Steve Krug

User Experience Design (UXD or just UX), an umbrella term for any activity or profession that contributes to a better experience for the user.

usability is about people and how they understand and use things, not about technology. And while technology often changes quickly, people change very slowly.

choose the first reasonable option, a strategy known as satisficing.1

Innovate when you know you have a better idea, but take advantage of conventions when you don’t.

If you can make something significantly clearer by making it slightly inconsistent, choose in favor of clarity.

doesn’t matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice.

—KRUG’S SECOND LAW OF USABILITY

as long as each click is painless and they have continued confidence that they’re on the right track—following what’s often called the “scent of information.”

Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.

—KRUG’S THIRD LAW OF USABILITY

question marks. No mental chatter. And no errors.

I could list dozens of things that users shouldn’t spend their time thinking about, like

Where am I?

Where should I begin?

Where did they put _____?

What are the most important things on this page?

Why did they call it that?

Is that an ad or part of the site?

We’re thinking “great literature” (or at least “product brochure”), while the user’s reality is much closer to “billboard going by at 60 miles an hour.”