Steve Krug spoke spoke to the San Diego chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) about usability. Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition) (ISBN: 0321344758), says that software, Web sites, and other products require user testing. Too many products and Web sites are not tested and there is no need to avoid testing due to budget constraints. He says that though “it is really hard to get everything right,” and that even the best products may have flaws for various users, one can find the worst flaws (80%?) that may cause customers to go elsewhere or choose a different product.

He stressed that it is important to start testing early and iterate often. If you are designing a Web site, start by looking at competitors Web sites and see how they have handled the various elements. Note what areas puzzle you and think about how you could make the feature more usable. Look for good usability design. He also says that you can find most of the problems by having just three to five people use your product while you watch them for question marks over their heads. They have to speak out loud while they are using it, so that you understand their thought process and what is really puzzling them. I was quite surprised when he said that power users will trip over the same points that novice users trip over. Design for the novice users because the power users will appreciate the ease of use too.

He gave Google as an example of good usability design. They have a simple, uncluttered search page. For the power user they have additional limiting words and advanced search options, but the basic search is there for everyone and there is no need for the casual or beginning user to worry about Boolean or other search options.

When designing forms, make sure your instructions are very short and near the point of need. Don’t stick a large block of instructions at the top of the form. Remember, people are in a hurry and they scan. We are constantly parsing our environment for clues, and that goes for Web pages too. Make the clues easy to find and clear. Krug showed us a photo of a crosswalk pavement instruction in England. The words “look right” or “look left” with an arrow will instruct the walker on which direction they should be looking for cars. Walkers may read it the first couple of times they see one of these, but it becomes second nature to scan it and then look in both directions. This is more efficient for the walker then processing the word and looking for the arrow. The pavement lettering is at the point of need. It is concise and clear. Be careful not to over instruct.

When using icons, remember that not every culture or even everyone in the same culture is going to understand the icon. Use words too. Be consistent.

The second edition of his book will be out soon. He did usability testing on the first edition to find out what was missing and what should be slashed. He sent a copy of the book to ten people along with instructions with examples on how to edit his book. He also sent them colored markers. They went through and crossed out what they didn’t like or made comments about sections. Then they sent the books back to Krug.

Clarity is the key to usability.

Steve Krug’s Web site: Advanced Common Sense

Authors he mentioned:
The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald Norman (ISBN: 0465067107), User advocacy and human-centered design
Janice (Ginny) Redish, Redish & Associates, Inc., has written a number of articles on writing for the Web and usability design in Web sites.
Jakob Nielsen useit.com: Usability and Web Design.