Don't Make Me Think
The book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug was originally published in 2000. This book describes how your brain works and reacts when you read a web page. The web page causes your brain to stop you in the middle of a sentence and think about what you're doing and why you're doing it. I believe that the author, throughout this book, is trying to convey that this slows you down and makes your life tougher.
During the first part of the book, Krug adds that these web pages are just adding to our brain's workload. I have to say that I agree. The more things we think about, the more our brain has to work. This is probably why most people don't necessarily read the entire web page; as Krug explains. I know firsthand that, when opening a new tab in my browser, I don't read the entirety of the page. I pick out certain things that I like and move on from there.
Related to this, most web designers are now designing pages that are meant to only be scanned and skimmed through. This means, keeping links brighter than regular words on the page and using a minimal amount of words. I would say that this definitely makes it easier for the common person to explore further into websites. This, in turn, makes it easy to mindlessly click through and navigate yourself to confidently end up where you want to be.
The book turns from talking about the reactions to a website and the general information when talking about web design to explaining in detail the different parts of a web page. Besides the names of the page, basically one of the most important parts, the Home page is where the money is made. Krug explains that if you don't have an interesting home page and it doesn't catch the eye of the user, your website isn't going to be successful. This goes along with having a website that isn't simple to navigate through.
Throughout this book, Krug harped on "usability" a lot. He explains how usability is not about the ability to use the technology, but about the people using it and how they understand and use things. He explains how no one actually reads the instructions. I know I don't read them and if you say you always do, you're lying. Instead, you have to listen to your users and how they process certain things and how they are motivated to continue to use your website. "The fact that the people who built the site didn't care enough to make things obvious- and easy- can erode our confidence in the site and the organization behind it." This basically sums up the point that Krug was trying to get across when talking about usability.
I personally enjoyed the book. I thought it was interesting how Krug tied in how the simplicity of a site effects how easy or how hard our life is. I don't necessarily agree with the thought that it makes our life harder, I would just say that it makes it more frustrating. All in all, a fantastic book and I would definitely recommend.
During the first part of the book, Krug adds that these web pages are just adding to our brain's workload. I have to say that I agree. The more things we think about, the more our brain has to work. This is probably why most people don't necessarily read the entire web page; as Krug explains. I know firsthand that, when opening a new tab in my browser, I don't read the entirety of the page. I pick out certain things that I like and move on from there.
Related to this, most web designers are now designing pages that are meant to only be scanned and skimmed through. This means, keeping links brighter than regular words on the page and using a minimal amount of words. I would say that this definitely makes it easier for the common person to explore further into websites. This, in turn, makes it easy to mindlessly click through and navigate yourself to confidently end up where you want to be.
The book turns from talking about the reactions to a website and the general information when talking about web design to explaining in detail the different parts of a web page. Besides the names of the page, basically one of the most important parts, the Home page is where the money is made. Krug explains that if you don't have an interesting home page and it doesn't catch the eye of the user, your website isn't going to be successful. This goes along with having a website that isn't simple to navigate through.
Throughout this book, Krug harped on "usability" a lot. He explains how usability is not about the ability to use the technology, but about the people using it and how they understand and use things. He explains how no one actually reads the instructions. I know I don't read them and if you say you always do, you're lying. Instead, you have to listen to your users and how they process certain things and how they are motivated to continue to use your website. "The fact that the people who built the site didn't care enough to make things obvious- and easy- can erode our confidence in the site and the organization behind it." This basically sums up the point that Krug was trying to get across when talking about usability.
I personally enjoyed the book. I thought it was interesting how Krug tied in how the simplicity of a site effects how easy or how hard our life is. I don't necessarily agree with the thought that it makes our life harder, I would just say that it makes it more frustrating. All in all, a fantastic book and I would definitely recommend.
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