By: Chelsea Gates
Words: 750
Date: Sept 28, 2014
Don’t Make Me Think
As Steve Krug mentions numerous times at the beginning of his book “Don’t Make Me Think”, ‘the world has changed’. Krug is correct in that statement. Not only have the physical looks and feel of computers and electronics changed dramatically, but the way we use our devices has transformed over the years as well. In the early 2000’s the Internet was used by far less people. Web pages were bland and almost old fashion. Modern sites have a far more sophisticated look and ideally, if done correctly, translate seamlessly from your computer screen to your mobile device.
After reading Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think” my idea of what makes a good website has changed incomparably from what I had previously considered a decent web page. The Internet user has new standards for their web browsing experience including but not limited to autosuggest, autocorrect, learnability, effectiveness and overall usability. Krug states that usability is when “a person of average ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing to accomplish something without it being more trouble than it’s worth” hence the title “Don’t Make Me Think”.
I found the first chapter, “Chapter 1. Don’t Make Me Think” very insightful and found it greatly changed my idea of what I consider a good website. The first thing that Krug brought to my attention in chapter 1 was how clickable is your webpage? Clickability plays a huge role in allowing users not to think. How clickable a page is can be effected by a number of elements. If your user is looking for a particular word, you should try your best to use the simplest version of that word. The specific example that Krug provided for when a user is in search of something specific on a webpage is when one is searching the company’s job listings. Instead of using something like “Job-o-Rama” as an attempt to be creative; creative words can commonly create confusion for the user; or using something to the extent of “Employment Opportunities” to be more professional, you should make it easy for your user to find what they are in search of, just use “Job”. Although the other two options may seem obvious, Krug says that it is important that we keep our webpage more obvious than we think noting that “there’s almost always a plausible rationale – and a good, if misguided, intention – behind every usability flaw.”
Another chapter that raised my eyebrows and helped me to modernize my idea of what makes a good website was “Chapter 7. The Big Bang Theory of Web Design”. This chapter emphasized how important a first impression is. Your chance at leaving a lasting and memorable impression lies within what your Home page has to offer. You home page should easily identify what the page is and what its mission is without having to click around, scroll or search. There should be a clear and understandable site hierarchy, giving an overview of what your website has to offer for both content and features. It is important that your user can quickly and easily answer the questions ‘What can I find here?’ and ‘What can I do here?’.
At the conclusion of the book I believe the things that I learned that I personally consider most valuable are that people really do not what to think when they are online. When using the internet and browsing through your websites and webpages the users should be able to easily understand what they are doing on your page and find what they are looking for. To understand usability in a way outside of the virtual world, I enjoyed Krug’s “Chapter 6. Street signs and Breadcrumbs”. It compares navigating a website to navigating a grocery store or convenient store. As you walk through the grocery store door you’re immediately thinking “Where do they keep the chicken?” As soon as you enter you look up to find the department names and categories. Browsing your webpage should be as simple and usable as this common experience.
I found Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think” very insightful. I could appreciate the many examples and pictures the author used. I was able to easily understand and absorb what the text had to offer. Although I found that much of the book was, as he stated early in the text, common sense, I feel I walk away from it with a new understanding for web content and what makes user experience enjoyable and more importantly usable.
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