Steve Krug’s classic on web design, Don’t Make Me Think, is a quick and easy read for anyone tasked with designing an online product. This updated edition of the book covers how to solve some common problems that might arise when building digital products – from navigation through content choices.
Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited by Steve Krug is a book that was released in 2008. The book is about the design of websites and how they can be made more user-friendly. This book has been one of the most influential books on website design and usability.
Are you seeking for a synopsis of Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited? You’ve arrived to the correct location.
After reading Steve Krug’s book, I wrote down a few crucial takeaways.
If you don’t have time, you don’t have to read the whole book. This book synopsis summarizes all you can take away from it.
Let’s get this party started right now.
I’ll go through the following points in my synopsis of Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability:
What is the subject of Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited?
You’ll discover how to develop a website that provides a wonderful user experience by understanding the underlying rules that govern online behavior in Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited.
A guide will also be provided to assist you in testing your website at each level of its development.
Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited is written by who?
Steve Krug has worked as a usability consultant for firms including Apple, Bloomberg, Lexus, and the International Monetary Fund for over 20 years.
He’s also the author of Rocket Surgery Made Simple: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Issues.
Who is the protagonist of Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited?
Not everyone will like Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited. If you are one of the following folks, you may like the book:
- Anyone who works for a small company and has a website.
- Web project managers, designers, and developers
- Anyone who wants to persuade their employer to prioritize usability
Book Summary: Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited
Introduction
What is the first thing you do when you enter a department shop that you are unfamiliar with? Many of us may reference a floor map to figure out where we need to go.
Consider not having a map and having to roam aimlessly, spending time and energy in order to locate the sports goods section. Maybe you’d start with the exit!
The internet is no exception. On a well-designed website, you can locate what you need in seconds; on a chaotic, badly structured site, you’ll be on your way in seconds.
The book contains suggestions and techniques to make your website not only useful but also popular.
Lesson 1: We like to play and find things out ourselves rather than understanding how a system works.
A user handbook was most likely included with a recent technological purchase. Have you read it yet? Almost certainly not.
Unless they’re engineers, most people don’t care to study how things function.
Consider asking a complete stranger how a browser or a search engine works. People can still surf websites without too much difficulty even if they have just the most basic internet expertise.
When you acquire a new gadget, you usually don’t read the handbook before playing around with it. Once you’ve discovered a way that works for you, you stay with it.
This may have been seen by you, such as when someone searches for a website’s whole URL rather than utilizing the URL bar to go straight to the website.
One of the most prevalent decision-making processes is satisficing. When presented with a problem, you’d suppose a person logically searches information, recognizes various solutions, compares them, and then picks the best one. The more common method is gratifying.
Firefighters, for example, were discovered to do a short check for flaws before using the first accessible remedy during a research. And these folks are working under incredibly difficult circumstances.
When a web surfer clicks on an erroneous link, she just has to use her browser’s “back” button. We make online selections in a few of seconds most of the time. It’s not only simpler, but it’s also more pleasurable to find things out on your own.
People’s natural online habit is to click on the first item that attracts their eye. When we achieve what we desire, we feel clever, confident, and at ease.
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Lesson 2: Make it simple for people to browse your website for important information and messages.
“Welcome to XYZ Corporation!” could be written on the homepage of a website. World-class clientele get innovative goods and personalised solutions.”
However, we never see this kind of business lingo in advertising materials.
We’re typically on a mission while we’re online, and we’re ready to get the job done swiftly. We scan instead of reading attentively and skimming big portions.
If you want to emphasize a certain point on your website, use brief paragraphs, headings, and highlighted keywords.
To enable users to choose a focal region, the components should be organized using visual hierarchies. When reviewing eye-tracking research, we tend to overlook irrelevant parts such as advertisement blocks because we make quick judgements about where to focus.
Take a peek at a newspaper in print. We structure headlines, text, and graphics so that readers can immediately see what’s essential.
In the same manner, your website should be browsed. Make it plain to the reader what they need to see so they can get to it fast.
We’ve arrived at a critical juncture. Most website visitors don’t mind clicking as long as it’s a thoughtless activity with obvious effects.
As a result, make sure your website’s routes are simple to traverse and comprehend. If you don’t want to frustrate your visitors, don’t bury crucial information (such shipping charges) behind a lot of clicks.
We often mistakenly believe that creating a website is equivalent to creating a product brochure for a prospective consumer. It’s more akin to erecting a billboard for vehicles flying by at 60 mph than it is to erect an actual billboard!
Lesson 3: Navigation on a website should be easy, straightforward, and consistent.
