Don't Make Me Think

Steven Krug's book, Don't Make Me Think concisely lays a solid framework and argument for using web established practices (conventions), keeping in mind the end-user's experience (usability). He blogs about the subject as well as maintains a website.

Krug makes the point throughout the book do not make the user think. The discussion turns to "it doesn't matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice." Now don't make the user think about how many times clicks were necessary to get to the content needed.  The classic Elements of Style by Strunk and White have preached for years that the art of vigorous writing elements what is not needed.

The user will at all times know where they are on the site and how to get back Home or a starting point for a new search. There are the established conventions of search boxes, tabs, etc. that users are accustomed to and know how to find their way around a good design.

The Home Page being the hub of the site must give the user it's identity, mission, and hierarchy, with a place to begin to search for needed content. A great tagline will help spell out the identity and mission of the company's business without cluttering up the page with unnecessary content.

The site must be tested by typical end-users to see what works and what doesn't. And a focus group (marketing) is not a usability test (real world users). And the testing needs to be done early enough in the project to make sure that it is meeting the needs of potential users. Testing three to four users of the site early and regularly through the process can save time, money and aggravation later.

The no-no's in good web design are never hide the information that the customer needs such as customer service numbers, shipping rates and prices. Make sure the input of information is coded so that is easy to use and not a pain for the customer to have to figure out. Due to identity theft asking for too much information can be a put off for customers. Be genuine in all messages on the site and save the complicated flash for something else to keep your site clean and professional.

Things that make people want to come to websites include making things people visiting the site need obvious. Give them the information they need in the fewest steps possible and show that effort was put into the site to make it a pleasurable experience for the end user. Anticipation of typical questions with answers provided and errors made that are easily fixable make people want to return for future business or provide references. Printer friendly pages that do not use a lot of the customers ink.

Krug concludes with five things that can be done right now to improve any website: fix the usability problems that are confusing; work with users and watch how they use the site; keep up with the latest trends through reading articles and books; put some style in the site by using Cascading Style Sheets; and finally change the in the box Hyper-Text Mark-up Language code to make the site more user friendly.

Steve Krug has a website that keeps the content of his book fresh and current.