Welcome
To A ‘New’ Age of Discovery
Authored by:
Nicholas R. Arpaia
Guiding Principle #1: Don’t make me think!
• Krug makes it abundantly clear that this cardinal usability rule is
the first and most important rule for web developers
• He further stresses the importance of making a site “self-explanatory”,
citing this as a maker or breaker towards the users perception
• He goes on to define “things that make(s) us think” referring to
simplicities such as names, unobvious clickable links and
button, and most importantly question marks
• Lastly, krug brings the nonexistent perspective of perfection to
light, explaining that designers “Sometimes, though,
particularly if you’re doing something original or
groundbreaking or something that’s inherently complicated,
you have to settle for self-explanatory”
Guiding Principle #2: How we really use the Web
• This in particular was my favorite chapter, because it
simplifies the undeniable facts of life regarding web
design
• It is understood through the text that it is important to
note that there is a “difference between how we think
people use Web sites and how they actually use them”
• Understanding the difference of perception between
the buyer and seller is an important aspect of any
economic, social, and even political market
The Facts of Life (3)
• (1) We don’t read pages. We scan them
• The simply fact is that we are humans and we have evolved over millennials to not waste
time trying to learn everything presented, but to read between the lines
• (2) We don’t make optimal choices. We satisfice
• Contrast to the Rational Choice theory, this fact suggest that we don’t simply “choose the
best option—we choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisficing”
• (3) We don’t figure out how things work. We muddle through.
• Krug makes it clear that we as humans very rarely take the time to even understand the
most basic of concept before creating our own assumption of how it works. He suggest that
this derives from various factors such as “its not important to us”.
Guiding Principle #3: Billboard Design 101
• It is widely understood in web design that most
users are hastily passing by this intergalactic space
we have created, virtually never stopping to see the
signs put forth for there own good
• Krug demonstrates that there are multiple
techniques used to make it clear to the user that the
information is indeed present, understandable, and
most importantly for ‘you’ the designer interrelated.
• “Stop signs”
• “The more important something is, the more prominent
it is”
• “Using plenty of headings”
Guiding Principle #4: Animal, Vegetable, or
mineral?
• Contrary to the common belief that web designers want the user to click
on as many links as possible to get to the intended page (because of
marketing ploys by advertisers), it is found that it is in the best interest of
the designer to use the metric of “number of clicks to get anywhere”.
• Krug concluded that “some assistance may be required”, stating that
sometimes it is unavoidable to need help navigating the site. However, only
limited guidance is required, as to not further frustrate the user. These
include being..
• Brief
• Timely
• Unavoidable
Guiding Principle #5: Omit needless words
• To put it simply for web designers , “Get rid of half the words on each
page, then get rid of half of what’s left”.
• As most of my political science professors like to remind me of is that
analyzing a given topic is best done with no fluff, as to provide the
reader or in this case user with the best change of understanding the
perspective your bringing.
• Krug concludes that omitting these needless words has numerous
benefits to the designer. They include
• “it reduces the noise level of the page”
• It makes the useful content more prominent
Contact Information of Nicholas R. Arpaia
• My Birth Name is Nicholas Robert Arpaia, entailing the many
backgrounds of my past generations (American, Scottish, and Italian)
• You can Contact me any time by (3) different ways
• (1) Email: nrarpaia@buffalo.edu *Preferable*
• (2) Cellphone: (914) 539-0686
• (3) Mailing Address: Can be provided through emailing me
• Side note:
Work cited
• Krug, Steve. Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense
Approach to Web Usability. 3rd ed. United States: New Riders, 2014.
Print.
• Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web
Usability. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2015, from
https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/dont-makeme/9780133597271/