Krug's Laws — Don't Make Me Think

Three blunt rules for removing friction. Apply as a fast pass over any page or flow.

• "Don't make me think." Self-evident is the goal. Every question a user has to stop and answer ("Is this clickable? Where am I? What does this do?") is friction. The interface should answer before it's asked.
• Click count doesn't matter — mindlessness does. It doesn't matter how many clicks a task takes, as long as each click is obvious and effortless. Three mindless clicks beat one ambiguous one.
• Cut the words. Get rid of half the words on each page, then half of what's left. Reduces noise, shortens pages, makes the useful content prominent.

How to apply

• Read each screen and flag anything that makes you pause — that pause is the defect.
• Don't optimize for fewer steps; optimize for obvious steps.
• After writing UI copy, delete half. Re-read. Delete more. Labels and instructions are where bloat hides.