Transcript Text - Don`t make me think

Unstated Requirements
And useability
1
Many UI decisions
End up being made by the technical
development/implementation staff
 Remember

– You are not a typical user!
– It doesn’t matter if you like it
– It matters if the users like it
– What is intuitive to you, is not necessarily
intuitive to most users
2
Usability testing

The only way to tell how usable a product
really is, is to do usability testing!
3
4
5
6
“What’s the most
important thing I
should do if I want
to make sure my
web site is easy to
use?”
7
It is not
“Nothing important should ever be more
than two clicks away.”
 “Speak the user’s language.”
 “Be consistent.”

8
Don’t make me think.
9
10
Web pages should be self-evident

We should be able to “get it”
– What it is
– How to use it

Without expending any effort thinking
about it.
11
12
13
14
Things that make us think
15
16
17
“If you point the cursor at it, it’ll
change from an arrow to a pointing
hand. What’s the big deal?”
18
Every question mark adds to our
cognitive workload.
19
As a rule, people don’t like to
puzzle over how to use things.
20
21
22
23
The most important principle of web
design is to work toward eliminating
question marks.
24
However, you cannot make everything
self-evident.
25
However, you cannot make everything
self-evident.
Sometimes you need to settle for selfexplanatory.
26

Most people are going to spend less
time looking at the pages we design than
we think.
27
So why then?

Most people are going to spend less
time looking at the pages we design than
we think.

If web pages are going to be effective,
they have to work most of their magic at
a glance.
28
29
We’re thinking: “Let’s write some
‘great literature’ (or at least ‘product
brochure’)”
30
The user’s reality is much closer to:
“billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.”
31
Fact of Life

We don’t read pages; we scan them.
– We’re usually in a hurry
– We don’t need to read everything.
– We’re good at it.
32
33
What one user sees
34
What another user sees
35
Fact of life

We don’t make optimal choices. We
satisfice.
36
Fact of life

We don’t make optimal choices. We
satisfice.
– We don’t choose the best option – we choose
the first reasonable option.
– As soon as we find a link that seems like it
might lead where we want, we click it.
37
Why don’t web users look for the best choice?
We’re usually in a hurry
 There’s not much of a penalty for guessing wrong
 Weighing options may not improve our chances
 Guessing is more fun

– Less work
– If you’re right it’s faster
– Introduces an element of chance - serendipity
38
Fact of life

We don’t figure out how things work. We
muddle through ( form a mental model).
39
Many people cannot tell you the difference between Google, a browser,
and the internet
40
If people manage to muddle through…
…does it really matter whether they get it?
– Muddling tends to be inefficient and error-prone
– If they get it:
 Better chance they’ll find what they’re looking for.
 Understand the full range of what your site has to offer
 You have a better chance of steering them where you
want them to go
 They’ll feel smarter and more in control
41
What’s a girl to do?
If your audience is going to act like you’re
designing billboards, then design great
billboards.
42
43
44
45
46
47
Bottom line
Don’t make me think
 Realize that I will satisfice and muddle
through
 Don’t offer me a fixed set of options.
Include an “other” option to avoid forcing
me to do it “your way”

– Microwave, cell phone, netflix cd that was
returned to them instead of delivered to me
– Don’t assume you know all the choices
48
Bottom line

Don’t make me do work you can do
– Pre-populate fields
Don’t offer me meaningless choices
 Don’t make me confirm happy path
choices – make it easy to back out

49
Credits
Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense
Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
 http://www.slideshare.net/amitnm/dontmake-me-think-by-steve-krug-a-booksummary
 http://users.drew.edu/sbradsha/FromIPod
sToMySpace/05-DontMakeMeThink.ppt

50