Steve Krug

When I started working in IT, I acquired a reputation for having an ‘affinity’ with computers.

This was, of course, complete nonsense. All I did, that no-one else seemed to do, was read the manual.

That’s not always a small feat, given that many computer-related manuals seem to have been written by people for whom English may be a second or third language. Or maybe the manuals were just bad translations. Or maybe the authors couldn’t write well.

In any case, I managed to glean enough show more from these publications – after applying a good smear of common sense – to appear to be well-informed about how computers work, why they often don’t and how to make them do what you want them to do.

It’s probably no surprise then that I really, really enjoyed reading about a book about usability on the web written by a guy who used to write computer manuals and who insists that his craft is “not rocket surgery”.

As his company’s URL and name imply, Steve Krug is big on common sense. He’s also very funny, easy to read and makes me feel his principles are easy to implement.

Like Jeffrey Veen in The Art and Science of Web Design (another of my ‘crucial’ web texts), Krug is happy to draw parallels between online behaviour and the real world, is prepared to use himself as an example and refers to actual websites, some of which he worked on.

As well as being well written, Don’t Make Me Think also happens to be very well edited, well laid out and altogether very well published.

Almost all aspects of the book are appropriate to its content. Like a good website, it has an excellent understanding of its audience, terrific content, great structure and excellent design.

Make that “Like an unusually good website …”

I read it all in one go – but then I do that with manuals too. More importantly, but still like a manual, I expect that I will return to Don’t Make Me Think repeatedly as I try to implement Krug’s advice on how to make websites usable.

Unlike setting up a computer or gadget, I fully expect that process to be more fun than if I hadn’t read this book.

Thank you, Steve Krug. show less

I saw this title in the library catalogue and immediately liked the cut of its author's jib. Not having to think? That's an appealing idea. And when I finally received my hold from the library and started reading, I liked it even more. This book is exactly as long as it needs to be and is lavishly supplied with illustrations and humour to convey the concepts of usability. As I read, I could think of several products I use regularly and whose designers really should have read this book, show more especially the part about how each click on a page should be a "mindless, unambiguous choice."

Even though the book focuses on websites and mobile devices, some of the principles could also apply to simple documents: using white space, bullets and chunks of text to break down information; using a logical visual hierarchy to orient the reader; and using appropriate conventions for headings and other formatting aspects.

I would highly recommend this book if you're interested in web design or believe in the value of clear communication. This would make a good partner to a book on plain language, if for some reason you needed gift ideas for the technical writer or web designer in your life. show less

Excellent book which follows its own advice on usability - clear, simple, well designed and accessible.

I actually found it to be entertaining and engaging rather than just educational. A lot of the items covered leap out as being obvious, but they are summed up and organised so neatly that this is a validation rather than a criticism.

Steve Krug is the author of the bestselling book Don’t Make Me Think!, which has racked up worldwide sales of 250,000 since its publication in 2000.

That book based its approach to assessing and improving the usability of websites on the injunction in the title. If visitors to websites have to figure out what to do on a website, then the website is operating at a disadvantage.

Krug offered some very pertinent, uncomplicated advice on web usability, how to judge it and how to implement show more solutions to problems that are identified.

When updating that first book in 2005, Krug decided that Rocket Surgery Made Easy had become necessary: a handbook for putting usability principles into practice, focusing in particular on user testing.

The title refers to the phrase Krug coined (and trademarked) to summarise his view that all of this is just common sense: it’s not rocket science and it’s not brain surgery.

It also gives a clue that Krug, while determinedly practical and grounded in the day-to-day business of designing and building websites for paying clients, approaches the subject with considerable humour and playfulness. It’s apparent that this is partly out of a concern that usability might be a dry subject for some, but also because Krug is a very funny guy. I think we’d enjoy his workshops, if he ever brings them to Australia.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy is itself easy reading. Less than 160 pages, it is well laid out, charmingly illustrated by Mark Matcho and very, very well edited – big hat-tip to the people at New Riders.

The basis of the book is that it offers how-to advice on actually running user testing sessions. Krug is well aware that many designers and developers cannot afford the expansive, expensive and time-consuming approach to user testing that requires hiring rooms with two way mirrors and video equipment to observe and record user actions as they test a website under controlled conditions, so he has devised a budget approach based around the catchphrase of “A morning a month, that’s all we ask“. Catchy phrases are an identifiable part of the Krug approach.

Because it’s well-written, because Krug is witty, and because the subject material is based so much on common sense, it’s easy to whizz through the book. But how much will it change the way a web designer or developer works?

Frankly, while I agree with the need for it, and understand the benefits to be gained, user testing is unlikely to form a significant part of my day-to-day work scenario, at least while I remain a one man design band juggling a roster of new websites and long term clients. The logistical practicalities of even “a morning a month“, using three testers without a lot of complicated equipment, are prohibitive. I accept that this may give me and my clients headaches into the future.

However, Krug’s books – the first explaining why usability matters, the second explaining how to do it – do give me a platform for addressing usability issues. The way Krug explains stuff allows and encourages me to engage with usability issues. Walking through his approach to user testing tells me a great deal about how I think about usability and how I can improve it. This alone gives me a competitive edge over designers who don’t “get” usability

Perhaps both these books should be bundled under the collective title Make Web Designers Think! It’s what Krug does extremely well. He raises simple but devastatingly critical usability issues, explores his own way of thinking about them and then offers ways to deal with them.

Krug points out – and emphasises – that anyone can do this. But the fact is that many web designers do not give themselves over to critical thinking, and even when encouraged to do so, may not be sure how to analyse, document and translate their thoughts into design changes.

It is these people that will likely get the most out of Rocket Surgery Made Easy, but they may also be the last designers to actually buy it.

Still if it does anything to get even highly experienced web designers thinking about what they are doing in a critical, insightful and constructive way, it will help to shape a better web. show less