reviews. (I consider web page design to be mostly UI design. :-) It is very easy to read. The author s writing is crisp. No useless whiz/buzz-word talk. The author s very insightful with respect to his field. I think the insights given in this book applies to other industries as well. For example, throw out half of the words, and throw out half of what s left section should be applied to any technical documentation. (The chapter basically says, cut the crap, get to the point.)Thanks for the good read!

Great reference but index needs a little beefing up - This is a great reference with lot s of good practical information, but I m kind of disappointed with the index. It s very skimpy, which makes it hard to find specific information. That s why I give it only 4 stars and not 5.

Web designers - Geez, I wish every web designer would read this book. Most websites are just terrible. It s true, who wants to think when they just want to find information or use a website. Excellently written book. Another book that is great is called The System by Roy Valentine. It s a must read!




Don t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability