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

Rating:
Summary: Impressive and easy to read
Review: An excellent, non-technical explanation of how to make your Web site more usable. I found myself going Wow! several times in the first few chapters. Some of the information is so logical it seems like basic common sense, yet many major sites fail to follow Krug's simple suggestions.

Note that this is not a technical book. It will explain a potential problem, show color Web sites before and after applying his advice, and explain why his approach is better. You can see the results for yourself with his examples.

Best of all, he gives a structure for simple web usability that you can apply to any Web site design. It doesn't give you the actual coding instructions to redesign something, but there are lots of books on the technical aspects of web design. Personally, I have someone else who can do that.

If you have money on the line... say, your job... based on whether people understand and use your Web site, then you absolutely must read this book. It really opened my eyes to the problems (and solutions) of web usability.

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Summary: Un libro que no te debes perder
Review: ¿Eres diseñador de páginas web? Este libro es para ti. Con un ingles sencillo y con muy buenos ejemplos Steve explica lo que debe y no debe tener un sitio de internet. No hace ninguna referencia a cuestiones técnicas ni debes tener conocimientos de desarrollo en HTML. Lo único que Steve hace es trabajar con el sentido común para dar ideas.

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Summary: Follow these guidelines and You are a winner!
Review: This is the best book I've ever read about web usability. It's all about how to make Your website easier to navigate, more interesting and above that - less annoying! It all make sense! Very easy to read and understand. This book is not about building websites or compressing images - but will give You a hint why certain things are so important. ...

Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR SMART WEB DESIGN
Review: If you design web sites and want to be GOOD at it, you have to read this book. I tell everyone about it. It makes sense, it's written in a funny conversational manner and brings what should be obvious ideas to the forefront. READ IT!

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Summary: "We don't figure out how things work. We muddle through."
Review: "We don't figure out how things work. We muddle through." If you really understand this principle, you already hold more value in your hands than the price of the book.
Interesting, entertaining viewpoint.

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Summary: Good browsing book
Review: I'm an amateur web designer/info architect and this book was a pleasure to read. It's not as meaty as other tech-y books out there but it's an excellent place to start. That is, it doesn't have very detailed descriptions of usability practices or methodology. However, it still gives excellent descriptions on things like usability testing (including a pretty good "script" for guidance and illustration). So it's not really for the "converted" who already understand the importance of web usability and encorporating this mindset in design (although the book is still a good investment!).

And it's definately THE book to give to a non-technical manager/boss/supervisor who just can't understand the extreme importance of usability and what it means to the design process. Steve Krug writes in a down to earth manner, the book is nicely illustrated with practical examples and you could probably finish it in one sitting but would read it again as a refresher course.

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Summary: The farmer and the cowman should be friends.
Review: This book walks it's talk. It is written and arranged exactly as a useable web site should be, clear and concise, with scannable (as well as enjoyable) text. The clean attractive design and graphics accurately and efficiently illustrate the text, which is easy to read and to understand. I love the use of cartoon people with thought balloons to suggest how people think while using a web site.

There is no clutter of technical gibberish or endless verbose rambling on statistics. The chapter on usability testing takes us step by step through the process and is descriptive and instructional instead of theoretical. Steve Krug doesn't feel he has to sacrifice creativity, visual interest, individuality, or effective advertising in order to develop a usable web site. "Good tag lines are personable, lively, and sometimes clever. Clever is good, but only if the cleverness helps convey - not obscure - the message."

I can't agree with those who dismiss this book as nothing but common sense. While I see nothing wrong with publishing a reference and instructional manual that is full of common sense, this book also presents the reasoning behind every method that is suggested. The clashes between designers, programmers, and advertisers are explored and addressed. While I agree that the simple and obvious conclusion is that the focus should be on the user, it is refreshing and helpful to find a book which distills information from all of the varied and opposing developer viewpoints, and applies to them to that end. The book is, after all, subtitled "A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability." Also, like most common sense, it isn't really so obvious until after someone has pointed it out to you.

Here are a few things you won't find in this book, which makes it all the more effective and convincing. You won't find anything that claims this is the "right" way to design web sites. There will be no discussion of business models or predictions for the future of the web. The best omission of all is that there is no bad mouthing of poorly designed sites. According to Steve Krug "Designing, building, and maintaining a great web site isn't easy. It's like golf: a handful of ways to get the ball in the hole, a million ways not to. Anyone who gets it half right has my admiration."

This book gets it more than half right.

Rating:
Summary: That's not all, folks
Review: This book basically deals with how people behave when using the web - they're reading.
As an art director for 20 years, and someone who's always been interested on people's behaviour, I can't say this book surprised me. I was expecting more on web behaviour specifically, but found conclusions I've already taken from other medias. Maybe that's because I work too close to it.
But the point I didn't like was that the reading ended with the feeling that the author didn't told me all. He has more to say. The book felt somewhat like a teaser for his workshops. Take this now, get more later.
Has its goods shots, but the rabbit doesn't come out of the hat.

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Summary: The first book to read before you create any web site!
Review: A quick and fun book to read. Steve Krug gets to the point quickly without babbling on like most writers. My entire staff has used this book as a reference.

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Summary: A must have for aspiring web designers
Review: No matter how flashy, jaw-dropping, or beautifully designed your web pages are, the bottom line is that whether visitors come back or leave in droves will all depend on usability-- in other words, the navigational aspect of your site that allows them to browse your site with ease. In this well written and interesting book, author Steve Krug shows the importance of designing your pages the way your visitors actually view them, not the way you think they will view them. He also stresses the importance of creating usability that allows visitors not to think too much-- not necesarily navigation that spells everything out for them, but usability that points them in the direction that they need to go without forcing them to go around in circles, fall into false leads, or become hopelessly lost and confused. Free of jargon, simple to understand, and filled with interesting examples, DMMT is one of the most helpful books of web design that I've ever come. If ever you were looking for a great book that gets at the heart of creating great navigation, this one would be it. I can't recommend it enough.