For my research, I chose to read ‘Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited’ by Steve Krug because it is the most famous ‘manual’ for how modern websites and apps are designed today. I wanted to understand the core rules that big companies use to make our digital experiences so easy and fast. Krug’s main point is his ‘First Law of Usability’: a web page should be self-explanatory so that the user doesn’t have to spend any effort wondering how to use it. He explains that people don’t actually read pages; they scan them for the first thing that looks useful—a behavior he calls ‘muddling through.’ To make this work, he suggests using clear visual hierarchies, obvious buttons, and getting rid of any unnecessary instructions.
In the book, I read about the concept of ‘cognitive load’ and the ‘reservoir of goodwill.’ Krug explains that every time a user has to think—like wondering ‘Is this a link?’ or ‘Where did the menu go?’—a little bit of their patience and energy leaks away. To prevent this, he promotes a seamless and frictionless design. The goal is to make the user’s journey so invisible and effortless that they reach their goal (like buying something) without ever having to stop and process what is happening.
My main conclusion after reading this is that while Krug’s methods are great for making things ‘usable,’ they are also the reason why impulsive shopping is so successful. If everything is designed to be frictionless, we lose the moment of reflection. This is why the book is so relevant to my thesis; it represents the ‘fast’ world I am trying to critique. While Krug says ‘don’t make them think,’ I believe that in the context of over-consumption, we actually need to make people think.
In my opinion, Krug’s laws have been used by corporations to create a culture of passive consumption. My design direction is the opposite: I want to use Strategic Friction and Maximalism to bring back that cognitive load. I want to use complex layouts and ‘slow design’ to intentionally interrupt the mindless flow that Krug’s principles have perfected. My goal is to see how I can use the opposite of his rules to create a design that isn’t just easy to use, but one that makes the user more conscious and responsible. By studying the ‘bible’ of fast UX, I’ve found a clear starting point for my own ‘slow’ and educational approach.
Disclaimer: AI used
