I hope this article will inspire you to read “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. if you are a Visual & UX designer, developer, or UX enthusiast like myself. You should always follow the expert when learning something new, and they will immediately give you the precise and valuable information you need.
I have experience working with startups and as a freelancer. Over the past three years, I have designed websites and mobile apps for my clients and the startup I work for. I took inspiration from attractive designs. Many visual design experts told me to design high-fi websites to attract users and clients, so I followed that.
I was also curious about user experience design. I watched many videos and needed help figuring out where to start. I took a google UX design course, which blew my mind. I started wondering how to improve my knowledge and become a UX designer. In the end, I started reading the book recommended by the UX experts.
This book explains the significance of Usability and why we must learn it. There are thirteen chapters, and you will learn exactly what you need to know.
What is Usability, and should we learn it?
Usability is how people quickly understand and use a product to achieve their goals. We should learn Usability because we are not designing for ourselves; we designed or developed for the users. So we need to understand the user’s behavior. How do they react, and how do they interact with the product?
The product we will design or develop has to be useful, Learnable, memorable, effective, efficient, desirable and delightful. This is Steve Krug’s definition of Usability.
I’m sharing a few points, What I learned after completing the book.
Chapter 1: Don’t make me think!
This is Steve Krug’s first law of Usability.
While we design for the users, we need to ensure that every information we put on the website should be clear and consistent for the users to understand quickly. If our design solutions let people think like…
- What is this?
- Why it’s here?
- How to start?
- Do I need to click or not?
This is not good for the business. There are a lot of competitors out there. Remember that.
Example: If you are designing a website or mobile app and only focusing on beauty? What will happen when someone visits your website and need help finding the information they want?
People only use websites or mobile apps for a specific reason. So we have to remember that we have to do both. They need to feel Wowed and say here it is that I was looking for, and don’t make them think.
Chapter 2: How we really use the web?
When browsing any website or mobile app, we have something on our minds. We searched for specific words and phrases, and when we found them, we stopped looking. This is how our minds and eyes work. So we don’t read, and we scan them.
Example: On an online shopping website, we only check some of the products they listed. We only focus on the product we want or check the price. We are hurried and usually on a mission.
Chapter 3: Billboard Design 101?
I loved this chapter because it’s a common-sense approach. A few key things were added in this chapter.
- Take advantage of conventions.
- Create effective visual hierarchies.
- Break pages up into clearly defined areas.
- Make it obvious what’s clickable.
- Eliminate Distractions.
- Format content to support scanning.
Take advantage of conventions. Most website places their logo on the left side. Do you know why? Because we are used to seeing the logo on the left side, it will be tricky for users to identify the website identity if we change the position. But if you want to change the place, make sure it should be usable for the users. (Don’t make them think)
Creating effective visual hierarchies is very helpful for the users to identify what is important and what is less important.
Break pages up into clearly defined areas. We have to define the section and break pages because it will help users to find what they are looking for.
Make it obvious what’s clickable. Don’t use any elements that confuse users to either click or not.
Eliminate Distractions. Sometimes we use a lot of decoration elements, so we think our design looks good, but we have to ensure that stuff is focused on the users.
Format content to support scanning. When designing and putting content on our website, we need to format the text to help users scan.
- Use Heading.
- Use bullet points.
- Keep the paragraph short.
- Highlight key terms.
Here is an example: Which one is good?
Chapter 4: Animal, Vegetable, Or Mineral?
Why do users like the mindless choice? It doesn’t matter how many times I have to click as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice. Steve Krug’s second law of Usability.
Whether you are designing a form or popup, make it simple and put only a little text, elements or buttons to ensure users understand. Users like to make effortless choices.
Chapter 5: Omit needless words?
Get rid of half the words on each page and half of what is left. Steve Krug’s third law of Usability.
Sometimes we think putting a lot of details will help users understand our website or business, but this is not how it works. Remember, we scan specific words of the phase because we don’t read. So putting a lot of text will increase the noise level of the page. And it will be hard for the users to find what they are looking for.
Example: If I say I have a dog whose name is kali, instead, I can say that My dog’s name is kali. So we need to be more careful while choosing words. Riding needless words will reduce the level of noise and help users to scan.
Chapter 6: Street signs and breadcrumbs?
Design navigation. This is another favorite chapter for me. Here you will understand how important navigation is and how to use that.
This is a little summary. I hope you should read that book if you are a visual designer or entry-level UX designer, or developer. In other chapters, you will learn how to improve user experience using our common sense approach. You will learn how to conduct usability studies on your own. How to influence your boss? Why should we avoid arguments? Why accessibility is so important and so much more.
I hope you like it. And I highly encourage you to read this book. Also, before reading, you can check out those videos. Steve Krug Talk about Usability.
