Don't Make Me Think, Revisited - Book Summary

Embark on a journey to understand the art of creating a user-friendly website.

Stepping into a sprawling department store with no idea where to find what you're looking for can be a daunting task. You'd ideally seek guidance from a map, guiding you to the right aisle. Now, envision walking through this labyrinthine store with no map — a frustrating, aimless journey that might prompt you to abandon your mission and exit.

The landscape of the internet mirrors this scenario. A beautifully crafted and organized website can guide a visitor swiftly to their destination. However, a disorganized and chaotic site can quickly deter visitors, causing them to exit before they've even started.

In this narrative, you'll gain insights into critical considerations for building a user-friendly website, coupled with tips and strategies to not just make it usable, but also a favorite among users!

As we navigate this virtual journey, you'll come across:

- An exploration of why user manuals are notoriously unpopular and end up filling our landfills;

- The reasoning behind why following the footsteps of established web designers isn't necessarily a poor decision; and

- How a combination of pizza, a dash of cash and creativity can be the secret ingredients to a brilliant website.

Grasping the user's perspective: A playful exploration versus technical know-how.

When was the last time you meticulously studied a user manual for a recent tech gadget? Chances are, you didn't.

Unless you’re a tech geek or an engineer, the inner workings of gadgets may not intrigue you. Now, imagine asking a passerby to explain how a web browser or search engine functions. Despite the likelihood of a limited understanding of the internet's mechanics, most people can effortlessly navigate websites.

So when a shiny new device lands in your hands, the natural tendency is to fiddle around, experiment, and devise your own ways to use it, sidestepping the how-to guidebook. This trial-and-error method, once successful, becomes your new standard.

You might observe this exploratory behaviour in someone who googles an entire website URL instead of directly typing it in the browser's URL bar.

This behaviour illustrates a widely practiced decision-making strategy called satisficing. While one might assume that people approach problems logically—seeking information, identifying alternatives, weighing them, and then selecting the best—satisficing often holds sway.

For example, a study highlighted how firefighters, dealing with high-pressure situations, often opt for the first feasible solution after a quick error check. Compare this to an average internet user who, upon clicking an incorrect link, just needs to hit the "back" button to rectify the error. Our online decision-making process is frequently swift, not solely for its convenience but also because independently solving problems can be engaging and enjoyable.

In essence, our innate digital behaviour is to impulsively click on the first thing that piques our interest. When this snap judgement leads to the desired result, it instills a sense of smartness, comfort, and boosts confidence.

Designing with clarity: Ensuring your website offers quick, key information at a glance.

Picture this: you land on a website, and the homepage greets you with, “Welcome to XYZ Corporation! We cater to our global clientele with revolutionary products and bespoke solutions...”

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Most of us encounter this promotional lingo yet rarely read it thoroughly.

Online visitors are typically mission-oriented, seeking to accomplish tasks promptly. Rather than delving into extensive text, they prefer to quickly scan for relevant information. If you're designing a website and wish to deliver a certain message effectively, utilize concise paragraphs, eye-catching headlines, and emphasized keywords.

Arrange these elements in a visual hierarchy that guides users towards the sections warranting their attention. Eye-tracking studies demonstrate how swiftly we decide where to focus our gaze, often entirely disregarding irrelevant areas such as advertising panels.

Consider the layout of a traditional newspaper. The front page is meticulously designed with headlines, text, and images that allow the reader to instantly discern the key points of importance.

Your website should embrace the same principle. Highlight crucial information, enabling visitors to locate it rapidly and interact with it.

This brings us to a vital insight: contrary to widespread belief, most website visitors don't mind clicking, provided the options are straightforward and the outcomes are clear.

Ensure your website's navigational pathways are simple and intuitive. However, avoid burying critical information (like shipping fees) behind excessive clicks—such a tactic is likely to frustrate your visitors.

The common error is to view website creation as akin to crafting a product brochure for an eager buyer. Instead, envision it as designing a billboard aimed at catching the fleeting attention of motorists zooming by at sixty miles per hour!

Navigating through a website: Keeping it intuitive, straightforward, and consistent.

Imagine stepping into an unfamiliar supermarket. The experience can be likened to visiting a new website, albeit with a significant difference: unlike a physical store, you can't stroll around a website and visually scan all its sections. This digital reality presents its own challenges.

If you struggle to find what you're looking for or can't grasp a website's structure, the exit door — just a click away — might seem like a tempting escape. Moreover, it's hard to gauge the size of a website; whether it has a hundred pages or a thousand. Hence, designing a navigable website becomes crucial.

One way to facilitate navigation is to incorporate a 'sections' bar at the top of each page, clearly outlining the website's contents. Additionally, every page should possess these four navigational aids:

First, the indispensable search bar. This tool enables visitors to swiftly locate their desired information without having to decipher the site's organization.

