Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.

—KRUG’S THIRD LAW OF USABILITY

as long as each click is painless and they have continued confidence that they’re on the right track—following what’s often called the “scent of information.”

doesn’t matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice.

—KRUG’S SECOND LAW OF USABILITY

If you can make something significantly clearer by making it slightly inconsistent, choose in favor of clarity.

Innovate when you know you have a better idea, but take advantage of conventions when you don’t.

choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisficing.1

Don’t put labels inside form fields.

4 In “Harrison Bergeron,” the main character, whose intelligence is “way above normal,” is required by law to wear a “mental handicap radio” in his ear that blasts various loud noises every 20 seconds “to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.”

As I hope you’ve seen by now, the best way to learn how to make anything more usable is to watch people actually try to use it.

Your primary role should be to share what you know, not to tell people how things should be done.