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Don't Make Me Think
Steve Krug
The TL;DR
The shortest, most actionable book on web usability ever written. Krug's iron law: every page and interface should be self-evident. If users have to think about how to use your product, you've already failed. People don't read web pages — they scan them for keywords and visual cues. Conventions are your friend; don't reinvent navigation, buttons, or forms unless your version is dramatically better. Mindless, zero-thought choices are better than options that require deliberation. Most controversially: usability testing with just three users beats hours of internal debate and design-by-committee. The rules are simple, but the discipline of following them transforms amateur interfaces into professional ones.
Core ideas
- 1Don't make me think — pages should be self-evident.
- 2We don't read pages, we scan them.
- 3Conventions are your friend. Don't reinvent unless dramatically better.
- 4Mindless choices > thought-required choices.
- 5Usability testing with 3 users beats arguing for hours.
Key quotes
"If something requires a large investment of time — or looks like it will — it's less likely to be used."
"We don't read pages. We scan them."
"Testing one user is 100% better than testing none."
Apply it this week
- →Run a 3-user usability test on a new flow before launch.
- →Halve the words on each page; halve them again.
- →Use boring conventions where they work — save creativity for what matters.
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