Book summary: Don’t make me think by Steve Krug / part 1

Introduction: What’s in it for me? Learn how to create and test a website that users will love to explore.

When you head into an unfamiliar department store, what’s usually the first thing you do? To figure out where to go, many of us would look at a map of the floors.

Yet imagine if there was no map, and you had to wander aimlessly, wasting time and energy until you found the sporting goods section. Or perhaps you might find the store exit first, and choose to leave!

The online world is the same. Visit a well-designed website and you can find what you need in seconds; surf a cluttered, poorly organized site and you’ll leave before long.

Following information will explain exactly what you need to consider when building a website, sharing the hints and hacks that will make your website not only useable but also popular!

• why the world’s landfills are chock-full of unread user’s manuals;
• why doing what other web designers have done isn’t exactly a bad thing; and
• how pizza (and some cash) will help you build a great website.

Key idea 1

Instead of learning how a system works, we prefer to play and figure things out on our own.

Did you read the user manual to a technology gadget you purchased recently? Probably not.

Unless you happen to be an engineer, most people simply don’t care about how stuff works.

Imagine asking a random person on the street to explain how a browser or search engine operates. Although most people lack even the most basic knowledge about the mechanics of the internet, they can still navigate websites without much problem.

So when you buy a new device, often you just play around with it instead of reading the directions that explain how to use it. And then, when you find a method of operation that works for you, you stick to it.

You may have seen this behavior firsthand, for instance when someone searches for a complete website URL instead of using the browser’s URL bar to go directly to the desired website.

This is an example of a common decision-making strategy called satisficing. Given a problem, you’d think that a human would rationally search for information, identify solutions, compare them and then choose the best one. But in fact, satisficing is a more typical approach.

A study showed, for instance, that firefighters simply do a quick check for errors and then proceed with the first available solution. And these are people operating in high-pressure, high-risk situations!

In contrast, your average web surfer just needs to click the “back” button on a browser if she makes a mistake and clicks on an incorrect link. In general, we make decisions quickly as we surf online. Not only because it’s easier, but also because figuring things out independently feels like a game — it’s more fun!

In other words, our default internet behavior is to click on the first thing that catches our attention. And when this gets us what we want, we feel smart, comfortable and more confident.

Key idea 2

Make it easy for users to scan your website for key messages and important information.

Imagine visiting a website with the following text on the home page: “Welcome to XYZ Corporation! We provide world-class clients with innovative products and customizable solutions…”

We’re all familiar with this sort of promotional corporate jargon and yet, we never read it.
Because usually, when we’re online, we’re on a mission — and we want to get this mission over and done with quickly. That’s why instead of plowing through long texts and reading carefully, we scan.

If you run a website and want to communicate a specific message, make sure you use the following elements: short paragraphs, headlines and highlighted keywords.

Additionally, organize these components using visual hierarchies, so users can decide which areas to focus on. This is important, because eye-tracking studies show that we make rapid decisions about where to look and completely ignore irrelevant areas, like advertising blocks.

Think about a print newspaper. On the front page, headlines, text and images are thoughtfully formatted, so that the reader can immediately glean what’s most important.
You should think of your website in the same fashion. Make it obvious what’s important, so that a reader can find that important information quickly and click on it.

This gets to another crucial point. Contrary to popular belief, most website visitors don’t mind clicking as long as the choice is mindless and the result is clear.

So make sure your website pathways are easy to navigate and understand. But don’t hide important information (like shipping costs) behind a lot of clicks, because that will only annoy your visitor.

Too often we imagine that building a website is like creating a product brochure for an interested buyer. But in reality, it’s more like building a billboard to attract cars rushing by at 60 miles per hour!

Key idea 3

Since navigation is at the core of each website, it needs to be clear, simple and consistent.

Visiting a new website is somewhat like walking into an unfamiliar supermarket, with one major difference: online, you can’t walk around and look down every aisle. This presents a challenge.

