Today I finished reading Steve Krug's book "Don't Make Me Think." As I read, I gained first hand experience, surfing popular websites such as Yahoo, Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. It is interesting to visit the web-sites I am already so familiar with and begin analyzing their design. I have seen these web pages many times yet now I can view them in a new lens critiquing and appreciating the effort it took or put them together.
I think it could be a worthwhile highlight so of the key takeaways from this book.
When building a webpage, there are two goals to keep in mind:
The Design advice that follows are tools that continuously strive towards these goals while remembering that website Users are in one of two places. They are either searching for what they want or they have found it. Because this "search" is such a large part of the user experience, making a website browser-friendly is crucial to the websites success. Using the metaphor of 'website=store'; we can find parallels to tools that are useful for a customers search in a store to that of a user on a website.
I think it could be a worthwhile highlight so of the key takeaways from this book.
When building a webpage, there are two goals to keep in mind:
- Is it obvious to the user what is on this page and what purpose the page serves?
- Does the user know how to proceed to their next step from this page?
The Design advice that follows are tools that continuously strive towards these goals while remembering that website Users are in one of two places. They are either searching for what they want or they have found it. Because this "search" is such a large part of the user experience, making a website browser-friendly is crucial to the websites success. Using the metaphor of 'website=store'; we can find parallels to tools that are useful for a customers search in a store to that of a user on a website.
The fist tool we can give a user is the simple search box. Kruge points out that the search box serves as the store employee who you approach with a question. You will be given directions on where to go, but the you are not sure if you are being directed to the right place or if your phrasing of the question has thrown you off course. Some go directly to the search box, and it is therefore a crucial component to any website, but others would rather search on their own and a website must also cater to these users.
"The Browser"
"You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been"
"The Browser" is a user on a hunt. He or She is independent, full of confidence and has a short attention span. The goal of design is to help this user make it to their intended destination before they give up and switch to a competing site. Using established conventions from everyday life, we are armed with many tools to do just this.
A crucial way to help a browser find their way is to give them a solid footing. They should have an idea of where they currently are within a site and what they have seen so far. They should have a natural understanding of their options and how they can move forward. Creating this sense of "location" is particularly important on the web, where there is no sense of direction. On the web we can jump from one place to another. To create the potential for navigation, we must create a logical layout that creates the idea of a position.
A crucial way to help a browser find their way is to give them a solid footing. They should have an idea of where they currently are within a site and what they have seen so far. They should have a natural understanding of their options and how they can move forward. Creating this sense of "location" is particularly important on the web, where there is no sense of direction. On the web we can jump from one place to another. To create the potential for navigation, we must create a logical layout that creates the idea of a position.
| A TITLE As a user visits a page for the first time, they should immediately know what purpose that page serves. On the popular "godaddy.com" site, each page has a clear title that:
|  Click To Enlarge Screen Shot |
| Links or Directions to Move Forward Design must make it easy for a the searching user to understand what steps he or she can take next. On the screenshot of a Microsoft webpage to the right
|  Click To Enlarge Screen Shot |
| A Clear and Visible Organization Perhaps the most important resource a website can offer is an understanding of its layout. Amazon spearheaded the use of tabs to accomplish this task. This conventional organizational tool used in everyday life gives an intuitive way for users to understand their "location" with respect to the website. |  Click To Enlarge Image |
| Now many successful sites have adopted and innovated the use of tabs. |  NYTimes (click to enlarge) |  Wikipedia (click to enlarge) |
Steve Krug's book "Don't Make Me Think" has a lot more to offer on design, working in a team and conducting usability tests on the site throughout its development and on completion. The book serves as a foundation to make the internet a better place and I would recommend it to anyone who uses the internet (you if you are reading this...) even if they do not plan on developing a website of their own. After reading this book, surfing the web will never be the same!
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