The Nine Lives – Ian Cheung, Information Architect in Osaka, Japan

Steve Krug

I can’t over-emphasis how much his single book Don’t Make Me Think influenced me and my shift from working in the general web design field to a more specialist role in IA & Usability.

It crystalises everything into a slim, easily understandable volume demonstrated by examples. Easily understandable not just to web professionals but also to laymen. For this reason for any sizable web project I insist stake holders and team members read or have read the book. It just saves so much time down the road. (It is also the first book I look for on friends’ Amazon wishlists.)

What is remarkable is that explains things clearly without being preachy, without handing down commandments. Not only that but everything is practisable, doable, there is no “do magic here” step or as Katie Lucas puts it “run really really fast” step.

The main reason I would like to meet Steve Krug isn’t just cause he wrote an amazing book but also because his writing is a reflection of his personality. Read his recent interview with Boxes and Arrows to see what I mean. He answers the questions with humour and sincerity at the same time.

Talking of the interview, two things he said saddened me. One was the finanical strain writing the book caused and two the fact that usability and usability testing while taken seriously still isn’t being budgetted for in web projects. From my experience the second point is both sad and true. Maybe by the time I meet him things wil have changed for the better.