Book: Don't Make Me Think

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Chapter 1: Krug's First Law of Usability

Key Concepts:

• When you're creating a site, your job is to get rid of the question marks
• The more you make people think about how to use something, the less they'll use it
• Every question mark adds to our cognitive workload, distracting attention from the task at hand
• Making things self-evident is like having good lighting in a store—it makes everything seem better

Why It Matters:

• Using your site shouldn't require effort—thinking requires cognitive resources
• If you can't make something self-evident, at least make it self-explanatory
• The goal is for users to "get it" with minimal conscious thought

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Chapter 2: How We Really Use the Web

Three Facts of Life About Web Usage

FACT #1: We Don't Read Pages—We Scan Them

• Users are on a mission—they're almost always in a hurry
• They know they don't need to read everything
• They're good at scanning (we've been practicing since childhood)
• Implication: Design for scanning, not reading

FACT #2: We Don't Make Optimal Choices—We Satisfice

• Users don't choose the best option; they choose the first reasonable option
• Satisficing = satisfying + sufficing (coined by Herbert Simon)
• Why users satisfice:
  • We're in a hurry
  • There's not much penalty for guessing wrong
  • Weighing options may not actually improve our chances
  • Guessing is more fun and introduces serendipity

FACT #3: We Don't Figure Out How Things Work—We Muddle Through

• People use things without understanding how they work
• We forge ahead with vague, often wrong ideas about how things function
• We create plausible stories that work well enough
• Even technically savvy users have surprising gaps in understanding
• Why this happens:
  • It's not important to us to understand
  • If something works, we stick to it (even if badly)
  • We rarely look for better ways unless we stumble upon them

The Critical Question: Does muddling through matter? YES. While users can muddle through:

• It's inefficient and error-prone
• Users who "get it" are more likely to:
  • Find what they're looking for
  • Understand the full range of offerings
  • Be steerable to desired sections
  • Feel smarter and return

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Chapter 3: Billboard Design 101

Designing for Scanning, Not Reading

Six Key Principles for Scannable Design

1. Take Advantage of Conventions

• Conventions are standardized design patterns that users expect
• Examples: logo in top-left, navigation at top or left, shopping cart metaphor
• Benefits of conventions:
  • Make life easier for users
  • Eliminate need to figure things out
  • Allow focus on unique content
• When to break conventions:
  • When you KNOW you have a better idea
  • When replacement is clear and self-explanatory OR
  • Adds so much value it's worth a learning curve
• Critical principle: CLARITY TRUMPS CONSISTENCY
  • If you can make something significantly clearer by making it slightly inconsistent, choose clarity

2. Create Effective Visual Hierarchies

Visual hierarchy = the appearance of things accurately portrays relationships between elements

Three traits of clear visual hierarchy:

• More important = more prominent (larger, bolder, distinctive color, more white space, higher position)
• Logically related = visually related (grouped under headings, similar visual style, clearly defined areas)
• "Nested" visually (shows what's part of what through visual spanning and containment)

Why it matters: A good visual hierarchy preprocesses the page for users, organizing and prioritizing content instantly

3. Break Pages into Clearly Defined Areas

• Users should be able to identify different areas at a glance
• Think: "$25,000 Pyramid" game—"Things I can do on this site!"
• Benefits:
  • Users quickly decide which areas to focus on
  • Which areas to safely ignore
  • Related concept: Banner blindness (users ignore areas that look like ads)

4. Make It Obvious What's Clickable

• Users scan for visual cues of clickability
• Visual cues include:
  • Shape (buttons, tabs)
  • Location (menu bars)
  • Formatting (color, underlining)
• Cursor change (arrow → hand) requires deliberate action
• Mobile challenge: Touch screens have no cursor/hover state
• Rule: Stick to one color for all text links, or ensure shape/location identifies clickability

5. Keep the Noise Down to a Dull Roar

Three types of visual noise:

• Shouting: Everything clamoring for attention
  • Problem: Failure to make tough decisions about importance
  • Solution: Create clear visual hierarchy
• Disorganization: Elements strewn everywhere
  • Problem: Not using grids to align elements
  • Solution: Use grid-based layout
• Clutter: Too much stuff
  • Results in: Low signal-to-noise ratio
  • Solution: "Presumed guilty until proven innocent" approach—remove anything not making a real contribution

6. Format Text to Support Scanning

Essential scanning techniques:

• Use plenty of headings (act as informal table of contents)
• Keep paragraphs short (easier to scan, less intimidating)
• Use bulleted lists (naturally scannable format)
• Highlight key terms (draws eye, helps scanning)
• Use formatting (bold, color, size) to create clear structure

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Chapter 4: Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?

