Don’t Make Me
Think!
AUTHOR: STEVE KRUG
PRESENTATION BY: HAIDER ATTA TUNG
What is this about?

The following presentation will point out and define the key points
and guiding principles of the book “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve
Krug
Don’t Make Me Think!

The first and the most essential point defined in this book is don’t
make me think.

This refers to the idea that when a web site makes you stop and
think about what you’re doing, it’s making your life harder, and
perhaps isn’t designed as well as it could be.

There are various points discussed throughout the book the explain
how to fix these problems and to make your webpage to its best
potential.
Remember:

Most people don’t read through an entire webpage; they scan
through it. They proceed to click the first reasonable choice and do
not attempt to understand a website. Users do not like to be
confused by a website hence, overly complicated webpages
prove to be a turn off.

Most of the users are driven by the desire to save time and are
attracted more to simplicity and aesthetics.
Usability

This means making sure something works well, and that an average
person of can use it for its intended purpose without getting
hopelessly frustrated and confused.

When a user looks at a web page it should be self-evident, obvious
and self-explanatory as much as humanly possible.
Design of Pages

Design pages for scanning rather than reading

Create a clear visual hierarchy.

Nest text to show what belongs to what.

Conventions are useful. Use them unless you have a really good
reason not to, as they help people to avoid thinking.

Clearly define portions of a page.

It should be very clear what is clickable.

Try and avoid “noise”.
Mindless Choices

From a users perspective, It doesn’t matter how many times they
have to click, as long as each click is an unambiguous choice

People don’t mind clicking more, if they are confident that they’re
clicking on the right thing, and the choice was easy

If we find something that works, we stick to it. Once we find
something that work we tend not to look for a better way. We’ll use
a better way if we stumble across one, but we seldom look for one
Avoid Small Talk

Happy talk is small talk. It is unnecessary noise that is filling up your
page and serves no real purpose.

This proves to be unattractive to the users as it populates the page
with useless information that a webpage can do without and makes
it more confusing.

Keep it brief and get rid of unnecessary information. Rather than
instructions, it is far better to make a page self-evident.
Navigation

Design a page for both kinds of users; those who go straight to
search box to find what they are looking for and those who like to
browse around the website.

Make it clear where they are and what direction leads to what
section.

Navigation is like a guide that give us something to grasp, tell us
where we are, tells us how to use the site, and increases our
confidence with the site provided it works well.
Persistent Navigation


It should appear on every page and usually refers to:
•
Site ID
•
Sections
•
Home link
•
Search link or box
•
Extra utilities
It should be clear where we are and where can we go (i.e what
path leads to where)
Page Names

Every page should have a name, and it should be in the right place:
framing the page’s content.

The name should be prominent, as well as matching what you click to
get there

Breadcrumbs are a useful technique for navigation and tabs are a
great means of doing navigation because they’re very obvious

Each page should be able to answer the following question:
•
What site is it?
•
What page am I on?
•
What major sections does this site have?
•
Where can I go from here?
•
Where am I in relation to the rest of the site?
•
Where can I go to search?
Home Page

The Home page needs to be as appealing as possible in order to
attract more online traffic. Make it as tempting as possible. The key
points that it should contain are:
•
Site identity and mission.
•
Hierarchy - give an idea of what the site contains.
•
Search box.
•
Teasers for content.
•
Current content.
•
Promotional offers.
•
Shortcuts for the most frequently viewed data.

Arguments amongst the team members of the website is useless
and a waste of time. Instead, look at what works best for your site
and TEST IT.
Testing

Test your website as often as possible in order to evolve and to
ensure that everything is clear and working. Any errors on a website
will turn away online traffic

Cheap testing is best as it can be done quite often

You only need 3 (maximum 4) people at a time to test your site.

Conduct usability test by calling people from the outside. No need
to be picky about who tests the site. It should be accessible and
readable to everyone.

You don’t need much planning to do tests - just decide what you’re
going to show and do.

Debrief immediately after the test and put the knowledge gained to
use
Usability - Again

People usually have a reservoir of ‘goodwill’ for a site and each
problem they encounter will reduce that.

The following Do’s and Don’ts are really helpful in increasing a
websites usability:
Do’s

Make the things people want easy and obvious.

Show the information that people want to know.

Put some effort into it as it will be apparent and appreciated.

Know, and show answers to common questions.

Add extra touches, like printer friendly pages.

Make it easy to back up and try again in case of user errors.

Apologize, if the site simply doesn’t do something a user wants.
Don’ts

Don’t hide information users want.

Don’t require the user to adhere to the site’s dictates and avoid
making them jump through hoops.

Don’t ask for unnecessary information

Don’t get in the way of using the site with fancy features. Avoid
making an amateurish, boring looking site.
Accessibility
Accessibility is part of usability and will make people’s lives easier and hence make
your site more attractive.
 5 things that you can do to improve accessibility:

•
Fix the usability problems that confuse everyone.
•
Read articles (recommended: “Guidelines for accessible and usable Web sites: Observing users who work with
screen readers” by Mary Theofanos and Janice Redish”
•
Read one of the following books:
•
Building Accessible Websites by Joe Clark.
•
Constructing Accessible Websites by Jim Thatcher.
•
Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone by John Slatin and Sharron Rush.
•
Use Cascading Style Sheets
•
Low hanging fruit:

Add alt text to all images.

Make sure forms work with screen readers.

“Skip to Main Content” link at the beginning of each page.

Ensure that it’s possible to navigate by keyboard alone.

Be careful with javascript.

Use client-side image maps.
Conclusion

All the guidelines have been provided by Steve Krug. Instead of
teaching every little detail of web development, he focuses on the
essentials required to make your website more user friendly and
attractive that will increase your online traffic. These guidelines are
very important in order to make a successful website.

His book “Don’t Make Me Think!” is an excellent guiding principle
and comes highly recommened.
Contact

Haider A. Tung

Email: haidertu@buffalo.edu