Because if you don’t find what you’re looking for or don’t understand how a website is organized, your option to leave (and never come back) is just a click away.

Another challenge is that it’s difficult to judge the scale of a website, whether it has 100, 500 or 12,000 pages. And that’s exactly why it’s so crucial to design a site that a visitor knows how to navigate.

To do so, it helps to include a “sections” bar at the top of a page to communicate exactly what the site contains. Moreover, every page should include the following four additional navigation items to help a visitor move around.

First, don’t forget a search bar. With a search bar, a visitor can immediately find what she’s looking for, without having to learn the organizational concept of the site.

Second, consider a “You are here” indicator. Similar to a red dot on a map in a shopping mall, this small indicator lets your visitor easily navigate each page.

Third, link your company logo to your home page. This element should be present on every page, to give users a simple way to jump “home” if needed.

And fourth, include a utilities component. This space includes all the nitty-gritty information about how to use your site, like a log in space, a FAQ section, a site map and so on.

If these four elements are implemented correctly, a visitor is far more likely to feel comfortable and trust the people and company behind the website.

To make sure this happens, we’ll explore how to make these navigation items as self-evident as possible in the next blink.

Key idea 4

Conventions tap into what your visitor already knows to help them navigate your site effortlessly.

If you live in the United States but have driven a car in London (where they drive on the left), then you know exactly how confusing it can be when conventions are broken.

And that’s exactly why you should embrace conventions when you’re designing a website.
Users have certain expectations about where stuff is and how things work, which means they’re likely to get annoyed if something is presented differently.

Imagine how baffled you’d be if your favorite magazine decided not to print page numbers! Page numbers are a print media convention, but we’re also used to conventions on the web. For example, when words are placed horizontally along the top of a page, we assume this list represents the main sections of the website.

Web designers often try to abandon conventions, seduced by the promise of doing something new and innovative. But conventions are established typically after years of fine-tuning and often represent the best and most effective practices developed to date.

Tab dividers are a good example. Tabs are a great navigation choice as people are already familiar with the concept of tabs, both from other websites and traditional filing systems. And so when we see them, we instantly know how to use them.

Of course, there is always room for innovation, especially as there won’t always be an appropriate convention to suit your needs. Just make sure that whatever you create is usable. In other words: It’s not about suppressing your creativity. It’s about prioritizing the user experience.

Consistency and convention are your friends. It’s okay to stray a little as long as you maintain clarity and ease of use — with one important exception, which we’ll discuss in the following blink.

Key idea 5

Your home page should present a good first impression and clearly convey what your site is about.

When you follow a link from Twitter or Facebook, you often end up landing deep inside a website. But when you want to figure out where you’ve ended up and decide whether you should trust the site’s content, you often head to the site’s home page.

Since the home page plays such a crucial role, designing a perfect example is almost impossible. Everyone on your team will have an opinion!

Especially as items linked from the home page typically get more clicks, every stakeholder will vie for a spot. If you give in to everyone, your home page will be cluttered and too difficult to understand.

Don’t give in to the pressure! When designing a home page, your first priority should be to create an accurate first impression. This is critical! A study on web design showed that the first impression of a website sticks, even after a visitor spends more time on the site later on.

This is because our imagination goes into overdrive whenever we encounter something new. We create a big picture of how this new thing works, and then try to force the new information we gather to fit our preconceived notions.
So if a visitor is confused from the start, she’ll start misinterpreting your site. And that will only make her more confused the more time she spends on your site.

What can you do to avoid this? The most effective way to communicate with readers on your home page is to include a tagline, or a short sentence placed next to your logo that encapsulates the goal of your whole site.

A good tagline is lively and personable, and conveys the value of your site. For instance, news site The Daily Beast uses the tagline, “Read this, skip that.” The tagline for car-sharing service Zipcar is, “Wheels where you want them.”

At a glance, both taglines communicate clearly what the companies’ websites are all about.

To read part 2, click here!