Until very recently, the subject of `usability' remained arguably as one of the `most' talked-after and yet `least' understood topic in the field of web designing.

Till Steve Krug came with his book `Don't Make Me Think'. He made it clear from the title of a book that essays on the importance of offering a web user with the opportunity of easy navigation. And he shows us the way to negate every chance where subjugating a visitor to ponder on the points of `what' and `how' is no less than a crime in the world of web.

We at Synapse Communications know how plentifully the book has helped us in the times of need. If today we are amongst one of the leading Indian companies in the arena of we development, books like this, wonderfully serve as the guiding force ahead of each of our steps towards delivering efficient web development solution to our clients world-wide.

I am thankful to Mr. Shamit Khemka, the CEO of Synapse Communications, for introducing me to a book that is so excellently simple and yet explicit in elaborating the subject of web usability.

Be it Synapse Interactive or Synapse India - the two sister concerns of Synapse Communication; for all the individuals associated with the company, `Don't Make Me Think' helps us to think right and put all the essentials into practice.

Simply put, this book is as entertaining as it is easy to read. It delivers highly useful, critical information about web design best practices, calling attention to the fact that great design keeps its user in mind at all times. The principles he outlines are well-articulated, as he continuously reminds designers that well thought-out functionality and intuitive navigation ultimately is, the basis of the best site designs.

If you have been on the internet several times over the past few years, you do not need to read this book. The content is very basic and examples are outdated. You can spend $3K for a website and you will still have a much superior website than the examples in this book. I recommend browsing the web for the websites of topbrands and also cool new start ups. The book is pretty, but is a total waste of time even though it takes only a few hrs at most to finish it.

Don't Make Me Think is easy to read, but loaded with practical information about website design - organization, display, navigation, user-testing, etc. High quality, full-color illustrations, too. Well done. Thanks for the extra efforts in writing and publishing.

Nice book with obvious but often overlooked or forgotten details about how to design nice web pages and sites that make sense and are easy to navigate and understand.

This is a great book - clearly written, easy reading, good examples, good references to other books/websites/sources. I highly recommend it to anyone designing websites, and parts of it to anyone who is hiring someone else to design or redesign their site. By using the methods described in this book and looking at other sites the person has done, you will better assess the quality of the person you are interviewing for the work.

Being new to the web world, this book is a God-send. It's practical, straight-forward, easy to read and humorous. It's a great introduction to website usability for those who design, creative direct or do copywriting for websites.

Very useful information, but like many books bogs down a little on the back end. Other than that, the book practices what it preaches. I've given my copy to our web design team and plan to see it passed around.

Came in the same condition it said it would be in: new. It arrived on time and I didn't have to worry that it wasn't coming. Great service!

Easy to read, and very accurate, I highly recommend this book if you are in any way involved with web design, layout, style, or usability of a site, then this is a must read book. Thank you Steve Krug.

Nowadays, most students are faced with the world of HTML and computer science at some point in their academic careers. For me, the first time was in CIS 101 in college. (Yes, there was a second time. It turns out grad school does not assume computer literacy). Although it isn't always part of the formal curriculum, usability is always an underlying theme in technology classes even if it is just a question of whether the HTML textbook is actually written in gibberish or not. Usability is also one of the few fields where anyone, even the computer illiterate, can be an expert.

The idea behind usability is simple: Look at a given design and see how accessible it is for users. Anyone can have an opinion on usability and everyone can provide input. All it takes is a clear head and the patience to look at what works (or doesn't) and why. If you use it, you have information about its usability. To get back to the subjects of Computer Science and technology, usability has lately been applied to the world of Web design.

Usability consultant Steve Krug lays out all of the basics about Web usability in his book Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability currently in its second edition, published in 2006 after the first edition sold nearly 100,000 copies.

As far as titles go, there are few that offer as clear a picture of the book's content as this one. Krug's main point throughout his 185-page guide is that good Web sites don't make users think. Unlike college, Krug posits that using a conventional website should not be an intellectual exercise. It should be simple, it should be neat, and it should be self-evident. In other words, if a user cannot identify the site's purpose, and where to start on said site, just by viewing the homepage something has gone horribly wrong.

Krug details how to fix such problems and how to avoid them with usability tests. That may sound self-serving save for the fact that Krug also explains how to conduct usability tests on the cheap without the benefit of a usability consultant such as himself.