Why Users Like Mindless Choices

The Three-Click Rule Myth:

• Traditional belief: Users will leave if something takes more than 3 clicks
• Reality: Number of clicks doesn't matter as much as:
  • How hard each click is
  • Whether I feel like I'm on the right track
  • Whether I'm making progress

Keys to Good Choices:

• Make choices mindless and obvious
• Each click should require minimal thought
• Provide clear feedback about progress
• Show users they're on the right path

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Chapter 5: Omit Needless Words

The Art of Not Writing for the Web

Why Fewer Words = Better:

• Reduces noise level
• Makes useful content more prominent
• Pages appear shorter (less intimidating)
• Users spend less time per page

Two Prime Candidates for Deletion:

1. Happy Talk Must Die

• Definition: Introductory text that's welcoming but content-free
• Examples: "Welcome to our website! We're glad you're here..."
• Why it's bad: Pure noise that users skip anyway
• Solution: Get straight to the point

2. Instructions Must Die

• Why they exist: Designers think things aren't obvious enough
• Why they fail: Nobody reads them
• Better solution: Make things clearer so instructions aren't needed
• If you must have instructions: Make them brief, at point of use

The Strunk & White Connection: From The Elements of Style: "Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."

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Chapter 6: Street Signs and Breadcrumbs

Designing Navigation

Web Navigation 101

The Unbearable Lightness of Browsing:

• No sense of scale, direction, or location on the Web
• No fixed shape—sites can be infinitely large
• No sense of movement through space
• Easy to get lost

The Overlooked Purposes of Navigation:

Beyond finding things, navigation:

1. Tells us what's here (inventory of site content)
2. Tells us how to use the site (reveals the interface)
3. Gives us confidence (reassures we can find what we need)

Web Navigation Conventions

Persistent Navigation:

• Present on every page (except forms, Home page)
• Five elements that should persist:
  1. Site ID (logo/name, usually clickable to Home)
  2. Sections (primary navigation)
  3. Utilities (links to important elements not part of content hierarchy)
  4. Return to Home (usually the Site ID)
  5. Search (search box and button)

Secondary/Tertiary Navigation:

• Shows where you are in hierarchy
• Lists pages at current level

Page Names:

• Every page needs a name
• Should match what you clicked to get there
• Should be prominent (largest text, or distinctly highlighted)
• Should be in the right place (framing main content)

"You Are Here" Indicators:

• Show current location in hierarchy
• Must stand out (apply multiple visual distinctions)
• Common mistake: Being too subtle

Breadcrumbs:

• Show path from Home page to current location
• Format: Home > Category > Subcategory > Current Page
• Best practices:
  • Put at top of page
  • Use > between levels
  • Boldface last item (current page, not a link)
• Most useful in large sites with deep hierarchies

Tabs:

• One of few physical metaphors that works in UI
• Why tabs work:
  • Self-evident
  • Hard to miss
  • Visually distinctive
  • Add polish
• Critical implementation detail: Active tab must visually connect with content below it

The Trunk Test

How to perform the trunk test:

1. Choose random page and print it
2. Hold at arm's length or squint
3. Quickly try to find and circle each element

Why the trunk test matters:

• Web experience is often like being abducted (following links from search, social, email)
• Elements should pop off page clearly enough to work even with blurry vision
• Tests whether information hierarchy works on overall appearance, not details

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Chapter 7: The Big Bang Theory of Web Design

The Importance of Getting People Off on the Right Foot

Home Page Challenges

What the Home Page Must Accomplish:

Concrete Requirements:

• Site identity and mission (What is this? Why should I be here?)
• Site hierarchy (What's available? How is it organized?)
• Search (Prominently displayed)
• Teases (Content promos, feature promos)
• Timely content (Signs of life, recent updates)
• Deals (Ad space, cross-promotion, co-branding)
• Shortcuts (Direct links to frequently requested content)
• Registration (Sign in/up, welcome back message)

Abstract Objectives:

• Show what I'm looking for
• Show what I'm NOT looking for (expose other offerings)
• Show where to start
• Establish credibility and trust

