1. Krug Chapter 5 A: Omit Needless Words and Defaults and Memory
Jeff Offutt
SWE 205
Software Usability and Design

2. Omit Needless Words E. B. Strunk, The Elements of Style
Vigorous writing is concise
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences
Many words on web pages will never be read
Get rid of half the words
Then get rid of half of what’s left!
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

3. Editing Is Hard “There are no great writers, just great editors”
Chris Offutt, author
Sometimes I ask him to check something I write
He cuts at least 25%, and the paper says MORE, not less
Why is editing our writing so hard?
When we first wrote a word, we thought it had a purpose in the sentence
Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier than cutting our own words
This slide is verbose!
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

4. Editing Takes Discipline
“There are no great writers, just great editors”
Chris Offutt, author
Sometimes I ask him to check something I write
He cuts at least 25%, and the paper says MORE, not less
Why is editing our writing so hard?
When we first wrote a word, we thought it had a purpose in the sentence
Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier than cutting our own words he s my
ing
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

5. Editing Helps Clarity “There are no great writers, just great editors”
Chris Offutt, author
Sometimes he checks my writing
He cuts 25% and the paper says MORE
Why is editing so hard?
When we wrote a word, we thought it had a purpose
Cutting somebody else’s excess verbiage is easier
Much better!
30% shorter
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

6. Instructions Must Die
If we need instructions, the interface has already failed
The one definite thing about instructions is that nobody will read them!
(must log in first)
If instructions are needed, reduce them to the bare minimum
Don’t Make Me Think !
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

7. Overhead and Excise Tasks
Overhead relates to solving problems:
Revenue Tasks : Sub-tasks that work to solve the problem directly
designing
requirements
Excise Tasks : Sub-tasks that must be done but do not directly help us solve the problem
compiling
debugging
Excise tasks often satisfy the needs of the tools, not the users
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

8. Excise Tasks Excise tasks are trivial, unless we have a lot of them
Eliminate them if possible
Automate them as much as possible
Excise for users with comp-semantic knowledge is often perceived as revenue for users without
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

9. Memory – Auto-customization
Remember what the user did the last time
Avoid unnecessary questions
Imagine a roommate that asked you every time if it was okay to share the milk!
Dialog boxes ask questions, buttons offer choices
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

10. Auto-customization Examples
MS Word : I always put my files in C:\offutt
But MS Word always thinks I’m going to open a file in C:\My Documents\ …
(very difficult to find the customization!)
PPT : I often print “Handouts”, “2”, “Pure black and white”
If I print several PPT files in a row, I have to click all three boxes every time!
ATM : I usually withdraw $150
Why does the ATM always use $100 and $200 as defaults?
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt

11. Summary Omit needless words Edit ruthlessly Reduce excise tasks
UIs should have memory
11-Nov-18
© Jeff Offutt