Written in short chapters packed with illustrations, this book is designed to be approachable and easy to read. Krug is serious about Web usability, but that in no way means his book is stodgy or dry. Examples of usability at work are littered with cartoons and the text maintains a sense of humor. My favorite chapter title (and subtitle) "Usability as common courtesy: Why your Web site should be a mensch" might offer some idea of what tone to expect from this book.

Of course, taking a computer class to meet a core requirement in college doesn't always lead to work in the field of Web design in fact most of the time it leads to an entirely different career. But, in today's technology-driven culture, doesn't everything come back to the Internet eventually?

It might just be working as an intern at an online magazine, or a starting position where duties include entering data into online spreadsheets, or it might just be writing your own blog on a site like WordPress or Blogger. Wherever your path leads, knowing something about Web usability and how good Web sites get that way can only help. As more and more information moves to cyberspace, with websites being created and updated all the time, it's important to be prepared by knowing how to analyze not only the information found online but also how it is presented. Don't Make Me Think is one tool that can assist Web users in that preparation.

I bought this book to supplement a class I am taking to update my web design skills (I've been involved in web design & content management for over ten years).

I was a bit hazy on the "infrastructure" lesson, so I asked my teacher which book she recommended for extra information. She recommended this one.

THANK GOODNESS she did!

It's easy to read and understand and it's short so it did NOT end up in the pile o' books I have yet to read (I literally read half of it the day it arrived on my doorstep). It clarified all of my questions and doubts on how to organize a website and how to design for ease of use.

This book is a BLESSING in every sense.

Thank you so much, Steve, for a fantastic reference!

I can think of very few sites that couldn't be improved by applying the principles in this book. It does what "Web Sites That Suck" attempts to do, but instead of giving examples of horrible web sites that are most likely beyond fixing, it uses examples of pretty decent sites that just need a little help. I assume the vast majority of sites fall into the latter category, which is why this book is so useful.

The chapter on do-it-yourself usability testing is a real gem -- worth the price of the whole book and then some.

This book compels you to think about how people use websites. I tend to think in terms of visual appeal instead of funneling visitors towards a conversion. The author gives a lot of common sense ideas to use in compelling your visitors towards the actions you'd like them to perform. It's a good intro & I would recommend following up by reading Tim Ashs' "Landing Page Optimization" for more in depth material on this subject.

Well.. The book is awesome. Some stuff (which i didn't care too much until now) was new to me, some other stuff wasn't too strange for me. From this point of view, the book have 10 stars from me.

Unfortunately, some pages of the books just fly out from the book (unglued) which made a very VERY bad impression to me. And yes, i take care of all of my books and how do i read them ;) From this point of view, the book have 1star (even though, is too much :P )

Anyhow, if you want to learn some new stuff about usability and usability testing, go ahead and buy this book. It's great if you concern about this aspect of your sites. Is not too long so you can read on a long LONG road (like i did).

The book is easy to read, has a lot of screen shots for illustration and writes about the most important usability issues.

Great book that appears simple but really is a great foundation of web principles that you can always go back and refer to. It's a pretty quick read and is actually fun to go through if you're in this line of work.

The concepts in this book are a bit elementary, but they are true and good. I like books with richer content, so minus one star for that. Overall, a good buy for the Amazon discount price.

If you're a digital media professional, there probably isn't anything here you didn't already know. But it's the kind of book that keeps you nodding your head with it in unison page after page. It's also very well written--Steve is the kind of guy you'd like to have a beer with. His takeaways are straightforward, painless, and evergreen. Should be required reading for every design and production person joining your team.

If you are looking for a book with the main principles about web usability do not hesitate and buy this book. It might be a little bit outdated but 90% of the book is still totally true. Don't miss it!!

This book is fabulous. It is very clear and easy to read, it points out how far you can get by just using common sense (and how you can develop it if you haven't got it), includes basic design principles and human psychology as well as some pretty strong examples. It shows you how a usability test can be performed and talks about what you should focus on. I very much like the approach that there is no average user and not just one correct way to design a site. This book is of great value, a true classic and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the topic. It is so well layouted and designed that I don't need a marker to highlight anything!

Bought because it was on Joel on Software's reading list. Clear and simple, easy to understand. If picked up in a shop, I would not have bought it.

- not much content, lots of whitespace, large fonts, lots of images
- common sense (ie, most of it you probably already know)

Read a few pages, then sent it to a friend who is building her first website.

