Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter) 3rd Edition

Krug does a great, short and funny job of explaining why usability is so important. I don’t think the average developer knows what usability is and conflates it with accessibility. This books is timeless and sets the record straight n choke full of great examples, screenshots and explanation. This is a quick read and an important one.

I am a doctor, a surgeon, so you would say why are you reading “Don’t make me think”. Good question.Today we all live by the web, through smart phones and PCs, apps and websites, not to mention social networks that I personally have not yet discovered. The web and its usability is part of our common language, a new alphabet, grammar and syntax we have had to learn to live in our world and get along in our profession and free time. But if you met a person who was only able to speak and not read and write you would say he is an analphabet, the same is not true for a user of the web from whom no one expects she/he be able of composing or better designing a website or an app.Presently, many domain professionals are willing to designing web content necessary for their specific necessities, but not yet able to do it by themselves and look for “primers” or “how to..” books to help them start or go pro in this activity.“Don’t make met think” is I believe one of the basic books to learn from. Not only it is easy to read and very clear, but it is also funny, entertaining, full of useful information and at the same time systematic and complete.Steven Krug is evidently a guru of web usability and he has reached the 3rd edition of his book that has filled the minds and hearts of thousands of computer people. It has been and is so popular I believe because it gets to the point of how to think before starting to design. In some ways it is almost a psychology text or better it uses a practical psychological approach to give simple directives to follow in order to keep on the right tract while carrying out design. It sidetracks into information on attention, the use of time, expert remarks on design and interfaces and also on how people actually think. A whole chapter is focused on ethics of web design: a web site should be a “mensche” or as we would say in Italian “un uomo d’onore”, a man of honor, and another on mobile applications with all their space related problems.So, if you are a information technology specialist or if you are an amateur wanting to learn how to design an app or a website, this book is a good point to start from. Read it, love it and treasure its teachings.

Supposedly, this book has inspired lots of people to leave their wives, families, and lucrative careers in order to become designers and usability experts. Legend goes that Steve Jobs asked to be cryo-frozen with a copy of this book in his hands. So read at your own risk. I personally don't think the siren call of UX projects strongly enough out of its pages to give me cause for concern. But there's plenty of food for thought.In all seriousness, it is an excellent primer to make sure you cover the fundamentals before moving on to more exotic stuff. I do wish the author had included more website samples to illustrate his points, and fewer cartoons, maybe.Fun fact: the author praises the work of Don Norman, author of "The Design of Everyday Things" and cites him as one of the authorities in the field. Then proceeds to knowingly and intentionally misuse basic terminology coined by Norman himself (affordances vs signifiers) in order to make his point, just cause it was more convenient. Ok...Good read, more web engineers and PMs need to read it. Recommended.

***SPOILER ALERT*** I share Steve Krug’s definition of Usability (even though he doesn't share it until the last chapter) here because I feel it describes his own book so well:Usability: “A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing [i.e., it’s learnable] to accomplish something [effective] without it being more trouble than it’s worth [efficient].”This book is learnable in that its format is structured but delightful, with clearly laid out chapters with copious illustrations that enhance and amuse without distracting. It has a full index and easy-to-reread organization, which I know I will be turning to again and again as I perform regular usability testing on my company’s website.This book is effective in its recommendations for how (and why) to design sites to be usable and then later to regularly test the usability of what you have created, being ready to tweak based on the results. Many other reviewers have said it, and I mean it: I am going to make this book required reading for all stakeholders in our company website. Whether we digest individual chapters at weekly staff meetings or people read it on their own, there is too much good content in Don’t Make Me Think to keep to myself.And finally, this book is efficient. Weighing in at a scant 200 pages (yes, exactly 200), it still contains enough deep thought and meaty content to be truly useful. Krug just follows his own directives and writes the book as if writing for the Web, spare and concise, making good use of headings and bullet points to clearly get his message across. I salute his inclusion of the revised chapters addressing the “Wild West” of development for mobile platforms, even though trends are still in flux as developers work out what works and what doesn’t. He is understandably cautious to embrace any trend, and at this point, that is wise. I do look forward to the next revision, however, to see his take on the latest developments.Don’t Make Me Think was required reading for a course on Emerging Web Trends, and I cannot think of a better text. I have already ordered many of the other books Krug recommends for my holiday reading, and appreciate his inclusion of links to helpful supplementary materials on his own website. If you are a student considering whether to rent or buy this textbook, I would definitely vote “buy.” This one is a keeper.