Steve Krug

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

And then there’s the natural—and nearly universal—reluctance to show our work before it’s finished.

• Usability testing is one of the best things people can do to improve Web sites (or almost anything they’re creating that people have to interact with).

(It’s true: if you really want to learn how to do something, try teaching other people how to do it.)

• It works because most of the serious problems tend to be easy to find.

• It works because watching users makes you a better designer.

Go to www.rocketsurgerymadeeasy.com and watch the “Demo Test” file.

As soon as you stop doing it on the third Thursday of each month, you’re back to making a decision about when to do it, which means that the odds of it happening drop dramatically.