Book Review: Don't Make Me Think!

When I first read the title, I had no idea what the book would be about. But as I began reading, it all made sense. We live in a world where everything is online from news, to shopping, and even job applications. It’s so easy to access this stuff that we don’t have to think about it often. We just search it and it’s there! But what about when we have to think about it? Do we stay on the site if the top news story we want to see is too hard to find? Or do we go to a different news website where it can easily be found flashing across the screen? For me personally, I like simple stuff. I don’t want to think most of the time, isn’t that why we have the internet! Reading this book also made me think about my own website. Is it clear? Can employers find what they’re are looking for within a few seconds or is it confusing to the point where they just go look at another applicant’s website? By using the graphics in the book, I see that my website is very user friendly. My reel is on the front page. There is a tab for my resume and a tab for my contact. Users, especially employers don’t want to look too far to find info. Ironically I went to a website to apply for a job today and it gave me the run around. After finding the employment page, I clicked apply here and it took me to a separate page that had nothing to do with employment and I ended up not applying to that job right then. I’ll probably go back to that site when I have more time for all the different pages associated with getting to the actual application. What makes a good website is actually simple, I think a good rule of thumb to go by is to make sure every age range can understand where things are located. Whether you are in 3rd grade or 60 years old, you should be able to access things quickly without questions. The website does not need to be busy. You do not need pictures and links nearly on top of each other because people will get confused and not know what to click. You also want things to be visible. Dark fonts and small words can be very hard for some people to see and read, especially if they are older or wear glasses. Also, tabs need to be labeled in a way that people don’t have to question if they should click. For example, on a clothing website, you should have a shop now tab that takes people to the items. From there you can have a dresses, shoes, pants tab to narrow things down. This makes it easy for shoppers to get what they came for. Imagine having men and women clothes and shoes mixed together on one page. That is confusing and too busy! This book was a great read and I recommend it to anyone who has a website or is thinking about creating one. It will give you tips for a successful, user friendly site!