Those things on the floor

October 28th, 2020 | Featured, Usability in real life | 5 comments

You know what I mean: Those stickers that have suddenly sprung up everywhere, like mushrooms in a lawn after a few rainy days.

Photo of a reception desk with social distancing stickers on the floor

This is the reception desk at my local healthcare center. When I walked in yesterday, I found it interesting how impossible it was to ignore the social distancing stickers on the floor. A perfect example of great affordance design (“Here’s how to use the floor.”).

If you’re not up to speed on “affordances,” you might want to take a look at Don Norman’s explanation, or this summary of Don Norman’s explanation. Or if you have an hour to kill, this very interesting academic paper: Affordances: Clarifying and Evolving a Concept.

To vastly oversimplify, an affordance–as the word is usually used in the UX world–is a visual attribute of an object, device, or interface that suggests how you use it. The classic example is a handle on a door that suggests that you pull it, while a plate suggests that you push it.

The stickers reminded me a lot of the “look right“ signs (or is it “look left“? I can’t remember, which I guess is the point) on the curbs in London that keep tourists from getting killed.

In both cases, we’re already aware of the message the signs are conveying (“Don’t get too close to people while standing in line” and “Cars may not be coming from the direction you expect.”). We just need a reminder that a) we can’t help noticing, and b) grabs our attention at the exact moment when we need it.

To the people who created the stickers, as my UK friends would say, “Well done, you!” (One of my favorite idioms.)

Surprisingly, I didn’t seem to be able to find anything written about the design of these stickers/decals. But google did turn up this one article about the emerging industry of social distancing consultants, which you might find interesting.

All the FAQ lists from my site

October 26th, 2020 | FAQs | 3 comments

For your convenience, I’ve rounded up all of the FAQ lists from my site in one place.  Enjoy!

General

What have you been up to lately?

Mostly working on some book projects. And one of them isn’t even about usability or UX: It’s about writing.

I’ve never made any secret about the fact that I find writing to be ridiculously hard work. In an attempt to spend less time in agony, over the years I’ve found some things that make writing easier (no, not alcohol), and produce better results—things I wish someone had told me back when I started out. And for a while now I’ve been trying to shape them into a book.

If you want to know more, check out my blog post about the writing book project, or the What have I been up to category, or my twitter feed (@skrug).

Why do you have so many FAQ lists?

It’s true: If you poke around a little, you’ll discover that I’ve got an FAQ list on almost every page of my site.

I happen to think that making it easy to find the answers to frequently asked questions is a good thing—as long as they’re really Frequently Asked Questions, and not QYWPWA’s (Questions You Wish People Would Ask).

And just in case you can’t remember where you saw one, I’ve also put all of the FAQ lists together in one place.

What have you been up to lately?

Mostly working on some book projects. And one of them isn’t even about usability or UX: It’s about writing.

I’ve never made any secret about the fact that I find writing to be ridiculously hard work. In an attempt to spend less time in agony, over the years I’ve found some things that make writing easier (no, not alcohol), and produce better results—things I wish someone had told me back when I started out. And for a while now I’ve been trying to shape them into a book.

If you want to know more, check out my blog post about the writing book project, or the What have I been up to category, or my twitter feed (@skrug).

How can I get in touch with you?

The best way to contact me is by email. (I may never see a twitter DM, for instance.)

You’ll find details on the Contact page, but please do us both a favor and read the FAQ list there before you write.

Don’t Make Me Think

I’ve been doing Web design (or development, marketing, etc.) for a long time. Won’t this be too basic for me?

As one Amazon reviewer said:

“If you’re new to web design, you’ll learn TONS; if you’re a seasoned pro, you’ll get a solid refresher and maybe even pick up on a few new things.”

A lot of UX professionals tell me they leaf through it again every time they start a new project, just to remind themselves of all the “common sense” that they tend to forget.

What's the current edition? Is there a new one in the works?
The current edition (the third) is the one with “Revisited” at the end of the title.

I may do another edition someday, but it’s an awful lot of work, so it won’t be soon.

Is this just about Web sites?

Not anymore.

When I first wrote it in 2010, I focused on the usability of web sites because that’s what most people were building.

