Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:      Summary: Don't Make Me Think Comment: It's a great book for introducing the mindset of web usability. It doesn't overload you with information, but shows you how to think when developing a web app.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Improve Your Website Comment: I'll bet that every person who builds a web site, personal or commercial, big or small, thinks that, even if it has a few faults, it's pretty good. I'm not certain that people who visit sites have as charitable a view. Steve Krug believes that the visitors' views could be improved with a common sense approach to web usability.
The theme is set out in the title. Web users don't want to have to think. In order to incorporate that fact into web sites, Krug sets out some simple concepts for web designers to follow. I hesitate to list these rules because they are so simple that if you read a summary here, and pay attention to them, you almost don't need to buy this book. But Krug's skill is in convincing you that you should take his advice, and suggesting how to implement it. His guidance is simple, including: design pages for scanning, not reading; make sure the user knows where he is on the site through navigation design; and test sites with real users.
The author suggests that the book is so short it can be read on a longish airplane ride. But the points he makes are so important that everyone responsible for a web site, whether designer or CEO needs to be reminded of them. I know that I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to usability, but I came up with several tips for quickly improving my web site as I read the book. (I also saw a few weaknesses in my site that the author identified that weren't so easy to correct quickly, but I'm working on those problems.) Moreover, while I didn't laugh out loud, I found the book so good natured that it was easy to become absorbed.
The book has little of a technical nature about browsers or web authoring software, but instead deals with a few broad principles of web usability. That's enough reason to recommend that everyone with a web site of any kind should read this book, especially since it is so easy to go through. I can't guarantee you will find something of use, but I'd love to get your URL if you don't.
Customer Rating:      Summary: excellent Comment: I am a web UI developer and I have bought a lot of books already including (theory and implementation books)but no book has been as useful as this book so far.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Easy To Read Comment: I can't honestly say that I learned a lot from this book, but I considered it to be a very accessible book, and it explains the topic well, along with sharing some important ideas and some specific recommendations. I'm glad I read it, although it hasn't really altered the way I work very much.
Customer Rating:      Summary: Interesting look at Websites Comment: Many of Krug's findings are very true and helpful to analyzing the effectiveness and usefulness of a website! I appreciated the short length of the book, but at times still found myself skimming some parts. Overall a worthwhile read!
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