Home Page Constraints:

• Everybody wants a piece of it (waterfront property, turf battles)
• Too many cooks (everyone has an opinion)
• One size fits all (must appeal to diverse audience)

The First Casualty of War

Most often lost in compromise: Conveying the Big Picture

The Big Bang Theory:

• First impressions (formed in milliseconds) tend to be reliable predictors of reasoned assessments
• If first assumptions are wrong, users create more misinterpretations
• Wrong start → keep getting "loster"
• Critical to get users off on the right foot

How to Get the Message Across

The Tagline:

• Next to Site ID, in or near top-left corner
• 6-8 words maximum
• Conveys differentiation and clear benefit
• No generic/lofty mission statements
• Good tagline characteristics:
  • Clear and informative
  • Just long enough, but not too long
  • Conveys differentiation
  • Personable, lively, sometimes clever

The Welcome Blurb:

• Terse description of site
• Located in a readily visible space
• Complements tagline

The Fifth Question: "Where do I start?"

• Too often ignored
• Critical for first-time users

The Test: Point at areas on Home page and quickly explain what they are—others should agree immediately.

Why Golden Geese Make Tempting Targets

• Features that work brilliantly are tempting to "improve"
• Warning: Fixing what ain't broke often breaks it
• Before changing successful features, ensure deep understanding of why they work
• Classic mistake: Adding unnecessary changes to proven interfaces

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Chapter 8: "The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends"

Why Most Arguments About Usability Are a Waste of Time

Forces Creating Endless Debates

1. "Everybody Likes ____"

• All web workers are also web users
• We have strong personal feelings about what we like/don't like
• The trap: Natural tendency to project our preferences onto users
• We think most users are like us
• We know some people disagree, but we think they're unusual

2. Farmers vs. Cowmen (Professional Passion)

• Different roles have different perspectives on "good design"
• Designers: Want sites that look great (visual pleasure)
• Developers: Want interesting, original, ingenious features (complexity enjoyment)
• These preferences operate at brain-chemical level (endorphins)
• Creates inevitable conflicts about design priorities

3. The Hype vs. Craft Culture Clash

• Hype culture (management, marketing, business): Making promises
• Craft culture (designers, developers): Delivering on promises
• Modern version of art vs. commerce struggle

The Myth of the Average User

Why the Myth is Dangerous:

• Reinforces idea that good design = figuring out what people like
• Suggests simple "right" answers exist
• Individual reactions based on countless variables
• Attempts to describe users in one-dimensional terms are futile

The Truth:

• No simple "right" answers for most design questions
• What works = good, integrated design that fills a need
• Carefully thought out, well executed, and tested

The Antidote for Religious Debates

Wrong Question: "Do most people like pull-down menus?"

Right Question: "Does THIS pull-down, with THESE items and THIS wording in THIS context on THIS page create a good experience for most people who are likely to use THIS site?"

Why Testing Works:

• Moves discussion from opinion to evidence
• Shifts focus from "what's right/wrong" to "what works/doesn't work"
• Opens eyes to how varied user motivations, perceptions, and responses are
• Makes it impossible to keep thinking all users are like us
• Defuses arguments and breaks impasses

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Chapter 9: Usability Testing on 10 Cents a Day

Keeping Testing Simple—So You Do Enough of It

Focus Groups ≠ Usability Tests

Focus Groups:

• 5-10 people sit around a table
• Talk about opinions, experiences, reactions
• Good for: Sampling feelings and opinions
• When to use: Planning stages (before building anything)
• Determine what audience wants/needs, test value proposition

Usability Tests:

• Watch one person at a time
• Use something to do typical tasks
• Detect and fix confusing/frustrating elements
• When to use: Throughout entire process
• See whether site actually works

Critical Difference: Testing = watching people actually USE things vs. listening to them talk about things

Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing

Why DIY Testing:

• Every site needs testing
• Most can't afford professional testing frequently
• Not enough professionals to go around (~10,000 worldwide)
• If you can afford to hire a professional, do it (they'll do better)
• But DIY testing is far better than no testing

Testing Always Works:

• Even worst test with wrong user shows important improvements
• Simple test early > elaborate test later
• Testing is "broadening experience" like travel
• Reminds you not everyone thinks/knows/uses Web like you do

How to Test

How Often to Test:

• One morning a month (4 hrs)
• Early and often throughout development
• Before building anything
• After major features designed
• Throughout construction