As the subtitle says, it is mostly common sense. But to have it reinforced like this turns judging web site designs into a much simpler task. I found myself feeling like I had confirmation for many thoughts I have on the subject, but it raised my awareness of different user view points to a higher level. One item that was quite new to me though was the subject of usability testing. He explains his approach quite well and makes it sound quite easy and very useful. If nothing else, it gives you a sense of empathy for various user experiences on the web. Which can only help you improve your design's ability to meet their needs.

I highly recommend anyone who is involved with web development in any way to check out this very quick and easy read.

A lot of good points and easily read. Recommended for improving your web-site for the sake of your visitors. Absolutely recommended!

Absolutely brilliant book. You can find heavier books on the subject, but this one is a must have. Practical advice, to the point, explained so anyone can understand and remember it. Clear and beautyful design. Just about every spread has got illustrations. And you can read it all in one day. Everyone that has anything to do with web usability (or RIAs) should get this. Its also entertaining, I truly enjoyed reading this book!

This book is excellent -- simple, straightforward and very accessible itself.

As someone with a big interest in print layout and type, both in practice and as an author/publisher Type & Layout: Are You Communicating or Just Making Pretty Shapes working ion the internet, I wanted to improve my practice to match my print practice.

This book has done more for my knowledge of website fundamentals than any other book I have read -- and I have looked at quite a few of them.

Something special about this book: Krug talks about the principles underlying the practical. His discussion of decision-making research and practice, what actually happens when someone approaches a website, is very useful and applicable in all sorts of ways in life.

I am currently redesigning my publishing website; after reading Krug's book, I am now redesigning the redesign.

Cheers, Geoff

Geoffrey Heard, Business Writer & Publisher

"Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes", the secrets of how type can help you to sell or influence, and "How to Start and Produce a magazine or Newsletter", now at the new low price of $29.95. See these books and more at http://www.worsleypress.com or Amazon

I read this book when I was still an amateur programmer. I since earned a university degree in computer science and am a professional web developer, and I still use the advice given in this book. User friendliness and value to the customer (which go hand in hand) are the most important lessons any programmer can learn.

This book has a (seemingly) intuitive thesis: web sites should be designed with the user in mind. More particularly, the harder one has to work to figure out how to use something, the worse it's designed; web site use should be obvious (or at least self-explanatory). I say "seemingly" intuitive because it ought to be intuitive but a lot of programmers, especially inexperienced ones, forget that.

While this book is geared towards entry-level people, it will serve as an important reminder to seasoned professionals of the basics of good design and user-friendliness. With that said, I think that new designers (who are most prone to poor usability design) and people who feel they have not been designing with the user in mind will benefit the most from reading this book, and much of the advice in this book will be useful even years later.

Steve Krug follows his own advise and lays out the book in such a way that you can absorb the first six chapters, the good ones, in no time, and leaves you with a much better understanding of the problem of making anything usable. Everyone making web sites or software of any sort for use by someone else needs to have read this.

Straightforward, readable, and practical. This book is a must-read for all who are designing a website or thinking about it.

This book gives you tips about how to set up your website so it will be more user-friendly ... and is a funny read as well! So many user manuals are long and dry, but Krug keeps the info down to the bare essentials, and makes the book highly readable and entertaining as well. Highly recommended.

[...]

Great, common sense look at how to correct all the stupid things we do to mess up our websites.

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.

Everyone who designs web apps should have a copy of this book.


It changes how you think about Interactive architecture and page usage.

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.

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.

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.

I am a web UI developer and I have bought a lot of books already including (theory and implementation books)but no book has been as useful as this book so far.

I can't honestly say that I learned a lot from this book, but I considered it to be a very accessible book, and it explains the topic well, along with sharing some important ideas and some specific recommendations. I'm glad I read it, although it hasn't really altered the way I work very much.

Many of Krug's findings are very true and helpful to analyzing the effectiveness and usefulness of a website! I appreciated the short length of the book, but at times still found myself skimming some parts. Overall a worthwhile read!

I bought and read this book a few years ago, and when I picked it up for a second read-through last week, I realized that even though the book deals with "timeless" topics, it is starting to be a bit dated. Especially the examples and illustrations put it out of date.

