I just completed Steve Krug’s Dont Make Me Think. The book explains in simple language how to design Web sites that people actually use (and maybe like).
Some might consider it an “old” book (released in 2000) with regard to Web usability but I’d argue that 85% of what Mr. Krug says is pretty delightful. One chapter (5) states Krug’s Third Law of Usability: “Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.” Nice. The reality is that it’s a tall order but one that is worth considering.
Chatper 3 is called Billboard Design 101: Designing pages for scanning, not reading. Also nice.
It all makes me wonder if the Web, crafted originally for the sharing of text, is not wholeheartedly a visual-only medium. And if all of these Web logs out there are really small attempts to make the Web user-friendly for text. It does make me wonder what, for instance, MSN is up to. Crowded, extremely difficult to find anything on the page except by random clicking, MSN is a powerful portal that denies everything Mr. Krug argues for — crowded, no negative space, few images, navigation all over the place.