How Many Users:

• 3-4 users per round is enough
• After 3-5 people, stop seeing new problems
• Better to test frequently with fewer users than once with many

Where to Test:

• Anywhere quiet with table, two chairs, computer
• Office, conference room, coffee shop
• Skip usability lab unless you need one

Who Should Do Testing:

• Almost anyone can do it
• Facilitator: Guides participant, asks questions
• Best if can focus entire time on user
• Should be patient, calm, empathetic
• Best practice: Enlist colleague who's good with people

Who Should Observe:

• Everyone on development team
• Stakeholders (executives, managers, marketing)
• Critical: Get team members to observe sessions
• Watching tests is transformative experience
• Observers typically have epiphanies about what works/doesn't

What to Test:

• Anything: sketches, wireframes, prototypes, competitors' sites, existing site
• Test something every month starting from day one
• Don't wait for polish

Typical Session (1 hour):

1. Welcome (4 min) - Put participant at ease
2. Questions (2 min) - About them, their experience
3. Home page tour (3 min) - First impressions, understanding
4. Tasks (35 min) - Realistic scenarios
5. Probing (5 min) - Follow-up questions
6. Wrapping up (5 min) - Final questions, thank participant

During Testing:

• Think aloud protocol: Ask participants to narrate thoughts
• Don't lead or help too much
• Be comfortable with silence
• Prompt only when necessary: "What are you thinking?" "What would you do next?"
• Remind them they're not being tested
• Watch for hesitations, confusion, wrong turns
• Record sessions for later review

Typical Problems Found

• Users don't understand the concept
• Words they're looking for aren't there
• Too much on page
• Users overlook important information
• Things called by wrong name (from user's perspective)

The Debriefing: Deciding What to Fix

The Focus List:

• Top 10 most serious problems found
• No guessing about prevalence—if 3 users had problem, fix it
• Create in 1-hour meeting after testing morning
• Attendees: observers + anyone who can make decisions

Triage Process:

1. Make list of all problems noticed
2. Choose 10 most serious
3. Rate each problem's seriousness:
   • Will people notice it?
   • If they notice, will they be able to recover?
   • What's the impact if they don't recover?
4. Create new list in order of severity
5. Decide which problems to fix for next round

Fix Problems Based On:

• Impact on users (how serious?)
• Implementation cost (how hard to fix?)
• Start with low-hanging fruit (high impact, easy fixes)

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Chapter 10: Mobile Design

It's Not Just a City in Alabama Anymore

Key Differences

It's All About Trade-offs:

• Limited screen space
• No cursor/hover states
• Touch interfaces
• Variable connectivity
• Different contexts of use
• Distracted users

Critical Mobile Challenges

1. The Tyranny of the Itty-Bitty Living Space

• Screen real estate is precious
• Everything that's left out makes app lighter/easier
• Everything left in makes it more capable/easy to use
• The challenge: Deciding what to leave in/out

2. Breeding Chameleons (Responsive Design)

• Design must work across many screen sizes
• Multiple navigation schemes needed
• Same content, different presentations
• Requires thinking about priorities

3. Don't Hide Your Affordances Under a Bushel

• Affordances: Visual clues about how to use something
• Mobile design trend: Minimal, flat design
• Problem: Can hide functionality
• Users shouldn't have to discover basic features
• Make primary functions obvious

4. No Cursor = No Hover = No Clue

• Desktop: Cursor changes reveal clickability
• Mobile: No cursor means no hover state
• Can't "explore" interface by hovering
• Must make affordances even more obvious

5. Flat Design: Friend or Foe?

• Pros: Clean, modern aesthetic
• Cons: Can reduce visual cues
• Critical: Don't sacrifice usability for aesthetics
• Buttons must look tappable

6. You Can Be Too Rich or Too Thin

• Interface elements need minimum size for touch
• Tiny buttons are hard to tap accurately
• White space is crucial for separating tap targets

Mobile Apps: Usability Attributes

Apps Need to Be:

1. Learnable

• Users invest time figuring out new apps immediately after purchase
• First experience crucial
• Must be intuitive enough to start using quickly

2. Memorable

• Will users remember how to use it next time?
• Problem: Many apps need re-learning each use
• Example: Hidden gestures, invisible controls
• Solution: Make things clear enough that they're easy to re-learn
• Memorability affects whether users adopt app for regular use
• Life is cheap (99 cents) on mobile—abandoned apps are common