The text and thoughts behind the process are still valid, but needs better reference material to be relevant for today. If you can pick it up cheap, then it is still a good read/buy though.

i bought the book based on lot of those positive responses in amazon, also another books was referring to it. well, if you are totally new to web design and usability - maybe this is a good place to look at - but, most of things are little too common, you can work them out yourself. Annoying are also those comics & cartoon styles inside the book - reminds me a schoolbooks for a foreign language study. Too basic. really. and the amazon also changed a design, but a one section of a book is totally devoted on that :(. no more such tabs at amazon....as he writes in a book

Everyone in our IT department that has anything to do with our products SDLC had to read this book. At first I was a little reluctant since it was "required", however, the book is a very good read. It was easy to understand and a pretty quick read. The author used plain English and broke down anything that might be new to the "usability newbie". If you are looking for a book to get you started trying to do a little usability testing yourself, then this book is for you. However, if you have some usability experience - this book is probably a little too elementary for you.

This is a great book with good suggestions for anyone involved in Internet sales or development. Without question, you can find a more technical book out there ~ but they are so dry and boring its hard to stay awake while reading them. Not with this book. It is quick and easy to read. A straight forward easy to understand book.

The title is very accurate

Yes, this book makes me think contrary to the title. And I assume that's what the author wanted, and he lives up to it. I am happy I got this one.

This is a very helpful book for web design. A very easy (and short) read also independent of any technology.

One of the must have books on my reference shelf is "Don't Make Me Think, A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability" by Steve Krug. I've recommended this book to many people, so I thought it was about time to give it a proper review.

One of the things that first drew me to this book when it first appeared was the subtitle. I've said it again and again, but it bears repeating...much of the "science" of good UI design is just common sense. This begs the question as to why some people find it so hard, and I think the answer lies in the idea of common sense in our society. We are so busy being busy that oftentimes we don't slow down enough to really *think* about a problem and thus the common sense solution eludes us. A book like "Don't Make Me Think" is a great way to make you put on the brakes a little and examine the fundamental principles of usability. For those of you that aren't web developers, don't be scared off. Although the focus of Mr. Krug's book is web design, most of the concepts are equally extensible to other software design work

If you've not read any books on interface design or usability before, this book provides the perfect intro into that world. As he mentions in the forward, this book is for those people or companies that don't have a usability professional on board or can't hire one for some reason or another. By taking the ideas introduced in "Don't Make Me Think" you can be on your way to doing this work yourself very quickly.

The author's writing style is both casual and witty and he follows the advice of his title when explaining new concepts, breaking it down so you can understand the underlying psychology without getting bogged down in terminology or theory. Chapter 1 begins with an introduction to what the author calls "Krug's First Law of Usability": "Don't Make Me Think". Simply put, this means that your ultimate goal is to design your interface so that when you look at it, it is immediately evident what you can do and how you go about doing it. In this chapter, Krug explores some of the elements of design that put more cognitive load on us than is necessary and then demonstrates ways to reduce this load. This is done through both the narrative as well as excellent graphics which simply but elegantly display his point.

Chapters 2 through 5 begin the exploration of how we really go about using an interface and set forth the guiding principles we need to be thinking about when designing. First, Krug talks about the difference in what we design for (reading, more reading and even more reading in a set pattern) vs. the reality of how people scan through an interface in a seemingly chaotic way. He then extends on the lessons learned here by helping you understand the techniques you can use to design interfaces for scanning rather than reading. He addresses five important things you can do to achieve the goal of capturing user eyeballs as much as possible: creating a clear visual hierarchy, breaking pages into clearly defined areas, minimizing ui noise, making clickable elements obviously clickable and taking advantage of established UI conventions. This first section wraps up with a discussion of why we like "mindless" choices and the importance of good copywriting and how you need to omit all but the essential words in your design.

Chapters 6 and 7 focus on the elements that Krug believes you must get right in your design. Chapter 6 is concerned with laying out the fundamentals behind good navigation. Since this is an area I call a lot of bad designs out on, it's one that I really enjoyed. Krug discusses some of the basic concepts of navigation and why navigation is so important to a user. He deconstructs various navigation conventions and explains why they work or don't work effectively. He also addresses the good use of search, page names, breadcrumbs, and the tab metaphor. Chapter 6 ends with a number of great graphics which show several sites as they were designed and the author's analysis of what was wrong. He then shows a revised version based on what he would do and in some cases also shows the company's own effort at making some improvements. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so it would be good for the reader to spend some time pouring over these excellent examples. Chapter 7 is devoted to the design of the homepage and how to best design that important first impression. As in Chapter 6, there are a lot of great "before and after" examples to round out the theory.

