Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter)

I am a doctor, a surgeon, so you would say why are you reading “Don’t make me think”. Good question. Today we all live by the web, through smart phones and PCs, apps and websites, not to mention social networks that I personally have not yet discovered. The web and its usability is part of our common language, a new alphabet, grammar and syntax we have had to learn to live in our world and get along in our profession and free time. But if you met a person who was only able to speak and not read and write you would say he is an analphabet, the same is not true for a user of the web from whom no one expects she/he be able of composing or better designing a website or an app. Presently, many domain professionals are willing to designing web content necessary for their specific necessities, but not yet able to do it by themselves and look for “primers” or “how to..” books to help them start or go pro in this activity. “Don’t make met think” is I believe one of the basic books to learn from. Not only it is easy to read and very clear, but it is also funny, entertaining, full of useful information and at the same time systematic and complete. Steven Krug is evidently a guru of web usability and he has reached the 3rd edition of his book that has filled the minds and hearts of thousands of computer people. It has been and is so popular I believe because it gets to the point of how to think before starting to design. In some ways it is almost a psychology text or better it uses a practical psychological approach to give simple directives to follow in order to keep on the right tract while carrying out design. It sidetracks into information on attention, the use of time, expert remarks on design and interfaces and also on how people actually think. A whole chapter is focused on ethics of web design: a web site should be a “mensche” or as we would say in Italian “un uomo d’onore”, a man of honor, and another on mobile applications with all their space related problems. So, if you are a information technology specialist or if you are an amateur wanting to learn how to design an app or a website, this book is a good point to start from. Read it, love it and treasure its teachings.

I’ve read a lot of design related books in my career, and this may be the most engaging one. This book is simple, clearly written, interesting, and at times funny. He presents some high level ideas about user experience. He also offers practical advice on easy ways to improve your work. And the whole thing reads like a conversation with a friend. Highly recommended for anyone who works with the web or apps.

Love the book, but I do not like the paper that it is printed on. It’s kinda cheap paper and it feels strange on the skin. Otherwise the book contents are 100% golden information. It’s worth looking past the weird paper used.

If I were in a bad mood, I might hold back a star because many of the examples shown are outdated, even in this “revisited” version. But I’m not in a bad mood and I don’t see the outdatedness as Krug’s fault. The way the web evolves and advances, he’d have to publish a new version almost every year to keep up. And even though the visual examples may be “old,” the concepts and advice still apply. Now, what will you learn by reading Don’t Make Me Think? It’s possibly you’ll learn nothing, but rather be reminded of some common sense. That was my experience reading Don’t Make Me Think. Every rule or advice Krug would give, I would think “duh, of course!” And then immediately realize all the ways I or my colleagues were neglecting that rule or advice. It’s a humbling experience. A lot of the rules and advice boil down to KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. We humans have a habit of trying to be clever at times when we not only don’t need to be, but at times when we shouldn’t be. When we start trying to be clever, we confuse people — we make them THINK. As the book title suggests, if we want people to use our websites or apps or buy our products, we don’t want to make them think. It’s essentially a “back to basics” manifesto full of necessary reminders for how to design user-friendly websites and apps.

