Steve Krug
Usability consultant and author of Don’t Make Me Think and Rocket Surgery Made Easy.
Steve Krug did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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A user should be able to understand what a page is and how to use it without spending any effort thinking about it
I should be able to “get it” —what it is and how to use it - without expending any effort thinking about it.
books.google.comSaid c. 2000–2014This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 15 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
A user should be able to understand what a page is and how to use it without spending any effort thinking about it
I should be able to “get it” —what it is and how to use it - without expending any effort thinking about it.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
People don't read web pages; they scan them
We don't read pages. We scan them. One of the very few well-documented facts about Web use is that people tend to spend very little time reading most Web pages.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Web users don't weigh every option to choose the best one; they satisfice
We don't make optimal choices. We satisfice.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Show 12 more
It matters that users understand a site, because muddling through tends to be inefficient and error-prone
The answer is that it matters a great deal because while muddling through may work sometimes, it tends to be inefficient and error-prone.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
When a slight inconsistency makes something significantly clearer, choose clarity
If you can make something significantly clearer by making it slightly inconsistent, choose in favor of clarity.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
The number of clicks matters less than whether each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice
It doesn't matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Web pages should cut half their words, then half of what is left
Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
No one reads instructions until repeated attempts at muddling through have failed
The main thing you need to know about instructions is that no one is going to read them — at least not until after repeated attempts at “muddling through” have failed.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Design-team debates about what users like rarely change anyone's mind
And, like most religious debates, they rarely result in anyone involved changing his or her point of view.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
There is no average web user
The only problem is, there is no Average User.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Even the worst usability test with the wrong user shows important things to improve
Testing always works, and even the worst test with the wrong user will show you important things you can do to improve your site.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Testing one user early in a project is better than testing 50 near the end
Testing one user early in the project is better than testing 50 near the end.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Every web development team should spend one morning a month doing usability testing
I think every Web development team should spend one morning a month doing usability testing.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
Affordances are the last thing an interface should hide
And by definition, affordances are the last thing you should hide.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2014
Users' goodwill is limited, and a site that exhausts it has a good chance of losing them
The reservoir is limited, and if you treat users badly enough and exhaust it there's a good chance that they'll leave.
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited (New Riders, 2014, third edition) Said c. 2000–2014
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Where they publish
Site sensible.com Their own site: the books, and a blog on usability testing.
Where Don’t Make Me Think and Rocket Surgery Made Easy live, with downloads and a blog written in the first person. The blog has been quiet since March 2022.
Link verified 4 Oct 2026.
x.com @skrug Short posts on usability and the books.
Low volume: usability notes, and news about the books, including the coming 4th edition of Don’t Make Me Think.
Link verified 4 Oct 2026.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.