The next two chapters of "Don't Make Me Think" are concerned with how you make sure you did the right things in your design. That is, they focus on one of my favorite topics, the idea of usability testing. In particular, Krug wants the user to walk away after reading these chapters realizing that usability testing is within reach of every single developer out there. Sure, in the ideal world we'd all have a department of usability experts that are there to critique our designs and help us craft the most user-friendly interfaces possible, but we all know that our day to day jobs are far from the ideal world. Still, Krug argues, you can find value in any amount of testing you can do. Krug espouses some common sense thoughts about usability testing, such as the idea that it is an iterative process, that you should test early and often and that testing even one user is better than testing none. Once he convinces you of the importance of usability testing, he presents some simple to follow instructions on how you can carry out your own tests. As he points out, it doesn't have to be expensive or fancy. You really can do this stuff on a shoestring budget. Chapter 9 ends with a sample excerpt from a test session, which in my opinion is probably worth the cost of the book right there.

Krug wraps up the final chapters of the book with a focus on the larger concerns of interface design, such as why usability should be considered a common courtesy, where accessibility comes into the picture and how to deal with a boss that "doesn't get it". If you just want to cut to the chase and start improving your designs right away you can skip these chapters, but they do a nice job of summarizing at a high level many of the salient points of the book.

All in all, "Don't Make Me Think" is a thoroughly enjoyable read and a very practical book for those that aspire to create better interfaces for their users. Coming in at just under 200 pages with lots of clear illustrations, you can probably read this book in a couple of evenings, which is great for those of us intimidated by the 1000 page tomes that populate the computer section in most bookstores. Probably the best part of "Don't Make Me Think" is that it applicable to the work you are doing today. You can read a chapter or two and immediately start putting the concepts into practice and the value you'll get as you do so far exceeds the book's cover price. "Don't Make Me Think" is highly recommended and I hope you make the decision to add it to your reading list today. You don't even have to think about it! :-)

I was in the middle of redesigning one of my own web sites, and had a coupon to redeem for Amazon, so I picked up this book. Steve does a great job with this book. Very well written, concise, and to the point. For someone like me, who is an amateur web designer (just doing several sites of my own), this was just what I needed to get me thinking about how usable my site is, and how people really use web sites.

There are no specific coding examples, or HTML, or CSS, or anything like that. It's not meant to be a book to teach you how to actually build the web site with HTML or CSS. Instead, it is more of a higher level, overall picture, type of thing. That's just what I wanted, and I wasn't disappointed.

It made me go back and rethink how I was laying out some things on my web site, and how I always include WAY too much text. I'll be using a lot of the ideas in this book to eventually go back and rework all of my sites!

A nicely crafted book-like this one-that falls apart with no overuse is like a nice piece of clothing that won't stand the first wash. And we are not taking about cheap clothing here. But anyway, let's focus on what matters most: the content. I was expecting more from the book, but overall I don't feel disappointed. I wouldn't call the book simplistic because it heavily relies on common sense. After all, you don't have to go very far on the web to find sites where common sense seems to be the least used of all senses. The chapter on usability testing was particularly useful to me. And although nothing in the book was particularly striking or illuminating, I felt it made a positive contribution to my knowledge on the subject.

If you're involved in developing (as myself) or designing web-sites (or any other software intended for actual people), this book will give you helpful insights in the usability issues you are bound to encounter.

The book is very well written, and is fun to read.

"Don't Make Me Think" refers to the way people tend to use the web: they don't read they scan. That means that your site needs to be organized to make identification and navigation as instinctive as possible. Having an efficient navigation system and laying out your content to clearly reveal the embedded hierarchy should go a long way towards achieving this goal. Don't forget a good search function.

One of the main point the author want's you to get is that having external users to test your site will give you valuable insights on how you can make it work for them. He walks us through such a test scenario, which is quite useful.

There is also a chapter on accessibility, which is nice and which gives us an easy way to make our site quite accessible to most. My favorite idea is to add a "skip to main content" link to the top of all pages. By styling it with a "display: none" it won't affect any layout would be very useful for blind people using screen readers. Food for hought.

Classification is one topic on which I disagree with the author though it's only noted in a footnote. His view is that "things" should live in one place on your site and if necessary use cross-references to bring people there. I think that "things" should live in all the probable places a user might want to look for it. On one side you have a hierarchy on the other you have a tagging system. Given growing popularity and ubiquity of tags, I think that this won't be much of a stretch for anyone in the near future.

This book was certainly worth reading. I have learnt quite a few things and I recommend it to all web developers.