There are books that forever change your views. They are rare but they exist. The book I am going to review is one of those.

I heard above Steve Krug's "Don't make me think!" several times before I went to buy it. The book is not thick (approximately 200 pages) but it does not mean it is light on content. Author's intention was the book that you could read during the flight in the airplane. It took me much more than 2 hours (typical flight) to read but because I stopped many times remembering web site that I had or have and evaluating them against this book.

Sometimes when visiting web sites, surfer feels discomfort. It is not clear why but discomfort exists. After reading the book I know why it happens. I know the reasons for discomfort. It happens because many web sites are not built with Krug's principle in mind: "Don't make me think!". And from now on it becomes my main principle when it relates to web technologies!

There are 12 chapters in the book. Krug starts from what he calls "The first law of usability". The very first chapter already gives you the main point and examples that illustrate it. According to Krug's own principle there are no useless words in the book, it is always about the subject.

Krug describes how people use web. This is a crucial point to understand how to build web sites. I was very surprised to find that Krug describes my own behavior of browsing. After thinking I came to the conclusion that other people do the same. So Krug's  principles of web site making will apply to most people. He also shows how people's eyes move on the page. This is very good to know to avoid placing important information into the dead zones.

The author mentions how people makes choices. This is important in designing navigation. He talks about menu, tabs, breadcamps. All this information is illustrated with examples and exercises. It changes your mind. After reading you will never look to your web sites the same way. You will immediately see what is wrong with them!
Krug also talks about different purposes of different people inside companies regarding to web sites (marketing, designer, developer) and how to move from their purpose to user purpose.

There is a chapter on user testing and how to make it without expensive equipment or hiring a consultant.

There is information about CSS and accessibility. It takes small time to make web site more accessible and definitely should be done.

The last chapter in the book is named "Help! My boss wants me to..." and tells you what to do if your boss wants you to do certain stupid thing (like putting huge flash animation in the center of every page in your web shop). There are e-mail examples there that you can send to your boss to convince him that you are right.

I highly recommend this book to anyone! After reading it two weeks ago, I still find myself thinking how I could change many of my old sites to be better. And I know how I will change my existing sites. The book made a revolution in me.

Buy it! It is worth more than it costs! This is the best book on usability that I saw so far. And remember the main principle: "Don't make me think!".