Second, a 'You are here' marker. Just like a vibrant dot on a mall map, this subtle feature can significantly enhance the visitor's navigation experience.

Third, link your company logo to the home page. This universally recognized convention should be on every page, offering users a quick route 'home' when needed.

Lastly, include a utilities section. This area houses the nuts and bolts of using your site—like a login area, a FAQ section, a site map, and more.

When these four elements are accurately implemented, visitors are more likely to feel at ease and place trust in the organization or individuals behind the website.

To ensure this, the following section will delve into how to make these navigational aids as unmistakable as possible.

Established conventions: Navigating the balance between innovation and familiar usability.

Suppose you're from the United States, but have ever driven a car in London—where the standard is driving on the left. In this scenario, you'd grasp how disconcerting breaking conventions can be.

This exemplifies the importance of embracing established conventions when designing your website.

Internet users harbor certain expectations about a site's layout and functionality. Deviations from these norms might be met with irritation. Consider your reaction if your favorite magazine decided to abolish page numbers.

Such numbering is a convention in print media, and the digital world has its own equivalents. For instance, when we see a horizontal list of words atop a webpage, we instinctively infer these as the site's main sections.

Web designers might sometimes feel the urge to eschew conventions, lured by the tantalizing prospect of innovation. Yet, conventions have been shaped over years of refinement, often representing optimal and effective practices till date.

Take the example of tab dividers. Tabs are an intuitive choice for navigation, given their ubiquity on other websites and in traditional filing systems. Their presence on a site immediately indicates their function to the visitor.

That said, there is ample room for creativity, particularly when no existing convention fits the requirement. The pivotal factor, however, is to ensure whatever you design is usable.

In essence, the focus isn't about suppressing your creativity, but prioritizing the user experience.

Both consistency and convention are your allies in this venture. Straying a bit from the norm is fine, as long as clarity and ease-of-use are preserved. But there's one significant exception to this rule, which we'll explore in the ensuing section.

Creating a lasting impression: The art of crafting a home page that tells your story.

It's common to click a link on a social media platform like Twitter or Facebook and land somewhere deep within a website. When you want to understand what the website is about and assess its credibility, instinct often leads you to the home page.

Given the pivotal role the home page plays, designing the perfect one can be a challenging task, marked by a myriad of opinions from team members. This complexity stems from the fact that items linked from the home page usually garner more clicks, leading every stakeholder to fight for a spot. Succumbing to these pressures can result in a chaotic home page, brimming with too much information to digest.

You must resist these pressures! When creating a home page, your primary objective should be to form an accurate and lasting first impression. This is crucial, as studies on web design reveal that the first impression of a website lingers even after a visitor spends more time exploring the site.

Our imagination tends to soar when encountering something new. We form a comprehensive picture of how the new element operates, and attempt to cram all the new information we acquire into our initial perceptions.

Hence, if a visitor is initially baffled, she'll begin to misconstrue your site, which only compounds her confusion as she navigates further.

How can you prevent this? A simple yet effective strategy is to incorporate a tagline on your home page. This brief statement, positioned adjacent to your logo, distills the purpose of your entire site.

A compelling tagline is vivacious, personable, and encapsulates the value your site offers. For instance, news website The Daily Beast has the tagline, "Read this, skip that." The car-sharing service Zipcar uses, "Wheels where you want them."

Both taglines swiftly and lucidly express what the respective companies' websites have to offer at a single glance.

Validation through action: Testing as a method of ensuring your website meets its goals.

Having a website that is easy to comprehend and navigate is the aim, but how do you guarantee that your final output actually hits these targets? You might be tempted to seek feedback from friends or simply trust your personal judgment.

However, relying solely on your own perspective is fraught with pitfalls. You're the architect of the website, so its slick features and user-friendly interface seem self-evident to you, making objectivity elusive!

Conversing with friends about the site may prove equally unproductive, given the subjectivity in people's ideas of an ideal website.

For instance, a designer might appreciate aesthetically pleasing pages with ample white space and subtle flourishes for a visually satisfying experience. A developer, on the other hand, might lean towards a site brimming with innovative features that provide an interactive user journey. Both parties assume their preferences are universal.

This tendency isn't limited to just them. Regardless of what we fancy in a website—be it vibrant imagery or stark minimalism—it's bound to be diametrically opposed to someone else's taste. Few attempt to empathize with another viewpoint, firmly holding to the belief that their stance is the "correct" one.

In reality, there aren't any "right" or "wrong" conclusions in the realm of web design. Consequently, soliciting opinions from a handful of individuals isn't a foolproof approach.

The alternative? Conduct tests. Observing users as they attempt to traverse your website offers the most impartial method to evaluate its performance and ascertain whether it aligns with your intended functionality.

