Executive Q&A: Interview with David Sales, telecom industry consultant and a former director of sales and marketing for BT
Delivering the Digital Home: Providers must prepare to change their thinking to appeal to mainstream consumers
Embracing Change with New Standards
Case Study: Swisscom Fixnet—Building the Foundation for Next-Generation Broadband
Opinion: The Keys to Digital Home Success, by Kenny Van Zant
Book Review: Don’t Make Me Think!
Industry Analysis: The Missing Piece of the Consumer Electronics Agenda, by Colin Dixon of The Diffusion Group
Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
By Steve Krug, www.sensible.com
Book reviewed by David Deans
We live in an increasingly complicated world, where new innovations don’t always equate to advances for mainstream consumers. Many new technology-oriented products are rushed to market, with the user interface still an ongoing work-in-progress. It’s ironic, but designing for simplicity has proven to be quite difficult.
Meanwhile, research is providing renewed evidence that poor usability is the most significant impediment to consumer adoption of Web-based customer care. Case in point; a recent Forrester Research study of the most valuable tactics for driving adoption of self-support Web sites concluded that “improved usability” was by far the most effective tactic. In fact, study respondents said superior usability was twice as effective as the next highest ranked tactic (use e-mail to drive customers to self-service).
With that statistic in mind, every broadband service provider should heed the practical advice within the updated book entitled Don’t Make Me Think. Originally published in 2000, Steve Krug’s guide became an instant classic for anyone seeking advice on how to develop an intuitive Web experience. This second edition includes three new chapters, and at only 191 pages it’s still a quick read.
Krug points out that while many companies that serve customers via the Web would acknowledge an awareness of the importance of usability testing, few follow that intent with substantive action. In a recent interview, when asked how the field of user-centered design has changed, Krug responded, “I don’t think most companies have decided that usability spending should be part of every development budget. I think there’s more usability work going on than there was four years ago, but for the most part, companies still don’t expect to spend real time or money on it.”
I highly recommend this book for any business leader who would like to understand the human factors discipline, and learn the compelling business case for built-in simplicity, by design.
