false 3 0 false false Thu Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 09:36:10 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 20 05:16:56 -0700 2008 Don't Make Me Think is a solid, layman's terms examination of UI design and usability issues, particularly as those issues apply to web sites. Steve Krug presents us with a plain-English approach that just about any web professional can quickly and easily digest and then rapidly apply to his work for maximum effectiveness. That said...:

(1) The book had relatively strong start but the "lessons" start to seem a bit "commonsensical" before you get very far. As they say in Freakonomics, there is certainly a great deal of value in questioning the conventional wisdom out there but at the same time, a little experience in the field seems to reveal these lessons well enough. Thinking about yourself as a user instead of a designer or developer.

(2) The book (sadly) feels a bit dated. Granted, there is a revised/updated version but the copy that I read was published in 2000. Again, the lessons translate well and most have not diminished over time but there is a statement in there that reads: "...barring a total collapse of the Internet boom..." Umm... Guys? Hubris?

Also (3) I give "points off" to Roger Black's foreword which says: "So Don't Make Me Think! is not about exhaustive statistics and thousands of hours of clinical trials, and tons of survey research jargon. Rather it contains sharp empirical observations..." [emphasis added] -- umm... no statistics or experimental data, eh? You are familiar with the definition of "empirical", right?

Bottom line? A bit dated but most lessons still apply. Definitely worth the read for anyone doing webdev and/or UI work. Bonus points for the chapter on usability testing "on the cheap".]]>