Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Krug
Publisher: New Riders Press
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy New: $21.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  424 reviews
Sales Rank: 639
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.7 x 0.4
ISBN: 0321344758
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9780321344755
ASIN: 0321344758
Publication Date: August 28, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Usability design is one of the most important--yet often least attractive--tasks for a Web developer. In Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krug lightens up the subject with good humor 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 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, such as "We don't read pages--we scan them" and "We don't figure out how things work--we muddle through." Coming to grips with such hard facts sets the stage for Web design that then produces topnotch sites. Using an attractive mix of full-color 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 of 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 Topics covered: - User patterns
- Designing for scanning
- Wise use of copy
- Navigation design
- Home page layout
- Usability testing
Product Description
Five years and more than 100,000 copies after it was first published, it's hard to imagine anyone working in Web design who hasn't read Steve Krug's "instant classic" on Web usability, but people are still discovering it every day. In this second edition, Steve adds three new chapters in the same style as the original: wry and entertaining, yet loaded with insights and practical advice for novice and veteran alike. Don't be surprised if it completely changes the way you think about Web design.
Three New Chapters!
- Usability as common courtesy -- Why people really leave Web sites
- Web Accessibility, CSS, and you -- Making sites usable and accessible
- Help! My boss wants me to ______. -- Surviving executive design whims
"I thought usability was the enemy of design until I read the first edition of this book. Don't Make Me Think! showed me how to put myself in the position of the person who uses my site. After reading it over a couple of hours and putting its ideas to work for the past five years, I can say it has done more to improve my abilities as a Web designer than any other book.
In this second edition, Steve Krug adds essential ammunition for those whose bosses, clients, stakeholders, and marketing managers insist on doing the wrong thing. If you design, write, program, own, or manage Web sites, you must read this book." -- Jeffrey Zeldman, author of Designing with Web Standards
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| Customer Reviews: Read 419 more reviews...
 A Great Usability Primer for Web Developers July 3, 2008
Yes, this is an entry-level book, targeted at the people who need it most: the frontline of Web developers and "designers". The content of the 2nd edition could be updated, but Krug's non-nonsense, easy-to-read approach still makes Don't Make Me Think one of the first books I recommend to my Web development students.
A must read July 1, 2008
Everyone who designs web apps should have a copy of this book.
It changes how you think about Interactive architecture and page usage.
 Should be on every web designers shelf June 9, 2008
A staple book that has standardized so many design and usability concepts. It isn't that long, but it is so dead-on with usability that this as close to the the Bible you can get for web usability. Full color pages and tons of practical examples make it easy to associate with problems many regular people face. Web interfaces should be mind-numbingly simple and functionality should always take precedence over aesthetics. Worth reading every couple of years to reconnect to the core foundation of what websites are REALLY about. My highest possible rating.
Don't Make Me Think June 4, 2008
It's a great book for introducing the mindset of web usability. It doesn't overload you with information, but shows you how to think when developing a web app.
Improve Your Website May 13, 2008
I'll bet that every person who builds a web site, personal or commercial, big or small, thinks that, even if it has a few faults, it's pretty good. I'm not certain that people who visit sites have as charitable a view. Steve Krug believes that the visitors' views could be improved with a common sense approach to web usability.
The theme is set out in the title. Web users don't want to have to think. In order to incorporate that fact into web sites, Krug sets out some simple concepts for web designers to follow. I hesitate to list these rules because they are so simple that if you read a summary here, and pay attention to them, you almost don't need to buy this book. But Krug's skill is in convincing you that you should take his advice, and suggesting how to implement it. His guidance is simple, including: design pages for scanning, not reading; make sure the user knows where he is on the site through navigation design; and test sites with real users.
The author suggests that the book is so short it can be read on a longish airplane ride. But the points he makes are so important that everyone responsible for a web site, whether designer or CEO needs to be reminded of them. I know that I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to usability, but I came up with several tips for quickly improving my web site as I read the book. (I also saw a few weaknesses in my site that the author identified that weren't so easy to correct quickly, but I'm working on those problems.) Moreover, while I didn't laugh out loud, I found the book so good natured that it was easy to become absorbed.
The book has little of a technical nature about browsers or web authoring software, but instead deals with a few broad principles of web usability. That's enough reason to recommend that everyone with a web site of any kind should read this book, especially since it is so easy to go through. I can't guarantee you will find something of use, but I'd love to get your URL if you don't.
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