Don't Make Me Think
Steve Krug · Interactive Chapter Guide
Book Guide

Don't Make Me Think, Revisited

Steve Krug · 2000 (3rd ed. 2014) · New Riders
The definitive short guide to web and mobile usability. Krug argues that good design is self-evident — it requires zero thought to use. Packed with practical heuristics, the trunk test, and guerrilla testing methods every designer can apply immediately.
UsabilityWeb DesignNavigationUX ResearchAccessibilityMobile
Reference

Core Usability Principles

7 principles — click a card to filter linked chapters, click again to clear.

psychology_alt
Don't Make Me Think
Ch. 1 · p.11
Every cognitive question a user must answer erodes confidence and increases the chance of abandonment. Interfaces should be self-evident without requiring any thought.
UX: Clear labels, obvious affordances, zero-ambiguity CTAs
p. 11
manage_search
Scanning Over Reading
Ch. 2 · p.23
Users scan pages for relevant words and links. They satisfice — choosing the first good enough option. Design must work for people who never read your carefully crafted paragraphs.
UX: Scannable headings, bold keywords, F-pattern layouts, bullet points
p. 23
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Billboard Design
Ch. 3 · p.35
Visual hierarchy, clear conventions, and elimination of visual noise make pages scannable. If your page requires reading to navigate, it fails the billboard test.
UX: Size/weight hierarchy, grouped elements, whitespace, conventional patterns
p. 35
touch_app
Mindless Choices
Ch. 4 · p.47
Clicks don't cost — confusion does. An interface can require many steps if each step is obvious. Two-option choices that require deliberation are worse than ten obvious clicks.
UX: Reducing decision points, progressive disclosure, smart defaults
p. 47
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Omit Needless Words
Ch. 5 · p.57
Happy talk, instructions nobody reads, and promotional copy all hide the content users came for. Cutting text by half — then half again — almost always improves clarity.
UX: Microcopy ruthlessness, tooltip over paragraph, show don't explain
p. 57
explore
Trunk Test Navigation
Ch. 6 · p.67
Drop someone on any page with a bag over their head. They must immediately identify: site name, page title, major sections, current location, options at this level, and search. Failing this test means lost users.
UX: Persistent global nav, breadcrumbs, active state highlighting
p. 67
biotech
Guerrilla Testing
Ch. 9 · p.111
Three users revealing real confusion is worth more than months of debate. Cheap, informal tests with real people — repeated every sprint — catch the most expensive mistakes before they ship.
UX: Weekly hallway tests, think-aloud protocol, task-based scenarios
p. 111
Linked Chapters
Core PrinciplesDon't Make Me Think

Krug's first law of usability: a webpage should be self-evident, obvious, and self-explanatory. Every question a user has to ask while navigating your site is a small moment of friction that erodes trust. The goal is zero cognitive effort — design that "just works" without thought.

01Don't Make Me Think!
The first law of usability. Users shouldn't have to think about how to use your interface. Every superfluous question — where am I, where do I start, what does this do — adds cognitive load and reduces confidence.
cognitive loadself-evidentobviousfriction
p. 11
02How We Really Use the Web
Users scan, not read. They satisfice — choosing the first reasonable option rather than the best. They muddle through without instructions. Designs built on the assumption that users read carefully and behave rationally are doomed to fail.
scanningsatisficingmuddlingrational
p. 23
03Billboard Design 101
Design for scanning, not reading. Use clear visual hierarchies, obvious clickables, cut unnecessary noise, and group related items. Conventions exist for good reason — don't break them without a compelling justification.
visual hierarchyconventionsclickablenoise
p. 35
04Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?
Mindless, obvious choices are fine. What matters is not the number of clicks but whether each click feels like a no-brainer. Forced choices that require deliberation — even just two options — are where users abandon.
mindless choiceclicksno-brainerdeliberation
p. 47
05Omit Needless Words
Happy talk, instructions, and promotional text kill usability. Every unnecessary word hides useful words. Ruthless editing — removing half the text and cutting what remains by half — almost always improves a page.
happy talkeditinginstructionsnoise
p. 57
NavigationStreet Signs & Breadcrumbs

Navigation is not just about finding pages — it tells users where they are, what's possible, and how to get back. Good navigation works like a well-signed city: you can always figure out where you are, and there are always clear paths to where you want to go. Navigation done right builds implicit confidence in the whole site.

06Street Signs and Breadcrumbs
Navigation must answer: Where am I? What can I do here? Where can I go? Great navigation communicates the site's hierarchy, highlights the current location, and provides persistent, unambiguous paths. Missing any of these creates the "feeling lost" experience.
wayfindingbreadcrumbscurrent locationhierarchy
p. 67
07The Big Bang Theory of Web Design
The home page is the hardest design problem. It must communicate site identity and mission, direct users to major sections, and establish trust — all while competing against every other design decision being made simultaneously.
homepagemissionidentitytrust
p. 87
Testing & BeyondUsability in Practice

Testing doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming to yield enormous value. A morning of guerrilla testing with just three users will reveal the most critical problems. Krug also extends usability to mobile and accessibility, arguing that both are ultimately about removing cognitive barriers for all users — not just edge cases.

08The Farmer and the Cowman
Usability debates between designers, developers, and stakeholders are often based on opinions rather than evidence. Testing resolves arguments with facts. The goal is not to please everyone but to find and fix what actually confuses real users.
stakeholderdebateevidenceopinion
p. 97
09Usability Testing on 10 Cents a Day
Guerrilla usability testing: recruit anyone, test with three people per round, focus on one task at a time, and debrief immediately. The goal is not statistical significance but spotting the painfully obvious problems before shipping.
guerrilla testingrecruitdebriefiteration
p. 111
10Mobile: Not Just a City in Alabama
Mobile usability is a different design challenge — constrained screens, fat fingers, context switching, and variable attention. The solution is not always "simplify" but to decide deliberately what to include and make those choices obvious.
mobileresponsivetouchcontext
p. 131
11Usability as Common Courtesy
Usability issues feel like personal affronts to users. When a site makes people feel stupid, it loses their goodwill permanently. Conversely, sites that are honest, transparent, and helpful build goodwill that can survive even significant errors.
goodwilltrustcourtesyfrustration
p. 151
12Accessibility and You
Accessibility is not a feature for edge cases — it benefits everyone. Screen readers, keyboard navigation, and sufficient contrast help users with disabilities but also power users, elderly users, and anyone in difficult viewing conditions. Removing barriers is good design, full stop.
accessibilityscreen readercontrastkeyboard
p. 165
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