One significant distinction between visiting a new website and visiting a supermarket is that you cannot peruse every aisle online. This may be difficult.
Because you can leave a website if you don’t find what you’re searching for or don’t understand how it’s arranged (and never return).
Another issue is that determining the size of a website, whether it has 100 pages, 500 pages, or 12,000 pages, is difficult. This is why it’s critical to have a site that’s simple to browse for your visitors.
To do this, a “sections” bar at the top of the page may assist readers understand what precisely is on the page. To aid visitors in navigating around, the following four extra navigation features should be added on every page.
A search bar is the first thing you’ll need. A simple search box allows visitors to locate precisely what they’re searching for without having to learn how to navigate the site.
A “You are here” indication is another option to explore. It’s akin to a red dot on a map at a retail mall, guiding visitors seamlessly from one page to the next.
Your business logo should appear on your main page. This element should be included on every page to allow visitors to quickly return to the home page.
Include a utility component fourth. This part also includes a login area, a FAQ section, a site map, and other information on how to utilize your site.
The four characteristics will considerably boost the likelihood that a website visitor will feel at ease and trust the firm and its staff.
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Lesson 4: Use conventions that rely on what users already know to make your site simple to browse.
If you reside in the United States and drive in London, it might be disconcerting when norms are violated (where everyone drives on the left).
The fact is that you should follow conventions while developing a website.
Users have a particular amount of expectation about where things are and how they perform, which means they’ll be angry if something doesn’t work as anticipated.
If your favorite magazine chose not to publish page numbers, you’d be caught off guard!
In print media, there is a page numbering system, but there is also one for the web. We think that words placed horizontally on a page indicate the key components of the website.
It’s typical for web designers to strive to defy standards in order to accomplish something unique and different. Conventions, on the other hand, usually arise after years of refining and reflect the finest and most successful ways available.
Tab dividers are one example. Tabs are a wonderful navigation option since they may be found on other websites and in conventional file systems. This is how we were acquainted with them.
In any case, creativity is always an option, particularly when there isn’t always a convention that meets your demands. Just make sure your work can be used.
You don’t have to stifle your imagination. It’s critical to prioritize the demands of the user.
Consistency and tradition should be followed. It’s critical to maintain clarity and easy of use, but there is one exception, which we’ll address in the following chapter.
Lesson 5: The front page of a website should be appealing to the eye and provide a clear message about the site’s mission.
When you click on a link from Twitter or Facebook, you often end yourself on a website inside a website. You normally go to the home page to see where you’ve landed up and whether or not you can trust the content of a website.
Because the homepage is so critical, creating a flawless example is practically difficult. It is impossible to satisfy everyone!
Because articles on the front page get more clicks, all stakeholders compete for a spot. If you give in to everyone, your home page will become congested and difficult to read.
Don’t give in to the stress! One of the most critical aspects when building a home page is making a good first impression. It is critical! According to a web design study, a visitor’s initial impression of a website lasts even if they spend more time on it later.
Our imaginations go into overdrive whenever we have a new experience. We construct a broad image of how new things work, as we do with all new things, and then attempt to fit the new knowledge into our prior assumptions.
As a result, if a visitor is perplexed from the start, she will misunderstand your website. She will get more perplexed as she spends more time on your website.
Is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening? A brief statement explaining what your site is about is the most efficient approach to connect with viewers by adding a tagline next to your logo that encapsulates the goal of your page.
Taglines that express the value of your site are engaging and personal. “Read this, avoid that,” for example, is a slogan from the news site The Daily Beast. “Wheels wherever you want them,” says another from Zipcar, a car-sharing business.
At a look, the taglines on both websites explain what their websites are about.
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Lesson 6: Don’t take advice from coworkers or friends seriously. Always do tests.
As a result, your website should be simple to explore and comprehend. What is the most effective strategy to ensure that you produce the greatest product possible? Perhaps you should seek advice from your friends or just trust your own judgment.
You can’t depend just on your own judgment. You’re acquainted with the website’s outstanding features and usability flows since you designed it. How are you supposed to be objective?
Similarly, discussing the website with friends would be futile. Because everyone has different ideas on what a website should look like.
Designers will tell you that they like sites with plenty of white space and modest accents that create a pleasing aesthetic experience. Developers, on the other hand, want a site with a lot of unique features that users may experiment with. Developers and designers will assume that visitors share their perspectives.
That’s exactly how we are! Whether we love a website with plenty of bright visuals or one with stark simplicity, it will be anathema to someone else. There are few individuals who are willing to consider things from a different viewpoint; we presume we are correct.
