"Dont Make Me Think"

After reading "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug, I began to think about all of the different websites that I visit on a regular basis and how they correlate (or don't correlate) to Krug's guidelines and advice (since he doesn't like to call them "rules").

I believe that Krug is right in regards to keeping things simple and to the point with websites. No one, including myself, likes when things are too busy and are hard to find. It makes finding what it is that you're looking for a lot harder and, frankly, more frustrating. I began to recall certain sites in my mind where I had encountered this myself, and realized that he was right. Accessibility is key, and if you set something up that no one else can find and don't provide any answers or solutions, you're going to gain less views and customers.

Another thing that I've come to believe makes a good website is layout, especially when it comes to certain tabs and links. I can't count the number of times where the home button on a site was randomly displayed elsewhere or where a link for customer service or FAQs was hiding. Layout is indeed everything. I personally can't stand sites where there's too much Flash on it or too many tabs and features on the homepage (sorry, American Eagle Outfitters). I also can't stand it when I have to jump over 5,000 hoops to get a phone number or an email address, and I really can't stand it when sites have a contact page with no Internet or email contact (ie: Amazon in some cases, Chegg). If your layout isn't going to give your consumer what he or she is looking for, especially if he or she has an inquiry, then what's the point of having a site at all? Again, it all comes down to supply and demand, and most importantly, answers.

Finally, the part that I liked the most about the entire book was towards the end when Krug delved more into the accessibility aspect of a website, especially when it came to users with disabilities. My father suffered a stroke this summer and is completely paralyzed on one side of his body. My father also was one of the heads in charge of the IT department of Palm Beach County, so he knows his computers. To watch him not be able to do his work or to not be able to fix certain parts and use certain sites and piece things together like he used to is difficult, so this piece of the book definitely spoke to me because I feel that that's something that a lot of web developers don't really think about when they're putting something together, and that's "How can we make this so that EVERYONE can benefit and access our site."

Ironically, as my dad is slowly but surely getting back to work, this is one of the projects he's currently working on, because he wants everyone to be able to use and access a computer or website without feeling like they have to struggle with it just because they may have some sort of disability or impairment.

Overall, I feel as if I gained some more knowledge regarding web development and web building, and a lot of the points that he touched on were indeed agreeable, and I feel that going forward with this blog, I'm going to try to find ways to not make people think when they look at it.