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A review by kmardahl
Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug, Steve Krug
4.0
This second edition is from 2005. I give this book a 4-star rating because it is good and classic, but you should now be reading the third edition. Go and see if that contains the fifth star. :)
I do question much of the chapter about home pages, but the book is 10 years old. A LOT has happened since then. You can't blame someone for saying what they said in 2005!
The thing is - most of what Steve writes IS common sense and has survived the 10 years since he updated his first edition. It's all about listening to the users of whatever product or service you are offering and eliminating the majority of their questions like "what is this" and "where do I begin" and "why should I even use this".
I once worked with a webmaster who said she was completely against this book and the title. She WANTED people to think. I think she missed the point. This is not about dumbing down or insulting people's ability to think. The issue is to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful thinking. Why don't you put your contact info in an easily available and somewhat logical spot like the footer or the top navigation like many people use so I can read more about who you are and whether you are a trustworthy provider of something I might like.
One painful truth Steve mentions is that people will most like never fret about the things we technical communicators, usability experts, designers, etc. fret about. A lot of people enjoyed the movie "Avatar". The design community was tied in knots about a super expensive movie not investing in top-of-the-line typography, but instead just plucking out Papyrus for the 6-letter word containing 4 letters. The movie-goers could have enjoyed their popcorn at that battle scene, but they didn't. They were too busy watching the movie, "Avatar". This is related to the concept that YOU are not the user. Yes, it's painful. Yes, this feels like your baby, but you are making it for others to use and not keeping it to yourself. Common sense, but unfortunately necessary to repeat because a lot of people still are not "getting it".
Steve has point and bullets that are handy references if you need to pull up a phrase to placate a boss or a developer or something who is fussing about some detail.
You might say, don't make the user think, but you, the creator, MUST think. If you apply a lot of common sense and listen to what is happening, you will go a lot farther than you could have imagined.
I'd say this book is a nice supplement to follow on the heels of "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum", written before this book's second edition. Also, Ginny Redish's book "Letting Go of the Words", which came out for the first time after this second edition. I think that would be a nice trio both for the beginner, but also for the expert who might have muddied vision about what they are doing and who needs a good reminder of some best practices.
For any technical communicator who thinks "I don't do usability - I just write", you can still read this book and get loads of value from it.
I confess that it has taken me years to really read this book. I have the first edition in paper. In early 2013, I thought that I might as well just buy an ebook of the second edition and catch up. And then the third edition came out. Oh well. Better late than never! I did know a lot of this stuff, but as usual, it's nice to get a structure to the chaotic thoughts in one's head. That is one of the biggest benefits of this type of book: giving you neat little phrases to use in meetings, etc. You might not have those handy because you are just plugging away at your job and not stepping back to make sense of what is happening. Steve does that for you.
Enjoy!
I do question much of the chapter about home pages, but the book is 10 years old. A LOT has happened since then. You can't blame someone for saying what they said in 2005!
The thing is - most of what Steve writes IS common sense and has survived the 10 years since he updated his first edition. It's all about listening to the users of whatever product or service you are offering and eliminating the majority of their questions like "what is this" and "where do I begin" and "why should I even use this".
I once worked with a webmaster who said she was completely against this book and the title. She WANTED people to think. I think she missed the point. This is not about dumbing down or insulting people's ability to think. The issue is to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful thinking. Why don't you put your contact info in an easily available and somewhat logical spot like the footer or the top navigation like many people use so I can read more about who you are and whether you are a trustworthy provider of something I might like.
One painful truth Steve mentions is that people will most like never fret about the things we technical communicators, usability experts, designers, etc. fret about. A lot of people enjoyed the movie "Avatar". The design community was tied in knots about a super expensive movie not investing in top-of-the-line typography, but instead just plucking out Papyrus for the 6-letter word containing 4 letters. The movie-goers could have enjoyed their popcorn at that battle scene, but they didn't. They were too busy watching the movie, "Avatar". This is related to the concept that YOU are not the user. Yes, it's painful. Yes, this feels like your baby, but you are making it for others to use and not keeping it to yourself. Common sense, but unfortunately necessary to repeat because a lot of people still are not "getting it".
Steve has point and bullets that are handy references if you need to pull up a phrase to placate a boss or a developer or something who is fussing about some detail.
You might say, don't make the user think, but you, the creator, MUST think. If you apply a lot of common sense and listen to what is happening, you will go a lot farther than you could have imagined.
I'd say this book is a nice supplement to follow on the heels of "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum", written before this book's second edition. Also, Ginny Redish's book "Letting Go of the Words", which came out for the first time after this second edition. I think that would be a nice trio both for the beginner, but also for the expert who might have muddied vision about what they are doing and who needs a good reminder of some best practices.
For any technical communicator who thinks "I don't do usability - I just write", you can still read this book and get loads of value from it.
I confess that it has taken me years to really read this book. I have the first edition in paper. In early 2013, I thought that I might as well just buy an ebook of the second edition and catch up. And then the third edition came out. Oh well. Better late than never! I did know a lot of this stuff, but as usual, it's nice to get a structure to the chaotic thoughts in one's head. That is one of the biggest benefits of this type of book: giving you neat little phrases to use in meetings, etc. You might not have those handy because you are just plugging away at your job and not stepping back to make sense of what is happening. Steve does that for you.
Enjoy!