Notes on 'Don't Make Me Think Revisited' by Steve Krug
Ch.1: Don't Make Me Think
Summary: Make your site as user-friendly as you can. The easier your site is to navigate and understand, the less questions users will have while looking at the site.Things that make us think
- Unusual titles
- Questionable design choices (ex. does this link actually lead to another site)
- When the site doesn't work how we think it will
When it's okay to make us think
- When you are doing something original
- Creating something that is self-explanatory
Why it's important
- It might be the only place with the necessary information
- Users might not want to go to another site
- Saves people time
Chapter 2: How we really use the Web
Summary: Web writers believe think that readers will read everything, while in reality readers will skim to try and find the information they are searching for as quickly as possible.We skim and...
- Scan the pages to look for specific words and phrases
- Make quick judgement; don't weigh out which option/page would be the best choice to get to our information
- Find our way through the site on our own
Why we skim
- We are in a hurry
- Each site has the chance to have the same information
- Trying to find relevant information quickly
Chapter 3: Billboard Design 101
Summary: As web writers, we want to make things as easy to understand. We need to have meaningful, organized and obvious content for our readers.Ways to successfully catch the readers' attention
1) Use conventions.- This helps readers understand more
- Add value to your content
- Every page's topic should be clear and obvious
- Put visuals where they make sense
- Break them up; too much can be distracting
Important
Sort of Important
Not as Important
- This makes it organized
- Put related information into a defined area
- Easy for readers to understand what goes together
- Make important things obvious ex.bold, color, big text, etc.
- Design these parts different than the rest of the text
- Not every bit of information is important
- It'll look clean instead of cluttered
- Too much information creates a distraction. We don't want that.
- Headings are your friend. They allow readers to know the content of each section
- Keep your headings close to your section. This will keep it together.
- Paragraphs can be short.
- Bullet lists are okay. They make it easier to read the information.
- Make important terms noticeable
Scannable Exercise:
Between seven and eight o'clock the sash's shadow appeared on the curtains. In time, I could hear the watch. Father gave me Grandfather's watch, giving me hope and desire. He said I would use it to gain the reducto absurdum of all human experience and forget time now and then for a moment, not spending all my breath trying to conquer it. No battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. It only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury.
Questions
What did you change in the text? That is, what kinds of changes did you make?
I changed the point of view within some parts of the text. The original text had a different POV when talking about what the father told the narrator. They used 'you' and I changed it to 'I' bringing the whole text into first person. I thought that the change made the text flow better and cut out unnecessary words.
What gave you problems in revising the extract?
The main problem that I had in revising the extract was knowing what could be taken out and what was essential to the text to get a point or mood across. I had never read The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, so I think that also factored in on not knowing what to take out. It took me awhile to shorten the text up. The wording in general was also a factor in making it hard to revise the text, because there were a lot of ideas that went over my head about time and forgetting time. I don't think that I would have a problem revising the extract if I would have read it previously, but it was hard looking at it without knowing the background of the writing.
How has the meaning changed?
I think that the meaning of the extract is changed by taking out words that could have made the watch seem special. By this, I mean that I took out a little about how important the watch is to his family. The original text said that the watch was given from the grandfather to the father and then to the narrator, and I knocked that meaningful connection the watch had down a notch by simplifying it to "Father gave me Grandfather's watch."
Ch.4: Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral
Summary: Make your site easy for users to understand.An easy and self-explainable site is the goal
- Avoid different choices and questions
- Make titles, pages and information easy. This creates mindless choices.
Some guidance may be needed, but make it...
- Brief
- Just-in-time: have it available when they first run into a problem
- Noticable. Make the help tools/links prominent on the page
Ch.5: Don't use more words than you have to
Summary: Only write information the users need, try to avoid fillers.Conciseness is key
- Shows important information better
- Users can see all the pages/information quicker
- "Happy talk" is not needed. Users just want their information
