Rating: 
Summary: God is in the tabbed interface
Review: First of all, let's be clear what this book is all about. "Usability" is a measure to determine how successful a design, whether it's a newspaper, a web site, or a WalkMan, is when engaged by human hands and eyes. There are no set "rules" of usability, just tried and true "common sense approaches" that make sense, right off the bat, to just about anyone who comes in contact with a piece that has been designed for interaction.For example, think of your average stereo or mp3 player. If you wanted to hear music, what would you do? Just about everyone would scan the object with their eyes, trying to find a symbol or word to guide them. In this case, they'd look for a right pointing triangle, commonly known as a "play" button. This all happens within milliseconds, subconsciously, but we all do it. The easier it is to find what you're looking for and engage that option, the higher usability marks the object receives. That's a rather simplistic explanation of usability, but it's the basis of this book when applied to the web. Author Steve Krug makes a living critiquing web sites to establish how easy they are for your average Joe to use. He gathers willing participants, sits them down in front of a computer, and asks seemingly obvious questions like "do you know where you are?", "do you know what this company does?", "where would you click first, and why?", etc. It's not rocket science, that's for sure. But if a company is planning on making money off of their web presence, a confusing web site could put them in the dog house with consumers. And that's the important thing to realize about "Don't Make Me Think" -- this book is written from the viewpoint of what "works" with e-commerce sites. It's the greasing of the wheels to make a shopping experience fast, intuitive, trusting, and most importantly, EASY. If you are a graphic designer, consider the web to be your personal playground to create, engage, shatter conventions and develop new ideas in design, this book is not for you. Krug acknowledges this up front, but insists that the lessons learned in this book can be applied to just about ANY web design that deviates from the norm. And in a sense, that's quite true. If you were to build a shining new city on the hill with ultra modern buildings and cutting edge style, you'd still need an effective transportation system to tie your creation together. But where the book stumbles is that Krug only promotes (or acknowledges) one ubiquitous web design style -- a company logo in the upper left corner, folder tab navigation across the top, and subsections down the left side. Sound familiar? It should...take a look at the top of this page. P>His opinions would be more trustworthy if he would critique non-standard, but successful examples of web design that are just as effective. But he only offers one solution, and it's one all of us are very aware of already. Krug does have useful points to remember -- including consistency of style, navigation, and brand identification -- but when you get down to it, it's all COMMON SENSE. Open your browser, check out eBay, Outpost.com, or Salon.com, and study their navigational systems, use of color and contrast, and copy length. See how they allow you to move between pages, subsections, and the placement of navigational icons. Then ask yourself, how did I KNOW to click there? Was it the wording? The color? This book would be a lifesaver to anyone who was just starting out designing for audiences on the web however, so if you have yet to design your first web site, by all means pick this up. The lessons to learn here are just as important (if not more so) as learning HTML. Because if you didn't want people to use and enjoy your work, you wouldn't be putting it on the web.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Make Me Read!
Review: That was the nick-name I gave this book -- I got so much value without having to read a densely written text. It's one of the most usable, practical, and well designed books I've ever read. Bottom line: I learned how to conduct beautifully effective user testing with minimal investment, time, and reading!
Rating:
Summary: Funny _and_ useful
Review: If you're interested in learning how to design a website, start with Jennifer Niederst's books (_Learning Web Design_ and then _Web Design in a Nutshell_). But if you know basic web design and you're interested in making an existing (or planned) website more usable, this is the first book you want. For one thing, Steve Krug is funny. No kidding; you'll squirt coffee out of your nose on every page, at least if you're foolish enough not to put the cup down after page one. For another, his usability principles are very straightforward, easily understood and remembered, and well illustrated by copious examples. Although this book will be most useful to people who actually design websites, it _could_ be read by pretty much anybody (including -- hint, hint -- the _bosses_ of people who actually design websites). He's somewhat at odds with Jakob Nielsen on the question of usability testing, but that's okay. In the first place, such disagreement is healthy in a field where, really, nobody _knows_ anything with full certitude (even when people _say_ they do); and in the second place, Krug is telling us how to do usability testing on a shoestring, within real-world economic constraints. So I say: get Nielsen's _Designing Web Usability_ too, but get this one first. Krug's book is well done all around. And if your boss happened to see it sitting on your desk, maybe even borrow it, the world of the Web might become just a wee bit more civilized.
Rating:
Summary: He know what I think!
Review: The author has state out some of the behaviors that I have. How we really use the web
#1: We don't read pages. We scan them
We're usually in a hurry
We know we don't need to read everything
We're good at it
#2: We don't make optimal choices. We satisfice
Guessing is more fun
#3: We don't figure out how things work. We muddle through.
If we find something that works, we stick to it.
Rating:
Summary: It'll make you think!
Review: A very straight-forward book on web usability. Anyone designing web sites will find thought provoking ideas that will help improve their sites. Krug's writing style is relaxed and he doesn't take himself too seriously which is a refreshing change in this crowded subject area.
Rating:
Summary: The best book on web usabillity
Review: Before I bought this book I had bought Jakob Nielsen's book Designing Web Usabillity and thought that it was an awesome book on web usabillity. Then I got Don't Make Me Think and was blown away.
Where Nielsen is often fairly right in his observations he's a bit pretentious in his outlook. Krug is far from that is his book. He offers his insights on the subject in an extremely personable, engaging way. (I read the entire book in one sitting) The writing is succinct and to the point but doesn't read like a text book. He offers you his insights in the context of real world observations which enable you to comprehend the subject all the more easily. If you're looking for a book that will give you a crash course on how to think like a web usabillity expert look no further. If you have a project your working on and are considering usabillity and design issue like I was, I think you will be completely satisfied with the information contained in this book.
Rating:
Summary: The one book to have if you're having only one
Review: I have a half dozen Web usability books on my desk. Steve Krug's book replaces them all. This sweet, sweet volume could be the most efficient how-to book I've ever read: every sentence teaches you something worth knowing. And it's bend over and blow snot out of your nose funny. The book is short, on purpose. So I'll keep my review short, too. Ignore those reviewers who say Krug's book isn't for experts; they're just bragging. If you care about getting the Web right every time, this book is definitely for you.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Went straight to the point on web design for e-commerce sites. Keep it simple & idiot-proof. Pointed out many useful stuffs. A must read. And i never give books 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think" is the best book on web usability that I have ever come across. There are two reasons for this, first is that the content is strong in boiling very complex concepts down their simplest format. The second is that he manages to impart the information in such a way that you immediately grasp the concepts. The reason some have complained that there is not a lot "new" in here is that usability is nothing new to begin with. What is new is being able to take so many issues and find simple metaphors to illustrate them. I'm always amazed at usability books that are poor at being usable! It is almost impossible not to make a significant improvement to your web site after reading this work. Steve does wonderful job of getting inside the head and visual cortex of the potential surfer of your site. You see it through that person's eyes for the first time. And he shows you how to convey these obvious, but sometimes hard to articulate trouble spots to the rest of the team. Buy this book. If you read it and come away not learning anything, then I believe you have lost track of the forest for the trees. Stop, clear your mind, and read it again. In years of doing this, I've never seen such an effective treatment of the subject, and I can't wait until Steve produces a sequel with even more insight.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent point
Review: Krug & Black have condensed the most vital conceptual points of Web design into a manageable, & imminently readable volume. I wouldn't begin any project without reviewing it again.
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