***SPOILER ALERT*** I share Steve Krug’s definition of Usability (even though he doesn't share it until the last chapter) here because I feel it describes his own book so well: Usability: “A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing [i.e., it’s learnable] to accomplish something [effective] without it being more trouble than it’s worth [efficient].” This book is learnable in that its format is structured but delightful, with clearly laid out chapters with copious illustrations that enhance and amuse without distracting. It has a full index and easy-to-reread organization, which I know I will be turning to again and again as I perform regular usability testing on my company’s website. This book is effective in its recommendations for how (and why) to design sites to be usable and then later to regularly test the usability of what you have created, being ready to tweak based on the results. Many other reviewers have said it, and I mean it: I am going to make this book required reading for all stakeholders in our company website. Whether we digest individual chapters at weekly staff meetings or people read it on their own, there is too much good content in Don’t Make Me Think to keep to myself. And finally, this book is efficient. Weighing in at a scant 200 pages (yes, exactly 200), it still contains enough deep thought and meaty content to be truly useful. Krug just follows his own directives and writes the book as if writing for the Web, spare and concise, making good use of headings and bullet points to clearly get his message across. I salute his inclusion of the revised chapters addressing the “Wild West” of development for mobile platforms, even though trends are still in flux as developers work out what works and what doesn’t. He is understandably cautious to embrace any trend, and at this point, that is wise. I do look forward to the next revision, however, to see his take on the latest developments. Don’t Make Me Think was required reading for a course on Emerging Web Trends, and I cannot think of a better text. I have already ordered many of the other books Krug recommends for my holiday reading, and appreciate his inclusion of links to helpful supplementary materials on his own website. If you are a student considering whether to rent or buy this textbook, I would definitely vote “buy.” This one is a keeper.

As a front-end developer, user experience design is something that I work with on a daily basis. After being recommended this book from multiple sources, I decided to give it a go. The first thing I truly appreciate about this book is that the author seems to understand that my time is valuable, and he was very concise with his writing and structure. Too many textbooks ramble on and on as if they are simply trying to fill the pages of their book. This book, as you can tell by the thickness (or lack thereof), is not written that way. This book is written in an informal but also informative manner. The humor keeps it interesting without reaching the point of distraction from subject matter. All information is presented in a way that puts an emphasis on practicality and real-life examples. I recommend this for anyone who is looking for an introduction and overview of user experience design practices. As a developer, it has proven very useful for me.

Pros: - Easy to read in one sitting. - Plenty of illustrations and examples. - Avoids the use of UX jargon so anyone can understand what's being presented. - Gives you plenty of resources to check out. - Arms you with enough to make a great impression on your boss and get a UX project rolling. Cons: - Doesn't go into detail on web design UX despite examples focusing on that area. I loved this book. Right off the bat the author tells you that you should be able to read this book on a long flight, and he isn't kidding. I got through this in about 5 hours, and that's with taking notes. Steve Krug is a well respected name in UX consulting, and he makes this book a good gentle introduction to the subject. The book is in full color and there's plenty of examples and pictures to help you grasp what he's talking about. While some might consider it a bad point he does give you several books you can use to get more detail on things like web and industrial design UX. The only drawback was this book left me wanting more information on UX and it didn't have it. The books designed to help you learn just enough about UX to appreciate it and want to incorporate it into your work. It leaves the door open for you to decide if you should hire a consultant (like the author) or run the trial yourself, but it does give you step by step instructions to setup a pilot user experience study on a low budget. I enjoyed this book tremendously and lended it to my boss after I finished reading it. It's slowly resulting in a culture change on my team where I can notice members scrutinizing their work a little more and wanting to hear customer feedback in more detail than before. Pick up a copy, read through it, and do a small study on your companies website or product. If you show it to your boss I'm sure they'll want to see the book themselves.

Supposedly, this book has inspired lots of people to leave their wives, families, and lucrative careers in order to become designers and usability experts. Legend goes that Steve Jobs asked to be cryo-frozen with a copy of this book in his hands. So read at your own risk. I personally don't think the siren call of UX projects strongly enough out of its pages to give me cause for concern. But there's plenty of food for thought. In all seriousness, it is an excellent primer to make sure you cover the fundamentals before moving on to more exotic stuff. I do wish the author had included more website samples to illustrate his points, and fewer cartoons, maybe. Fun fact: the author praises the work of Don Norman, author of "The Design of Everyday Things" and cites him as one of the authorities in the field. Then proceeds to knowingly and intentionally misuse basic terminology coined by Norman himself (affordances vs signifiers) in order to make his point, just cause it was more convenient. Ok... Good read, more web engineers and PMs need to read it. Recommended.