Don't Make Me Think
Yesterday's Web looked far different from today's Web, and tomorrow's Web will look more different still. Amidst all of this change, however, one aspect of Web use remains the same: The sites that offer the best, easiest, most intuitive experience are the ones people visit again and again. To ensure that your sites provide that experience, this guide from usability guru Krug distills his years of on-the-job experience into a practical primer on the do's and don'ts of good Web design. The second edition of this classic adds three new chapters that explain why people really leave Web sites, how to make sites usable and accessible, and the art of surviving executive design whims, plus a new preface and updated recommended reading.--From publisher description
Stats for nerds
237recommend
408mentions
339people
2007–2026years
70% recommend26% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- > conversation flows in reverse chronological order
none of or chat/comm tools, tech, saas, and online interfaces work like this
this is exactly the kind of thing you shouldn't try
check out The Design Of Everyday Thing, and maybe more so Don't Make Me Think
- I've read (and recommended Design), I'll check out Don't Make Me Think. Thanks!
I mean, you can TRY... just "that's how we've always done it" doesn't mean it's bad. Blogs and news sites always post stuff at the top to stay in the F-shaped layout. Chats do the opposite. Services don't conform to any of that (each web dashboard has its own unique layout).
I just find it curious why all the big players in the space all somehow came to use the same UI. The same font choice and same Projects, Recents, Chats layout on the left side seems beyond mere chance. (Kinda how the Soviet's Buran orbiter somehow magically came to look like the exact same design of spacecraft as the NASA's Space Shuttle. Surely no peeking or copying took place.)
- I feel your pain. I'm one of those folks that read Don't Make Me Think, and took it to heart.
Usability and simplicity have been cornerstones of my work, since the early 1980s.
Simple is hard. Like, really hard. People think that it's just about removing UI elements. In my experience, it's about adding the right ones.
- Leas surprise is one good way of putting it. Intuitiv, dead simple, most familiar, and idiot proof are others.
I still Don‘t Make Me Think is the best guide for developing interfaces for non technical user, which is still the vast majority of software.
Sometimes listening to technical people talk about software leave me feeling like the people who are meant to build the stuff are frequently the most out of touch with the needs of the users / customers.
Same for business but for different reason and in different ways.
That’s why there is a still a place for good UX designers and product managers to at least try and bring the gap, assuming they’re actually competent, which is hardly a sure thing.
- Great article. Nice pragmatic and cool-head take on what is going on. Thank you for posting this.
Side note: I so forgot about the "Don't make me think" book! Thanks for reminding this exists. I submit this should be part of "Software Development 101", right there alongside SICP.
- I love the UX-design book: Don't Make Me Think.
Related
Dont Make Me Think
38 recommend · 45
Thoughts without a thinker
2 recommend · 3
I Hate You - Don't Leave Me
3 recommend · 4
You're Not Listening
2 recommend · 5
Thinking, fast and slow
373 recommend · 1,165
You Don't Know JS
88 recommend · 123
How to Win Friends and Influence People
recommend · 1,071
