Summary

<aside> 💡 The book emphasizes the principle of "Don't make me think!" which means a good website should be self-explanatory or self-evident.

• The ideal website should allow a person of average ability to understand how to use it without it being more trouble than it's worth.
• Web users don't read pages, they scan them, often looking for the first reasonable option and not necessarily the best one.
• Web users rarely take time to learn how websites work, they prefer to muddle through.
• To accommodate these behaviors, website design should follow conventions, create clear visual hierarchies, break pages up into clearly defined areas, and make it obvious what's clickable.
• Text should be formatted for scanning, with plenty of headings, short paragraphs, bulleted lists, and highlighted key terms.
• The number of clicks needed to navigate a website is less important than how easy each click is for the user.
• The best solutions come from understanding the user's perspective and designing for their convenience, not the site's internal logic. </aside>

Notes

I’ve been at this for a long time, long enough to know that there is no one “right” answer to most usability questions. Design is a complicated process and the real answer to most of the questions people ask me is “It depends.” But I do think that there are a few useful guiding principles it always helps to have in mind, and those are what I’m trying to convey. (Location 261)

If something is usable—whether it’s a Web site, a remote control, or a revolving door—it means that A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience can figure out how to use the thing to accomplish something without it being more trouble than it’s worth. (Location 299)

Guiding Principles (Location 304)

Chapter 1. Don’t make me think! (Location 305)

“What’s the most important thing I should do if I want to make sure my site or app is easy to use?” (Location 308)

“Don’t make me think!” (Location 312)

For instance, it means that as far as is humanly possible, when I look at a Web page it should be self-evident. Obvious. Self-explanatory. I should be able to “get it”—what it is and how to use it—without expending any effort thinking about it. (Location 315)

When I’m looking at a page that doesn’t make me think, all the thought balloons over my head say things like “OK, there’s the_____. And that’s a _____. And there’s the thing that I want.” (Location 321)