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Don’t Make Me ReadDon’t Make me Think Guiding Principles Summarized by Andrew Piatek
Don’t Make Me Think!
• Page should be mindless, obvious, and effortless.• Easily identify what page is, displaying what the person
wants faster.• Unnecessary wording of things require thought. • Instead of “employment opportunities,” use jobs.
• Make clickable things obviously clickable. • How to search• Do the thinking for the user like Amazon.
How We Really Use The Web
• People don’t use sites the way we think they do• Only scan pages because user is in a hurry, doesn’t need to read
everything, and it is habitual.• Don’t choose the best options, we satisfice with first reasonable
option• We are in a hurry, limited penalty in wrong choice, spending more
time doesn’t improve chances, and guessing right is faster and more pleasant
• Don’t waste time in figuring out how something works, but just use it.
• Not import enough to learn, and if it works already, won’t learn the right way.
Billboard Design 101
• Create a clear visual hierarchy on each page through font size, descending the page, and nesting sections.
• Use conventions like newspapers, large headlines that summarize content or icons that represent things that are widely accepted like a shopping cart.
• Break pages up into clearly defined areas• Make it obvious what’s clickable• Minimize noise.
Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?
• Users’ clicks must be painless and keep them on the right track.
• Keep choices clear• First question of the word game Twenty Questions,
“animal, vegetable, or mineral?” is a mindless choice.
Omit Needless Words
• E.B. White’s rule “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.”
• Krug recommends removing half of the words on the page.
• Reduces noise, useful content is more prominent, and pages are shorter.
• Don’t use “happy talk,” or the greetings that accompany pages that no one reads anyway.
