Usability Stupidity
I didn't mind reading the first three chapters of this book because it was straightforward, short, and consisted of almost nothing but pictures. I found a lot of the information about how we read and look at things interesting, even though it's mostly a repeat of everything Dr. Jerz has told us so far about usability. I guess it's nice to have things confirmed?
That being said, I didn't agree with every single thing the author said, and most of it was the same stuff that I said about Kilian. I don't always want to design for the greatest number of people. I don't always want to stupid-proof my work. I know I won't always want idiots wandering around my site.
I guess my real fear is making a site so "usable" that I actually look like an idiot who isn't able to come up with anything more complex. Does that make any sense whatsoever?
On a side note, if I was Krug's editor, I'd have probably axed the footnotes. Half of them say something to the effect of "...but more on that later" and the other half could probably go straight in with the text itself. But hey, maybe it's just a tribute to Terry Pratchett. Can't fault a man for that.
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That being said, I didn't agree with every single thing the author said, and most of it was the same stuff that I said about Kilian. I don't always want to design for the greatest number of people. I don't always want to stupid-proof my work. I know I won't always want idiots wandering around my site.
I guess my real fear is making a site so "usable" that I actually look like an idiot who isn't able to come up with anything more complex. Does that make any sense whatsoever?
On a side note, if I was Krug's editor, I'd have probably axed the footnotes. Half of them say something to the effect of "...but more on that later" and the other half could probably go straight in with the text itself. But hey, maybe it's just a tribute to Terry Pratchett. Can't fault a man for that.
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Jessie Krehlik on Usability Stupidity: If you think about it, Krug ki
Alex Hull on Usability Stupidity: I think the point Krug is tryi
Alex Hull on Usability Stupidity: I think the point Krug is tryi
I think the point Krug is trying to make in his book is how to create a website that will be easy to use for the "average" web surfer. He doesn't mean to cramp your style, but to remind you to take the user into mind. But like Dr. Jerz said in class today, it all depends on who your audience is and what your purpose is. If you want to weed out the "idiots" that can't use your site, by all means make it at the complex level that you want to.
I disagree about the footnotes. I even put in my blog how much I liked them. I found them to be at least slightly witty every time.
But that's a personal preference =]
If you think about it, Krug kind of designed his book like a webpage. He didn't clutter the book with tons of text and diagrams. He put just enough on a page that the reader will actually pay attention rather than just scan, but at the same time, even if the reader did just scan the page, he would still understand what the page is about.
As for the footnotes, they really are just a preference. I have a horrible habit of never reading footnotes. It's so bad that sometimes I don't even notice that they're there...like in this book. I didn't realize there were footnotes until both you and Alex mentioned them. Like I said, they're really just preference. If you don't like them, don't read them. I don't, and I still understand what's going on.