Virtua Software Blog

Web site usability is one of the most important elements of web site design, and this book is probably one of the most important books ever written on the subject. Most web sites have been poorly designed (even thought they may look pretty), and the fact remains that most people will come to your website in order to ‘find’, ‘buy’ or ‘do’ something. This book shows you how to make it easy for your visitors to find, buy or do whatever they are looking for. It goes without saying that if you make it easier for people to buy from you, your sales will likely increase - its a no-brainer!

Unlike many other web design books, ‘Dont Make Me Think’ by Steve Krug is written in a short, and punchy style that is very easy to follow. The author has obviously applied his principles of web design to the task of writing books too!

Dont worry if you havent got a clue about HTML or have never built a web page before - this book doesn’t go into the technical aspects of web design, instead it focuses on where to place certain elements like buttons, forms, and headings, while also helping you work out which terminonlogy to use (e.g. should you use the word ‘Jobs’, ‘Vacancies’, or ‘Employment Opportunities’ when advertising jobs on your web site?). Its these subtle things that make all the difference, and the beauty is that most of these things are easy to change on your site.

Each chapter is very short and to-the-point, with clear examples, so you can dip in and out of this book whenever you need to. In fact, you could probably get through this book in a couple of lunchbreaks or a short flight/train journey. That doesnt mean that it isn’t crammed with amazing insight into the way people will use your web site - and this book will show you how to present even the most complicated and dry subjects in a way that your site users will find to be simple and intuitive. Using the principles in ‘Dont Make Me Think’, we made a few minor changes to the Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust web site with great results.

If you want to know how to get more out of your web site by making it easier to use, then you could do far worse than getting hold of a copy of this book.