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Steve Krug
Built Environments on the WebDartmouth College
October 30, 2002
Everything I Know about Web Navigation I Learned by Running a Yard Sale
Who is this guy, anyway
Steve Krug (steev kroog) (noun) 1. Resident of Brookline, MA 2. Usability consultant 3. Husband, father
Advanced Common Sense Me and a few well-placed mirrors Corporate motto: “It’s not rocket surgery™”
What I do all day
Expert usability reviews Teach workshops Occasional testing
Mostly “neighbor testing”
About me and presentations
I have a method Think about what I want to say Make notes over coffee Lose notes Rewrite same notes Have some “new” thoughts, make “new” notes Shortly before the “day of”, look for notes Rewrite same notes Gather illos and screenshots from all over Stir well
Today is even more improvisational than usual
Today’s Usability Example
Compared notes in the elevator
“You can’t stay here without having that problem”
Some kind of initiation ritual
How did I get here?
Sarah asked …nicely
But then…
…she told me there was a theme. Like Beat the Clock
“By the way, you have to do it…under water”
“Built Environments on the Web” I hate speaking to a theme Dirty little secret
There aren’t that many things I’m interested in
So I started to think, “Trask, radio. Trask, radio.”
“This is Forbes. . . . It's just your basic article about how you were looking to expand into broadcasting. Now the same day . . . I'm reading page six of the Post, and there's this item on Bobby Stein the radio talk show guy. . . . He's hosting this charity auction that night--real blue bloods. Now I turn the page to Suzy who does the society stuff and there's this picture of your daughter . . . and she's helping to organize the charity ball. So I started to think, ‘Trask, radio. Trask, radio.’ And then I hooked up with Jack, and he came on board with Metro. And so now, here we are.”
Melanie Griffith in Working Girl
I’d been meaning to write an article
We’ve had three yard sales in past 5 years
Division of labor Melanie deals with the crowd
She’s a people person
I do signage Don’t ask what this says about me
My responsibility is to get people to the goods “Bodies in the tent” Web sites are publishing/show biz
Points to Ponder
You have to lead them by the hand Web: It’s not the number of clicks, it’s the
confidence level that you’re [still] headed in the right direction
Big, bold arrows instill confidence
Points to Ponder
Know what can be read at the given distance, speed Walking (bulletin boards, trees by sidewalks) Pausing (intersections) Driving
Residential street Parkway (huge sign)
Web: Subtle doesn’t work
Points to Ponder
Get them when/where they’re able/ready to read Jared calls it “interruptibility” (or something) Don’t cross-sell on the first page of your
checkout process
Points to Ponder
Know what will emerge from the clutter around it Trees Other signs
Points to Ponder
You need to test Test from the “user”’s point of view
Get in the car or stand in the road Just looking from the curb won’t do
You’ll often be fooled Same reason why you need to do user testing of a site
Live tests of different colors, sizes, amounts of text Amazon does lots of live trials
Points to Ponder
Know what info people need to decide to follow the arrows Date (happening now, or come back later, or
over) Contents
Suggest the goods you have “Yard Sale” may do it “Estate Sale” means something different “Multi-family Yard Sale” Toys, Furniture
Other questions they have in mind “Helen’s not moving” Make it human, engaging, distinctive
Web: Know what info they need to decide to click the link
Points to Ponder
It’s all about compromise Legacy data
My definition of “legacy data”
© 2002 Steve Krug
Any use of this material without the express consent of the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball is prohibited