In web design, there is no such thing as a “correct” or “wrong” solution. Simply asking a few individuals for their thoughts does not work.
Instead, tests should be carried out. You may most objectively examine what you’ve developed by monitoring how visitors browse your website and determining if it functions as you expected.
Testing is also beneficial since it helps you focus on what is really working rather than what is incorrect. Furthermore, it demonstrates that online users are diverse!
Lesson 7: Observe how users traverse your site to see how frequently they make sense of its features.
Despite the fact that testing is vital, most individuals dislike it. It’s critical to provide payment or unique goodies to users in order to guarantee that as many individuals as possible test your website. Pizza is popular among developers, for example.
You should make your website accessible to people of all backgrounds, so don’t limit your options to those that appeal to your target demographic. It makes no difference who your testers are; just remember to compensate them for their time and gratitude.
If you choose a group, you or a facilitator (someone patient and empathic) should observe and take notes while the group navigates the site. Maintaining the user’s concentration and comfort should be a top priority for the facilitator.
Begin by going to the home page. The tester should move her mouse about and explain what she sees. If she answers that question, you’ll know how well she knows the site. “What are you thinking?” consider the following questions. “What are you looking at?”
You must ensure that your activities do not affect the tester. “What would you do if I wasn’t there?” ask her when she begs for assistance.
Ensure that your test group uses all of your site’s capabilities, such as signing in, establishing a profile, and returning an item. Watch the tester attempt to answer the issue, then let her keep clicking until she becomes irritated or you think there’s nothing further you can learn.
It’s crucial to show your supervisors, team members, and stakeholders the testing process in person. People usually think that the website is enough, therefore testing is unnecessary.
We get to witness how users fail to utilize a website in a transformational manner, which causes CEOs to take usability more seriously, for example. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” managers will almost certainly question.
Lesson 8: Testing doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive to get helpful results.
Web development teams often skip testing because they feel it takes a lot of time, money, and skill. This, however, is not the case.
Hundreds of individuals are not required to get tested. This isn’t a scientific study or an attempt to produce statistically significant results; rather, it’s an attempt to help you make better decisions.
Everyone who witnesses the testing process should identify the two most prevalent difficulties that annoy or confuse participants in order to do this.
According to the author, you’ll always encounter more issues than you can solve. As a result, you must prioritize and concentrate just on the issues that need to be addressed.
In general, don’t repair issues that the tester can resolve on her own. They’re a fun element of exploring a new website.
Another advantage of keeping a small testing group is that you may start the process early, making testing more efficient. Changes are easier to make when issues are discovered early.
When comparing a beta site to a live site, you’ll notice that the beta site is considerably easier to change! Furthermore, visitors who are acquainted with a long-running website will not be required to explain or justify any changes.
You may also test before you develop a website by monitoring how people visit your rivals’ websites. You may then use what you’ve learned to your own growth.
Early testing allows you to make better selections later on in the development process. The advantage is that nothing will have to be redone in the end, saving time. Only a few hours of your time and a little amount of money are required.
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Lesson 9: Make sure your site’s mobile version loads fast and emphasize popular features.
Remember when there were no smartphones? Even back then, some mobile phones did not have web browsers. Only when Apple released its touchscreen with swiping and pinching capabilities did mobile browsing become so popular.
People now use the Internet more fast and read less; also, when they encounter a snag, they are more inclined to abandon it. Because mobile download connections are unstable and performance vary considerably, make sure your site loads quickly for mobile customers.
When building a smartphone, the screen size must also be addressed. As a consequence of the limited area, you’ll have to make concessions.
Make it a priority to locate in-demand features as soon as feasible. The remainder of the information may be accessed with a few touches if the user understands what to do.
Furthermore, since people want to do everything on the internet, they utilize it everywhere. Many individuals believe that they only use their cellphones on the move and so just need basic functionality. On a smartphone, a user expects to be able to utilize all of the capabilities of a website while sitting on their couch at home.
It is critical to provide a link to the complete website and to make it zoomable. Returning visitors may not need a whole page to explain navigation since they are already acquainted with your site.
In conclusion, mobile computing is the way of the future, and new methods of connecting online will open up incredible new opportunities for improving user experiences.
Always remember that if you don’t test your product, you won’t know whether it’s useful.
Final Thoughts
The usability of a website guarantees that visitors can discover information as quickly as feasible. Your website will give an excellent user experience if you test it at each step of development.
Simple and casual first steps do not have to be complicated and formal. Your job is to show how testing may provide useful information.
When you’ve fixed the mislabeled button problem, you may track the number of support emails that come in and share the data along with a video of the first test to your supervisor.
Additional Reading
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