3. Delightful

• "Delightful is the new black"
• Small interactions can create pleasure
• Animations, transitions, personality
• But delight shouldn't compromise usability

Mobile Testing

Same Process, Different Logistics:

• Same think-aloud protocol
• Same task-based approach
• Same observation principles
• Different technical setup

Key Logistics Issues:

• How to capture screen + gestures
• Whether users need their own devices
• How observers watch
• How to record sessions

Recommended Setup:

• Use camera pointed at screen (not mirroring)
• Attach camera to device (user can hold naturally)
• Skip face camera (focus on screen)
• Lightweight setup (example: Brundlefly rig)

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Chapter 11: Usability as Common Courtesy

Why Your Website Should Be a Mensch

The Reservoir of Goodwill

• Every user starts with reservoir of goodwill
• Every experience either adds to or drains it
• Once empty, users leave (many won't return)
• Goal: Keep reservoir full, ideally increase it

Things That Diminish Goodwill

Major Drains:

1. Hiding information I want (shipping costs, total price, contact info)
2. Punishing me for not doing things your way (formatting phone numbers, dates)
3. Asking me for information you don't really need
4. Shucking and jiving me (marketing speak, exaggeration)
5. Putting sizzle in my way (intrusive ads, interstitials, autoplay)
6. Making me jump through hoops (unnecessary steps, registration walls)

The Worst Offender:

• Not making it easy to contact you
• Hiding phone numbers
• Complex contact forms only
• No physical address

Things That Increase Goodwill

Major Boosts:

1. Know the main things people want to do on your site—and make them easy

   • Identify top 3 tasks
   • Remove all friction
   • Make them highest priority

2. Tell me what I want to know

   • Be upfront about costs, limitations, problems
   • Candor builds trust
   • Don't hide negatives—they'll find out anyway

3. Save me steps wherever you can

   • Prefill forms with known information
   • Provide direct links (not just tracking numbers)
   • Eliminate unnecessary steps

4. Put effort into it

   • Generate helpful, accurate content
   • Present it clearly
   • Organize it well
   • Keep it updated

5. Know what questions I'm likely to have and answer them

   • Real FAQs (not marketing disguised as FAQs)
   • Keep them current (this week's top 5 questions)
   • Be candid even about uncomfortable questions

6. Provide creature comforts

   • Printer-friendly pages
   • Useful error messages
   • Progress indicators
   • Confirmation messages

7. Make it easy to recover from errors

   • Graceful error handling
   • Clear paths to recovery
   • Don't make users backtrack unnecessarily

8. When in doubt, apologize

   • Can't always give users what they want
   • At least acknowledge the inconvenience
   • Shows you understand their frustration

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Chapter 12: Accessibility and You

What Developers and Designers Hear (and Why They're Skeptical)

Common Arguments for Accessibility:

1. "X% of the population has a disability"
2. "Making things accessible benefits everyone"
3. "It's required by law"
4. "It's the right thing to do"

Why Arguments 1-2 Often Fail:

• Young developers/designers don't see many people with disabilities in their circles
• "Benefits everyone" argument relies on single example (closed captioning = Tang)
• Easy to imagine accessibility making things worse for others

The Only Argument That Matters:

What Designers and Developers Fear

Fear #1: More Work

• Seems like one more complicated thing to learn
• Already impossible schedules
• Bureaucratic overhead (reports, reviews, task forces)

Fear #2: Compromised Design

• "Buttered cats": Places where good design for disabilities vs. everyone else conflict
• Fear of being forced to make sites less appealing to majority
• Worry about handicapping interface (like Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron")

The Truth: It Can Be Complicated

The Validator Problem:

• Running site through validator sounds promising
• Reality: More like grammar checker than spell checker
• Finds obvious mistakes (missing alt text)
• Also produces:
  • Vague warnings about possible problems
  • Long lists of things to manually check
  • Ambiguous advice
• Discouraging for beginners

The Bigger Truth:

• It's harder than it should be
• Most designers/developers won't become accessibility experts
• Tools need to get smarter
• Design processes need updating
• Need to think about accessibility from beginning

