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

• What’s keeping you awake at night? Things that you suspect people are going to have trouble with. That may confuse people. That aren’t as clear as they need to be.

Anything that wasn’t clear in the scenario will probably be obvious immediately.

Before each test
• Clear the browser history
• Open a “neutral” page (e.g., Google) in the Web browser
While the participant signs the consent form
• Start the screen recorder!

The combination of watching them use the thing and hearing what they’re thinking while they do it allows you to see your site through someone else’s eyes (and mind)—someone who doesn’t know as much about it as you do.

Make the cursor larger than normal. This will make it easier for you and the observers to follow what the participant is doing.

I always start a Web site test by having the participant look around the Home page and tell me briefly what they make of it.
The point is to see if the nature of the site is clear: Can users figure out what this thing is ? As I’ll explain later, 6 more often than you’d expect, the answer is a surprising—and revealing—“No.”

First, I’m going to ask you to look at this page and tell me what you make of it: what strikes you about it, whose site you think it is, what you can do here, and what it’s for.