Customer Rating: 
Summary: Should be the driver's license for web development tools
Comment: Don't Make Me Think is like an operator's license for web site building software. An internet developer shouldn't be allowed to "turn the key" until they've digested this book. Steve Krug's book is a quick read (190 pages) filled with insightful, entertaining and practical prose for those involved in internet development. He shows us what does and doesn't work, and then explains why. His extensive research into usability permeates every page. The book itself is a stellar example of usability. Every graphic adds value and every paragraph amplifies the point. Color is effectively used, but not exclusively. Steve practices the techniques that he preaches. For example, the chapter called Omit needless words [The art of not writing for the web] is only 5 pages long. Finally, he presents practical ways to perform usability testing (huh, what's that?) into the development process. Imagine knowing how user's will actually use your site. I recommend this book to everyone involved in internet development. I've even assigned it to my children (ages 10 and 13) as they start their journey into internet development.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great guide to usability
Comment: Short and to the point, this book is the place to start for anyone involved in any way with websites of any type, from simple personal homepages to massive e-commerce sites. It doesn't require any technical knowledge, and it sets your priorities in order, particularly the importance of user testing (which, for low-rent developers, can be done even more cheaply than Krug suggests - just substitute paper-and-pencil for the video camera). Read this first, and once you've digested it, move on to Jakob Nielsen's Designing Web Usability for more detail.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: 200 pages of Common Sense, with Illustrations
Comment: Steve Krug's book is full of common sense for designers, managers and webmasters who will be responsible for designing and implementing an easy-to-use site. There's not a ton of information here, no "two thousand rules of web design", but rather a few very well-explained rules that when applied consistently should result in sites that are easier to use. Rule #1 is "Don't Make Me Think." The author also reinforces some common sense rules like "don't break convention unless you know why you're doing it." He also uses good examples to illustrate his writing, and point the reader in the right direction.On the other hand, you will need to extend the information here with more solid information. Mr. Krug talks about how important white space really is, but there's no indication of "how much" white space is good, or "how to identify a convention". There is no methodology behind the common sense, so you'll need to create your own. You can get through this book very quickly, and for those that make their living designing websites, I thoroughly recommend it. Although it won't serve as a reference manual, I think if it were read once a year by site designers, my life on the Internet would be oh-so-much-easier.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Cuts through the clutter with practical advice
Comment: We've all see examples of good web design and of bad design. For a while it was everyone with a computer had a web site, so we were sick of the flashing doodads and the moving pictures. Now it's time to settle down to serious business. Krug takes us through basic lessons on web design for usability in easy to digest and follow examples. Short chapters and extensive graphics of examples drive his point home in plain language. The book is not about the code - it's about what the user sees and how he or she navigates and operates. His lessons are no-nonsense and should be shouted from the highest mountain. Quick load, thought out arrangement of items, don't make the user think. His "secrets" are so obvious, they just get lost sometimes in the flash (and the Macromedia Flash). Reading this book is an investment of a couple of hours that will help you look at web sites in a new light. If you have a web site you can't help but think about how your site stacks up to examples. It doesn't hurt either that he so extensively uses Amazon as an example.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good book I am glad I read it.
Comment: I liked this book a lot. I liked the way the author rewrote some web pages and then displayed them so the reader could understand better. This book made me rethink my stand on pop-up menus and reexamine taglines. The author wrote this book for beginners and advanced users. So yes Mr. Krug does talk about how good tabs are for navigation. But aren't they. The only thing that did not interest me a whole lot was the last four chapters which were about web design teams, how to do usability testing and then what to do with the results. This is only a hobby for now and I have no budget. But in the author's defense he does talk about how to do testing on 10 cents a day. I think this book has helped my site and I am glad that I bought it.
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