Chapter 1. Don’t Make Me Think!: Krug’s First Law of Usability

 

Michael, why are the drapes open?

 
 --KAY CORLEONE IN THE GODFATHER, PART II

People often ask me:

“What’s the most important thing I should do if I want to make sure my Web site is easy to use?”

The answer is simple. It’s not “Nothing important should ever be more than two clicks away,” or “Speak the user’s language,” or even “Be consistent.”

It’s...

“Don’t Make Me Think!”

I’ve been telling people for years that this is my first law of usability. And the more Web pages I look at, the more convinced I become.

It’s the overriding principle—the ultimate tie breaker when deciding whether something works or doesn’t in a Web design. If you have room in your head for only one usability rule, make ...

Get Don’t Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.