Pegasus Book Club

A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2^nd Edition)

Out of the millions of Web site that has mushroomed in the cyberspace in the recent years, only a very few are designed with usability in mind. There are many reasons for this such as lack of awareness, lack of management support, dearth of expertise to name a few. The book, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug is the second edition of one of the bestselling books on Web usability by the same name.

The current edition contains an introduction, 12 chapters, and a recommended reading list, in addition to the preface, foreword and index. The 12 chapters of the book are divided into 4 sections—guiding principles (chapters 1 through 5), things you need to get right (chapters 6 and 7), making sure you got them right (chapters 8 and 9) and larger concerns and outside influences (chapters 10, 11 and 12).

The first section explains the way people use the Web and the author’s advice on how to design the sites for the users. In this section we learn that users scan (don’t read), satisfice (don’t make optimal choices) and muddle through (don’t figure how things work) Web sites. We find out users make mindless choices when using a site. We also learn the reasons for these user behaviors. This section also contains Krug’s laws of usability and excellent advice on how to design web pages for the users.

Second section contains two chapters—designing navigation and designing the Home page. The first of the two chapters explains in great detail, numerous design elements, concepts, conventions, best practices and mistakes to avoid while designing the site’s navigation. The chapter on Home page, explains the importance of the Home page, what all should be on the Home page, what shouldn’t be there, pitfalls to avoid, and so on. Both chapters contain numerous examples and both end with the author analyzing a couple of sites giving his feedback on what is good, what should be changed and how to change it to get maximum impact.

The third section contains two chapters. One explains how to deal with time wasting arguments about usability issues while the other describes the need and importance of usability testing and gives detailed explanation on how to conduct usability testing even on a shoestring budget. The author includes the script of a sample usability testing session so that even people with no previous experience can conduct a usability test.

Section four contains the three new chapters of this edition. The first chapter is about the importance of usability and lists out the things and features that will improve or diminish the customer goodwill. The second chapter in this part is about Web accessibility. This chapter addresses the various issues of making Web sites accessible for users with difficulties. It also contains excellent suggestions on making your site more accessible–things you should do, technologies you could use and things you shouldn’t do. It also gives an excellent reading list on Web accessibility. The final chapter in this part gives the web designers and developers enough ammunition to fight the external influences and design the Web sites that will be easier to use and generate customer goodwill.

Steve Krug has written this book in an easy-to-read and jargon free style that is often funny and always engaging. He uses analogies from the physical world, examples from the Web, anecdotes, pictures and illustrations in such a way that makes reading enjoyable and learning pleasurable. The content is relevant, thoroughly researched, logically organized and well presented. The author’s vast experience, expertise and wisdom shines through each page of the book, making this a classic. The pleasing layout design and the high quality production deserve a special mention. I recommend this book to all who have anything to do with Web sites and Web development.

Book Details:

• Author: Steve Krug
• Publisher: New Riders Press
• Edition & Year: Second, 2005
• ISBN: 0321344758
• Cover & Page Count: Paperback: 224 pages

You can order online at Amazon.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 2:25 am and is filed under Computing & IT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.