Chapter 12: “Help! My Boss Wants me to ____________. When Bad Design Decisions Happen to Good People”
Krug first goes into why it is a bad idea to ask for more personal information than what is needed when subscribing to an online newspaper. A full address, birthday, occupation, etc. are not required and are considered offensive to the user. It also brings up some problems like users being skeptical of your product and won’t provide real information, or they just won’t bother to fill it out at all. Krug suggests requiring the user to fill out the bare minimum of the necessities you need to know, don’t even bother with optional fields that make you look like you’re asking for more information that you need. Also, being very clear to what the user receives in exchange for their information.
When a CEO is asking for more “pizazz” or “sizzle” to the site, Krug validates the importance of a presentable, professional, and attractive site (and being able to do that without it being too flashy). Stated: “Most of the time on the Web, people don’t want to be engaged; they just want to get something done…” Not only do flashy splash pages and big pictures slow down a site, but they are an outdated tool.
Krug’s final note reminds us that all the things he has told us in his book and bad practices of web design and how to prevent them. The only reason we should be breaking these rules is a) you really know what you’re doing, b) you have a darned good reason, and c) you actually are going to test it when you’re done to make sure you’ve managed to make it work; you’re not just going to intend to test it.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and it made me understand web design a lot more. Initially I was the designer that could complain about a website and suggest on how to change it, but I couldn’t start from scratch and build a website out of pure nothingness and making it user friendly. This book changed that.
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