But in the third edition, I expanded it to show that it applied to almost anything that people use. Web, mobile, and desktop applications are obvious candidates, but it’s just as effective for things like PowerPoint presentations and election ballots.

As Burak Yigit Kaya (@madbyk) tweeted recently:

“I seriously think everyone who builds or participates in building things should read the classic “Don’t Make Me Think” by @skrug.

And I really mean ‘things’ not just ‘web things’.”

Rocket Surgery Made Easy

What's the difference between this and Don't Make Me Think?
  • Don’t Make Me Think is a book about how to think about usability. It’s an introduction to usability/UX/user-centered design principles.
  • Rocket Surgery is about how to do usability. It’s a how-to book that shows you how to do your own simple, fast, effective usability tests.

There is some overlap, because Think also explains what usability testing is and why you should do it. But the books are really very different.

I’m not going to be doing usability tests myself. Do I need this?

If you manage people who do testing, I’d definitely recommend reading it, since it may show you a better way for them to work. (You might even end up buying copies for them to read.)

Does this only work for testing Web sites? What about apps, for instance?

The book focuses mostly on testing Web sites a) to keep it short and uncomplicated, and b) because when I wrote it in 2010 web sites were much more widely used than apps.

But the same method can be used to improve almost anything that people use. Web, mobile, and desktop applications are obvious candidates, but it’s just as effective for things like PowerPoint presentations and election ballots.

On the Downloads page, you’ll find test scripts I’ve added specifically for testing mobile web sites and apps.

Are you suggesting that amateurs can do testing as well as experienced professionals?

No. Professionals will always (well, nearly always) be able to do a better job.

A professional

  • will have valuable experience setting up and facilitating a test
  • has usually seen the same usability problems many times and knows a lot about how to fix them, and
  • may be in a better position to spell out unpleasant truths.

My point is that almost all amateurs can do a good job (good enough to be very valuable), and there are rarely enough professionals available to do as much testing as is needed. Getting it done is far more important than doing it “perfectly.”

About me

How did you end up doing what you do?

My “career” has definitely not been a straight line.

  • Set out to replace Don Herbert of the tv show Watch Mr. Wizard (think Bill Nye, only in the 1950s) when he retired.
  • Got an English Lit degree in college, after having to quit Physics because nobody explained calculus to me. (It’s a long story.)
  • Got a job as a proofreader from a friend who ran a typesetting shop. (After all, I did have a degree in English.)
  • Learned about computers while running the typesetting equipment.
  • Started writing computer manuals when a friend who was a tech writer had more work than she could do herself. (She literally said, “After all, you have a degree in English.”) Spent ten years as a tech writer.
  • Etc., etc.

For the rest of the story, For the rest of the story, check out this lovely chat I had with New Zealand UXer Brendan Jarvis on his podcast (The Space InBetween), where he walked me through my whole UX career.

Why did you write your bio in the third person?

Good question. Believe it or not, I spent a lot of time (way too much time) trying to decide which way to write it (“Steve Krug is…” or “I’m…”).

I suppose I settled on third person because a bio is inherently sort of “braggy” (“Steve was born in a log cabin, but grew up to be….”), so it sounds a little better if it seems like someone else is saying it.

What have you been up to lately?

Mostly working on some book projects. And one of them isn’t even about usability or UX: It’s about writing.

I’ve never made any secret about the fact that I find writing to be ridiculously hard work. In an attempt to spend less time in agony, over the years I’ve found some things that make writing easier (no, not alcohol), and produce better results—things I wish someone had told me back when I started out. And for a while now I’ve been trying to shape them into a book.

If you want to know more, check out my blog post about the writing book project, or the What have I been up to category, or my twitter feed (@skrug).

Downloads

If I translate one of these files into my language, will you add it here for others to use?

Yes, thanks. That would be great. Contact me at skrug@sensible.com and I’ll send you some details about doing it.

Can I share these files with friends and co-workers?

Yes. Feel free to share them directly with individuals, but please don’t post the files anywhere online. Instead, post a link to this page.

(If you post a copy somewhere, it won’t get updated if I make any changes here.)

Contact me

Can you take a quick look at my web site and tell me what you think?

Sorry. I wish I could, but a lot of people ask, and I’m afraid life is just too short to do everything.

