Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

by Krug Steve

I’m in favor of always using some participants who aren’t from your target audience, for three reasons: It’s usually not a good idea to design a site so that only your target audience can use it. Domain knowledge is a tricky thing, and if you design a site for money managers using terminology that you think all money managers will understand, what you’ll discover is that a small but not insignificant number of them won’t know what you’re talking about. And in most cases, you need to be supporting novices as well as experts anyway. We’re all beginners under the skin. Scratch an expert and you’ll often find someone who’s muddling through—just at a higher level. Experts are rarely insulted by something that is clear enough for beginners. Everybody appreciates clarity. (True clarity, that is, and not just something that’s been “dumbed down.”) If “almost anybody” can use it, your experts will be able to use it, too.