Product Description

This handbook presents the principles that are important to keep in mind when evaluating site usability to enhance a visitor's experience. Based on exhaustive user research, this book will be the first such title to present conclusions drawn from real data rather than theory and upposition. Don't Make Me Think! will povide much-needed answers to perennially debated questions about the right way to design Web sites by focussing the debate on real usability issues rather than from design turf wars. It will boost the reader's "usability IQ" so they can detect usability problems in the sites they manage, design, build, or pay for.
Written in a conversational style, profusely illustrated, with powerful but clear down to earth explanations of easy-to-understand examples, Krug will cover such topics a how to think about usability, how to develop a sensibility for what works and what doesn't, how to perform usability testing on a shoe-string, getting designers and web developers to work together, and navigational guidelines.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Usability design is one of the most important though often least attractive tasks for a Web developer. In Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krug lightens up the subject with good humour and excellent to-the-point examples.

The title of the book is its chief personal design premise. All of the tips, techniques and examples presented within it revolve around users being able to surf merrily through a well-designed site with minimal cognitive strain. Readers will quickly come to agree with many of the book's assumptions. For example, "We don't read pages--we scan them" and, "We don't figure out how things work--we muddle through". Getting to grips with such hard facts sets the stage for Web design that then produces top-notch sites.

Using an attractive mix of full-colour screen shots, cute cartoons and diagrams, and informative sidebars, the book keeps your attention and drives home some crucial points. Much of the content is devoted to proper use of conventions and content layout, and the "before and after" examples are superb. Topics such as the wise use of rollovers and usability testing are covered using a consistently practical approach.

This is the type of book you can blow through in a couple evenings. But despite its conciseness, it will give you an expert's ability to judge Web design. You'll never form a first impression of a site in the same way again. --Stephen W Plain

Synopsis
Web usability classic gets facelift and updated content to help users keep their sites fresh, fast, and easy to use! * Updated classic now covers Web accessibility and Cascading Style Sheets. * Author Steve Krug is a respected usability consultant whose client list includes Apple, Netscape, AOL, and more. * Common-sense advice, amusing anecdotes, and stunning screen shots combine to teach users the principles of good Web design.

From the Author
Even if every Web site could afford a usability expert (which they can't), there just aren't enough of us to go around. So I tried to boil down what I've learned over the years (principles like "Don't make me think" and "Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left") into a short, profusely illustrated book‹one that even the guy who signs the checks (the one who looks at the site when it's ready to launch and says "I hate green. And there should be more big pictures.") might read.

Customer Reviews

Short and sweet
This book is definately not for usability experts. It is for everyone, it's short and sweet. If you want to know basics than go on, it is good! But don't expect detailed knowledge. I much more advice to read Jakob Nielsen if you want detailed source of knowledge.

A must read for any web designer/developer
Steve manages to pull off something that is usually overlooked when it comes to discussing web usability.
Every thing is written in plain and simple English.
Everything is common sense and easy to take on. The terminology will be easy for anyone to digest - while being plain and simple, it's understandable to newcomers while not patronising more experienced readers.

The entire book is designed to be read cover-to-cover in a few hours (depending on your reading ability). I am not someone who can just eat a book up and have been reading it during coffee-breaks and the like.

If you have any involvement in websites and want to add something else to your skill set, don't even think about forking out on this book.

Wow!
Having just "adopted" two company websites, I've been buying books to help me get to grips with it all. This book answers a number of things and explains exactly what I need to do to impress customers, keep them and get them to buy. Excellent