Steve Krug, author of Don't Make Me Think, says Web site usability isn't "rocket surgery." In this interview, Krug explains how you can improve your application's and site's usability for very little money, and not a whole lot of effort

Episode 16: Steve Krug talks about usability >> See all videos in this series

If you have paid attention to usability topics in the least amount, there are two names you know: Jakob Nielsen and Steve Krug, author of Don't Make Me Think. Krug's book is, from my experience, refreshingly readable, and he makes the subject of usability as easy to grasp as... well, as you're supposed to make your sites and applications. There's a good reason it stays at the top of the best-seller lists.

Happily, in this latest of the DevSource Great Minds in Development video series, Mike Elgan was able to speak with Krug (who is also Principal of Advanced Common Sense) about several usability topics that can help software developers and web designers improve the quality of their applications and web sites.

Among the topics he addresses are the reasons so many developers struggle with usability. Krug, who says that usability is "not rocket surgery," asserts that these skills are something that most people — particularly developers and designers — can learn to do themselves, and yes, you can learn to be competent at the task.

For example, Krug points out that software developers "like interfaces with a lot of moving parts," so they tend to design applications that work the way they do. Designers can get lost in the aesthetics of a site. The UI design, Krug says, is a reflection of their interests and concerns.

In this video interview, Krug gives you advice about how to do your own usability testing. "It just means sitting down and watching somebody who isn't you use the thing you're building," he says. Krug goes into the process details, when usability testing should be done (which is probably not when your company does it), and explains why developers and designers should bother. He also explains how to do usability testing on your own, costing next to nothing, and which steps are involved. "A morning a month: that's all we ask," he says.

Plus, Krug itemizes three common problems that are found in usability testing (are your apps guilty?), and gives his opinion about why famous sites like Google and Amazon succeeded. He also names the best-known site that flunks on usability grounds, and explains why and how a site can survive without a top-notch interface.

Krug is as fun, interesting, and personable in this interview as he is in the pages of his book.

To watch the video in Windows Media Player, click here.

Watch all the videos in the Great Minds in Development series!

Tell us what you think of the video (and the series!) in the DevSource Forum.

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