Customer Rating: 
Summary: Easy Reading for a tight time scale
Comment: I loved this book, it was simple to read, funny, and informative. Not only have I used it for my University degree, I've used the principles in my work too!Highly reccomended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Comment: If you are just starting out on web usability - this book is a great jumpstart.If you are only planning to buy one book on web usability, and don't know which one to get - get this. Whatever you do, get this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: Well written: concise and to the point. A quick--yet highly informative--read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Happy talk must DIE!
Comment: I work for a small business that constantly redesigns our websites because management, marketing and development can't decide on a single aspect of our website. Everyone thinks their own ideas are the fruit of eden so all we do is talk in circles for hours on end. I found this book very helpful (especially with the political problems within my company) because it cuts out the "I think blah blah is best because I'm the coolest person in the world and my opinions are better than yours" and gets you focused on "this is what works best because it actually works for real people". This book can give you actual support behind your opinions in a meeting about a website because everything is based on usability. Web navigation, layout, instructions and concise content are a few examples of topics covered.My favorite quote of the book is: "Happy talk must die." I absolutely worship this short section of the book in which Steve Krug explains how happy balk is like a voice in the back of your head saying "blah blah blah blah blah..." Seriously, maybe 80% of my company's website is this BS "happy talk" which has no relevant content or beef to helping our customers or selling our own products. Happy talk is superfluous babble that wastes time and confuses and frustrates web users. All in all, I think this is a great read (I think it took me about 2 1/2 hours) I recommend it for web designers and web project managers, as well as other individuals that have a large personal stake in a website. I am starting my own company with is heaviliy web-based, and I will be applying many of the topics in this book toward it. My ownly caveat is that this book is a bit brief - although the author appeared to have written it this way. I would have liked more information on navigation and examples on service-based industries where companies try to sell solutions to customers rather than physical products.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply a Riot!
Comment: Where to begin?
Mr. Krug has a writing style that matches my own: logical, easy to follow, and full of humor. Once I started reading, I simply couldn't put the book down.
This book gives a copious amount of information about the right ways and wrong ways to design a web site. Mr. Krug easily pairs this information with live examples of sites that are online, or intranet sites in which he played a part. Interjected in this valuable information are some of the funniest barbs, observations, and comments I've heard in quite some time.
Most of the concepts in this book are straight common sense. So common, in fact, that we tend to overlook them, and consequently violate the rules. Don't worry, Mr. Krug gently points them out to you with vivid pictures and diagrams, and has you laughing while he does it. He even has a name for his business that ties in to this common sense mentality. Read the book - you'll understand...and smile.
Want to know what billboards and roadsigns in Los Angeles and Boston have to do with web design? Read the book. You'll soon discover yourself critiqing road signs and such in the area of town you live. Department stores will become a library of examples on how to organize and display information. And you'll always, ALWAYS find yourself analyzing web sites that you already frequent, and pointing out what works and what could be improved upon.
One question: are you a scanner or reader? You'll find out once you read this book. And then you'll be amazed at the accuracy of what Mr. Krug has said and what you actually do when you're on the web.
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