The Four Things You Can Do Right Now

#1: Fix the Usability Problems That Confuse Everyone

• Key insight: Making sites more usable for everyone IS one of the most effective ways to make them accessible
• What confuses most users will confuse users with disabilities MORE
• They'll have harder time recovering
• Example: Confusing error message + can't see page = much worse
• Action: Test often, smooth out confusing parts
• Fix core usability FIRST—otherwise code fixes = lipstick on a pig

#2: Read an Article

• Recommended: "Guidelines for Accessible and Usable Web Sites: Observing Users Who Work with Screen Readers"
  • By Mary Theofanos and Janice (Ginny) Redish
  • Based on watching 16 blind users with screen readers
  • 20 minutes to read
  • Gives appreciation for actual user experience
• Key insight: "Screen-reader users scan with their ears"
  • Blind users are just as impatient as sighted users
  • Don't listen to every word
  • Listen to first few words of links/lines
  • Set voice to speak at rapid rate
  • Keywords not at beginning may be missed

#3: Read a Book

• Recommended books:
  • A Web for Everyone by Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbery
  • Web Accessibility by Jim Thatcher et al.
• One weekend of reading provides solid foundation

#4: Go for the Low-Hanging Fruit

Easy, high-impact accessibility improvements:

1. Add appropriate alt text to every image

   • Describes image for screen readers
   • Empty alt text (alt="") for decorative images

2. Use headings correctly

   • H1, H2, H3 for actual structure
   • Not just for visual styling
   • Screen readers use heading structure to navigate

3. Make your forms work with screen readers

   • Proper labels for form fields
   • Group related fields
   • Clear error messages

4. Put a "Skip to Main Content" link at the beginning of each page

   • Lets screen reader users skip navigation
   • Can be invisible but accessible

5. Make all content accessible by keyboard

   • Everything that works with mouse works with keyboard
   • Logical tab order
   • Visible focus indicators

6. Create significant contrast between text and background

   • Important for people with limited vision
   • Easy to test: squint at page

7. Use an accessible template

   • Start with accessible framework
   • Easier than retrofitting

The Reality:

• Focusing on these things makes site much more accessible
• May not be perfect, but it's good
• Better than doing nothing
• No buttered cats required

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Chapter 13: Guide for the Perplexed

Making Usability Happen Where You Live

Ya Gotta Know the Territory

• Every organization is different
• Understand your organization's culture
• Work within it, don't fight it
• Find allies and champions

The Usual Advice (Why It Often Doesn't Work)

Traditional recommendations:

• Get management buy-in first
• Create usability team
• Establish formal processes
• Document everything

The problem: This takes too long and might not work

If I Were You...

Better approach:

1. Just do it

   • Start testing on your own
   • Prove value through results
   • Much easier to get buy-in after showing success

2. Start small and iterate

   • One morning a month
   • 3-4 users
   • Your own product
   • Low-key, low-cost

3. Get people to watch

   • Watching tests is transformative
   • Observers become believers
   • More powerful than any presentation

4. Make it a routine

   • Same time each month
   • Treat it like any recurring meeting
   • Build it into schedule

5. Don't try to do it perfectly

   • Some testing > no testing
   • Done is better than perfect
   • You'll improve over time

Resist the Dark Forces

Common obstacles:

"We don't have time"

• Testing SAVES time
• Finds problems while easy to fix
• Prevents costly late-stage changes
• 4 hours/month is tiny investment

"We can't get real users"

• Almost anyone is better than nobody
• Coworkers from other departments
• Friends and family
• Loose approximations work

"Management won't support it"

• Don't ask permission, ask forgiveness
• Do guerrilla testing
• Show results
• Build from success

"We need to fix everything first"

• Never a perfect time
• Test what you have
• Learn what to fix
• Test again

"We're too close to launch"

• Better late than never
• Can still fix some things
• Learn for next time
• Better to know problems than not

A Few Definitive Answers

"Should we do ___?"

• If you're asking whether to test something: Yes, test it
• If you're asking whether a design decision is good: Test it and see
• If you're asking how often to test: Once a month minimum

The Bottom Line:

• Stop debating
• Start testing
• Everything else follows

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Key Takeaways

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Recommended Reading

From the book:

• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
• A Web for Everyone by Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbery
• Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug (companion book on DIY testing)

Resources:

• sensible.com (author's website)
• rocketsurgerymadeeasy.com (testing resources)

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"The best thing about usability testing is that you don't have to be an expert to do it. And you don't have to be an expert to get a lot of value out of it." — Steve Krug