Testing is invaluable, as it abolishes the binary of "right" and "wrong," focusing instead on what works and what doesn't. Additionally, it sheds light on the vast diversity among web users!

Discovering the pitfalls: Observing users navigate your website to identify areas of confusion.

While testing is crucial, it might not always be the most exhilarating task for many. To ensure optimal participation, consider offering incentives or rewards to those who contribute their time for testing your site. A token of appreciation, such as a pizza treat—which developers especially enjoy—can help encourage involvement.

Your website should be intuitive for everyone, irrespective of their background, hence your choice of testers need not be restricted to your target audience. Anyone can fit the bill, as long as you remember to appreciate their assistance by compensating them for their time.

Once you have your group of testers, have them navigate your site while either you or a facilitator—an individual known for their patience and empathy—observes and jots down notes. The facilitator's mission should be to ensure that the user remains engaged and at ease.

Kick things off with the home page. Let the tester explore and articulate her observations. This will help determine whether she grasps the core concept of the site. Encourage her to share her thoughts with questions like, "What are you thinking?" or "What are you looking at?"

However, be cautious not to sway the tester’s actions. If she seeks guidance, prompt her with a question like, "What would you do if I weren't here?"

Encourage your testers to try out every feature on your site, be it logging in, setting up a profile, or executing a return. If a tester struggles with a task, monitor her troubleshooting process before allowing her to continue until she either gives up out of frustration or until no further insights can be gained.

It's helpful to invite managers, team members, and other stakeholders to witness the testing process. Many may undervalue testing, assuming the website is already up to par.

But the experience of watching someone struggle with a website can be transformative—often leading key decision makers, such as executives, to acknowledge the importance of usability. It’s highly likely that their next utterance will be, "Why didn’t we do this earlier?!"

Efficiency in insights: Simple and quick testing can yield significant results.

Testing is often sidelined by web development teams due to the misconception that it requires a hefty investment of time, money, and expertise. This, however, isn't the reality.

You don't have to test a large pool of people. You're not aiming for a scientific experiment yielding statistically significant data; your objective is to guide your decisions and pinpoint potential stumbling blocks on your site.

In pursuit of this goal, a modest group of three regular web users suffices. Have everyone who's observing the test take note of the top three challenges that bewilder or frustrate the participants.

Drawing from the author's experiences, there will always be more issues than what you can realistically resolve. Therefore, prioritization becomes key—concentrating only on those aspects that demand attention.

In essence, don't stress about fixing hiccups that a tester promptly overcomes independently. These minor hurdles add to the adventure of exploring a new website.

Another advantage of a smaller testing group is the opportunity to begin the process earlier, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the testing. Identifying issues earlier eases the implementation of alterations.

Think about how much simpler it is to tweak a beta site as opposed to an already launched, complex one! Moreover, you won’t need to explain or justify alterations to users accustomed to a longstanding website.

Testing can commence even before the website is built, by observing people navigating competitors' sites. This proactive approach helps generate valuable insights that can guide your development process.

In the end, initiating testing early can inform better decision-making throughout development, saving time since you won't need to revise everything at the end. The process only requires a few initial hours and a modest financial outlay.

Optimizing for speed and demand: Streamlining your website for a smooth mobile experience.

Do you recall the time before smartphones stormed into our lives? Some mobile phones did feature web browsers back then, but they were seldom used. The landscape changed dramatically with Apple’s introduction of touchscreens with swiping and pinching functionalities, ushering in the era of mobile browsing.

Today, with people accelerating their pace and reading less online, any snag on a site can cause them to exit immediately. Consider the unpredictable nature of mobile download speeds and varied performance—make sure your site loads swiftly to keep their interest.

Designing for the small screen of a smartphone demands some compromises, given the limited space to deliver the same amount of information.

You need to prioritize, ensuring that high-demand features can be easily located. Additional information can be made available a few taps away, provided the pathway is clear to the user.

It's worth noting that the internet is accessed from everywhere and users expect to do everything on it. There's a common misperception that smartphones are used primarily on the move, necessitating only basic functionalities. The truth, however, is that users could just as likely be lounging on their couch at home while browsing on their smartphone, expecting access to the full range of features offered by a site.

Therefore, always include a link to the full website and ensure features such as zoom are enabled. Repeat visitors may already be familiar with your website, so they may not need to view an entire page to find their way around.

In conclusion, mobile computing is the way forward, opening a world of possibilities for online interaction and creating delightful user experiences.

But, don't forget—the only surefire way to know if you've developed something user-friendly is to put it to the test!

Summing it up

The essential takeaway from this book:

The spotlight of usability is on the visitor, and its aim is to make finding information on a website as uncomplicated as possible. The surefire way to guarantee that your website provides an excellent user experience is through conducting straightforward tests at each phase of the development journey.