Guiding Principles of Web Design
In the this presentation we will go through the
basic guiding principles of web design as
discussed by Steve Krug in his book “Don’t
Make Me Think!”.



The title of the book conveys on the most
important law of usability.
A well designed web page should not leave
the users puzzled.
Design should be simple, self-explanatory,
and intuitive.


Most of us use the internet to save time, and
hence we want to find what we are looking
for ASAP.
How to help the user reach his target?
◦ By creating visual hierarchy
◦ Following conventions
◦ Reducing Noise



Happy talk is the introductory text of a website that is meant to welcome the user and
tell him about how great the website is.
Happy talks are usually irrelevant and do not
convey any information that concerns the
user.
Designers should avoid happy talks as much
as possible.



A good design must be self explanatory.
If a user needs instructions chances are he is
already annoyed, and spent a significant
amount of time trying to find what he was
looking for.
Such a situation must be avoid by good
designers.
Presentation made by Rahul Tripathi as part of
the MFC-215 course.
Computer Science student at University at
Buffalo.
Contact: rahultri@buffalo.edu