"Don't Make Me Think" Review

"Don't Make Me Think" was a great read. A lot what the book contained were things that would seem obvious, but can often be important things that are overlooked when making a website. On the same note, the book spoke of certain elements of a good website, and made you (the reader) realize the little things website makers do that you don't even realize are being done purposefully to control, or guide, the way you view their website.

For example, make web pages that are best suitable for scanning-- not reading. Growing up in school, you are always taught to read thoroughly as opposed to just scanning, because you could miss some important parts that you are reading. However, when it comes to web pages, the opposite is encouraged-- Welcome to the 21st century! Now, people on the internet aren't looking to catch up on their daily reading time. Rather, they are looking for the information they want, as quick and as easy as possible.

Another thing we have been taught in grade school and is now changing because of the internet, is short writing. Any time we were given essay assignments there was always a "minimum word count requirement" (500 words, 750 words, 3,000 words) that you had to meet, otherwise you were severely penalized. Once again, the internet has transformed the way we look at writing. Now, instead of writing your heart out until your word-count-processor indicates you that you've met your requirement, you have to collect and compress all your thoughts into a few short phrases and that is all that you can put on your site. Now, this may sound appealing to a person (like myself) who hates writing long, drawn out essays, but in fact you may find that being forced to write only a few short sentences about an important topic with many layers can prove to be even harder than producing thousands of words on the matter.

One of my favorite parts of the book was when it taught that web design arguments are a "waste of time." The book says that people can argue for days about which way is the proper way to design a web page, and even still there may be various different opinions on the subject. So just be yourself, be sure to include the essentials, and go with what you like, because at the end of the day that's all that matter. This is essentially my motto in life, which is why I particularly liked this part of the book.

I really enjoyed "Don't Make Me Think" because of its easiness to read and for its relevant and useful content. I feel completely equipped with all the tools I need to make a professional, clear and enjoyable web site-- skills of which I plan to use in the near future.