"Don't Make Me Think" Response: Chapters 1-5
As I read the first five chapters of "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, I found myself alternating between laughing at his remarks and physically nodding in agreement. Krug outlines his first five chapters on guiding principles for web use and design. He quickly but very accurately describes his rules and shares his knowledge about how users really use the web and basic things that web designers should know when making an easily understood site. I agreed with basically everything Krug talked about, and could remember numerous times when I had reacted exactly how Krug said users did when experiencing websites.
In his first chapter, Krug introduced his first rule of thumb: "Don't Make Me Think!". In this chapter, he describes the perfect web page as self-evident and obvious to the user as to what exactly it is. Users should be able to look at a web page and know where they are, what they are looking at, and how they are meant to use it. Confusing elements leave the user with question marks, and lower their confidence in the site and publisher. In the second chapter, Krug emphasizes the fact that users rarely use web sites how the designers meant them to be used. Most users scan and just glance at the pages, and are compared to cars moving at 60 mph past a billboard. Krug points out that users will hone in specifics they are looking for, key words, and trigger words, instead of taking the time to read the text thoroughly. I will admit that I am one of those users who skim pages, as I don't want to take the time to have to read filler text that isn't relevant to me. Knowing that there is a "back" button also benefits the user versus the designer, since if a user clicks on a link in a hurry and guesses wrong, there's no penalty. We simply click "back" and we are allowed to start over.Â
Krug emphasizes the billboard structure in his third chapter (funnily enough, titled "Billboard Design 101".)Â Creating a clear visual hierarchy is perhaps the most important cue that a designer can give to the user. Headlines and important things are bigger, emphasized by white space, or at the top of the page. Things that are related are visually grouped together. The page should be broken up into clearly defined areas so the user knows what information goes together and what is the most important. Remembering not to clutter up the web page is also important. In the fourth chapter, which is only about two pages long, Krug makes sure the reader knows that mindless decisions are what you want your user to have to make. As a user myself, I get extremely frustrated with web sites that have too much information on them, or too many links that I can click on, and not knowing where to start makes me want to never use that site again. Being unclear on where to click, or what's even clickable is also frustrating, and I've visited sites where I'll even think something IS clickable, and it's not at all.Â
The last chapter calls for the rule of omitting needless words on a page. Removing half of the words already there has three main benefits: reduces the noise level, makes the more important things prominent, and makes the pages shorter and easier to scroll through. Krug uses the terms "happy talk" to describe the unnecessary welcome paragraphs that litter countless web sites. This along with long instructions should be eliminated from sites altogether, or at the very least whittled down to a few sentences. No one reads them anyways (I know I definitely don't!). I agree with Krug on all of his points, and think it's interesting how I am able to notice all of the stuff he talked about just on the few sites I've visited since reading! Taking all of his tips into account is really going to help me when I'm designing my site for this class. As a designer this knowledge is invaluable, and after reading this I realize that I could have cut this response in half.
