This book report originally appeared on the Team Rubber blog.

“Don’t Make Me Think!” is fun to say, and is rather fun to read too.

This is one book that everyone creating web apps, design and/or content ought to read. The clue is in the name - a lot of web usability *is* common sense, but we all need a refresher course now and again.

I’d read the first edition years ago, and second edition is equally awesome. Especially useful for me personally were:

• Chapter 2 & 3 - how users really use the web (imagine users treating the web as a billboard - they are zooming by, rather than sitting down with a cuppa to read every single line of text on the page)

• Chapter 5 - writing for the web … it’s related to the billboard issue! Though the sales guys may disagree
• Chapter 6 - designing navigation
• Chapter 8 & 9 - usability testing
• Chapter 10 - usability as common courtesy

If we all were able to persuade clients to listen to our suggestions and trust us to make the right decisions about general web usability, our projects could run a lot smoother.

Don’t take my word for it — check out the zillions of 5* reviews on Amazon: Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition