Websites nowadays are classified in a few ways. Either filled with clutter or filled with relevant information, or it is useful vs. non-useful. As in Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think” essay, he points out how websites need to condense the information on their website, along with making it simple and easy to navigate for all users. One of the most frustrating things about using the internet sometimes is how difficult it can be to find what you are looking for. Krug is saying that web developers need to make it so you click and navigate without thinking and asking yourself a million questions about the website.
Often times, when I venture to a new website, I get lost easily and distracted by other things on the page and if often leads to me getting lost on the page. For the web pages where I ask myself, where do I start, Should I click on that, what is that, what does that mean? These are questions that Krug’s says should be avoided when navigating a page. “It means, that as far as is humanly possible, when I look at a Web Page, it should be self-evident. Obvious. Self-Explanatory (Krug 11).”
Having difficulty navigating a website can not only lead to user frustration, but it can also lead them to go elsewhere or a competitor’s website if they find it too hard to figure out the current one they are on. “On the internet, the competition is always just one click away, so if you frustrate users, they’ll head somewhere else (Krug 18).” That is one of the perks of having so many options. If one website doesn’t do it quick, simple or easy enough for your liking, there are always websites that do it better and faster than them.
Correcting that problem isn’t difficult and it actually involves more removing information from your website, rather than adding. “The more important something is, the more prominent it is. For instance, the most important headings are either larger, bolder, in a distinctive color, set off by more white space, or nearer the top of the page, or some combination of the above (Krug 31).”
Krug believes in making things as easy as possible, with a little bit of organization and a lot less clutter. He feels that you should make it easy on a user to browse or search your website, and not have them as questions. “As a user, I should never have to devote a millisecond of thought as to whether things are clickable-or not (Krug 14).” Make things simple, clickable and searchable without any train of thought and this will lead to a happy user, and a successful website.
Works Cited
Krug, S. (2000). Don’t make me think. Indianapolis: New Riders, pp. 1-39.
