"Don't Make Me Think" Review

After reading “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug, I felt well-equipped to create and run my own website. The book provided effective details and tips on how to create a successful website that viewers enjoy. The book is humorous, simple and loaded with tons of pictures and graphics for effective understanding. 

One of the biggest takeaways I got from the book about creating websites is exactly what the cover says: “Don’t make them think”! Krug emphasized in chapter one how one of his biggest “laws of usability” is “don’t make me think.” By this, he means that any website should be so simple that it should not make viewers think too hard. He explains that websites should be very clear and self-explanatory. This means simple words and simple pictures. Krug states that having an easily understandable website that is self-explanatory is like “having good lighting in a store.”

Krug explains how we usually put a lot of thought an effort into all of the words and things we write and produce for the websites. However, it is rare for viewers to put this same effort into reading the websites. He states that people are usually in a hurry and pay attention to what they feel like paying attention to or what catches their attention the most. For this reason, I learned that when creating a website of my own it’s important to create effective visual hierarchies, break up pages into clear sections, make what is “clickable” obvious, take away distractions and format the content to support the idea that viewers just scan the page rather than thoroughly read. An effective website has plenty of bold and clear headings. Paragraphs should be kept short and the use of bulleted lists should be taken advantage of. 

Krug states that unnecessary words should be deleted. This keeps sentences short, simple and the easiest to read for website visitors. Like he said, people have short attention spans and do not have the time to read all of your well-thought out paragraphs. Like any new place a person visits, they will not use your website if they cannot find their way around it. In the book, Krug compares a website’s page names to why he loves to drive in Los Angeles due to the city having “the best street signs.” He says the street signs are big and in the right place. The same goes for page names. They should be prominent, should match what the user clicks and needs to be in the right place. According to Krug, “nothing beats a good tagline.” The tagline is concise phrase the sums it all up. 

“Don’t Make Me Think” was a great and educational read for people of all audiences. I believe that in this day and age where everything is digital, there are several skills that can be taken away from this book and used websites and digital platforms. Steve Krug is witty and entertaining with his delivery and makes sure to get his points across simply and effectively.