Why haven't you answered my email?

You may already know why. Think about it for a minute.

For instance, did you ask me to do your homework assignment for you? (People actually do this, a lot: “Could you please answer these three questions?”)

Or did you ask me if I could just take a quick look at your web site and tell you what I think? (See the next FAQ.)

And sometimes life just gets so crowded with “stuff” that even if I want to answer your email, it can take me a very long time to get around to everyone. Don’t necessariliy give up hope; you may hear from me months later.

How do I get started in the exciting, high paying field of UX/usability?

I’m afraid I don’t have much useful advice to offer because I got into the business a long time ago when there were no real job requirements and very little competition. The truth is I don’t think I could get a job like mine nowadays.

You’ve probably already tried or thought of the things I’d recommend.

But I do have one very good piece of advice in my blog that I learned from someone else.

Do you still teach workshops?

I taught workshops for years, and loved doing it.

But since UX has boomed there are an awful lot of people out there offering them, and since I have a bunch of other things I really want to do, I don’t teach public workshops anymore.

But I can still sometimes be talked into doing an in-house workshop—remotely, for the time being—to teach your team how to do usability testing. It costs about $15k for a full day workshop. Send me email if you’re interested.

I sent you a DM on twitter, but you never replied. What's up with that?

Two things:

  • I don’t check twitter very often, and
  • I’m not a big fan of “chatting” via DM.

If you want to get my attention, it’s much better to send me an email.

How to get a job in UX

September 6th, 2020 | UX career advice | 0 comments

One of the things I get asked most often is something like “How do I get started in the exciting, high-paying field of UX?” I usually take this to mean “How do I get a cushy job like yours?”

There’s plenty of advice out there, and most of it seems to be pretty good. In fact, I’m surprised there isn’t a Medium article titled “Top Ten Medium Articles titled ‘Top 5-10 Tips for Getting into UX/UI Design’.”

I’m afraid I don’t have much useful advice to offer because I got into the business a long time ago when there were no real job requirements and very little competition. The truth is I don’t think I could get a job like mine nowadays.

I could make some suggestions, but if you’ve read any of the articles you’ve probably already tried or thought of the things I’d recommend.

But I do have one very good piece of advice that I learned from someone else: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/3719-giving-less-advice

“Awesome book. Came slightly damaged.”

August 16th, 2020 | Usability in real life | 0 comments

I’ve always thought Amazon paid more attention to usability than almost any other web site.

Full disclosure: I bought some Amazon stock 20 years ago. (Lucky me.) I did it because I’d done an expert review of the Barnes & Noble site, and had the chance to show one of the Riggio brothers (the two founders and owners) in person why Amazon was going to eat their lunch. Nothing changed, so I bought some stock in Amazon.

There is one thing that Amazon does though, related to reviews, that makes authors (well, this author, at least) a little crazy. It has to do with product reviews that are actually seller reviews (usually third party sellers, not Amazon itself). And I hasten to point out that it’s absolutely a #firstworldproblem.

Here’s an example:


See? It has nothing to do with whether it’s a good book, or a useful book, or an enjoyable book. It’s just about whether the vendor messed up the delivery, usually missing, late, or damaged. This particular review isn’t bad though, because the reader gave it four stars for being awesome, and only deducted one star for the fact that it arrived damaged. (Thanks, Alex Hoffman!)

But typically, they’re more like this one:

Amazon one-star review because cover was scuffed

These can really lower a book’s overall rating, since they’re usually one-star. You might think—as I did, originally—”No problem. Another five star review will wipe it out.” Oddly enough, though, because of some rift in the fabric of the statistical universe, it actually takes seven five-star votes to reverse the effect of a one-star. Go figure.

Like I said: Clearly a #firstworldproblem, especially for someone like me who’s lucky enough to get a lot of reviews. But there are a horde of people out there who’ve spent a year of more of their life cranking out a book who rely on the star ratings to help get the attention of would-be readers.

I’m sure some dedicated programmer at Amazon could fix it pretty easily. If I had to choose though, I’d rather they figure out how to stomp out fake reviews paid for by shabby vendors, which seem to cause a lot of people—honest vendors and frustrated buyers—a lot of grief.