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Jakob Nielsen Quotes

Usability consultant

Jakob Nielsen is a renowned usability consultant, born on October 5, 1957. He has made significant contributions to the fields of human-computer interaction and user experience, particularly in web design and evaluation.

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All Users Design Usability Site Ifs Easy Information Use Customers Designer Features Should Simplicity Attention Difficult Errors Helping Interfaces Internet People

Famous Jakob Nielsen Quotes

“The more users' expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it.”

Feels Prove Expectations Users

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“...pay attention to what users do, not what they say.”

Pay Attention Pay Attention Users User Experience Usability

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience.”

Knows Happens Powerful Principles Worry Behave Most Powerful Users Consistency Usability

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.”

Firsts Problem Action Conditions Design Messages Errors Careful Checks Commit Users Confirmation

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.”

Should Reasonable Appropriate Users Feedback

Book:Usability Engineering

Source: Usability Engineering

“The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.”

World Should Real Order Speak Language Term Natural Information Concepts Familiar Phrases Logical Real World Conventions Users

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.”

Should Use Action Remember Memories Information Objects Dialogue Visible Appropriate Instruction Users Load

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.”

Ifs Should May Helping Used Easy Steps Information Tasks Focused Lists Users Concrete Documentation

Book:Usability Engineering

Source: Usability Engineering

“In the attention economy, anyone trying to connect with an audience must treat the user's time as the ultimate resource.”

Trying Attention Audience Economy Resources Ultimate Treats Users

Author:Jakob Nielsen

Ifs Two Use Easy Difficult Materials Products Offers Access Factors Host Users Compelling Popularity Site Flocks

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior.”

Self Use Easy Pay Attention Design Behavior Claims Pay Attention Users Speculation Unreliable Interfaces

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer things to confuse users, less risk of user errors, less description and documentation, and therefore simpler Help content. Removing any one feature automatically increases the usability of the remaining ones.”

Needs Mean Helping Risk Development Resources Increase Errors Simplicity Developing Features Description More Time Fewer Users Refining Documentation Usability

Book:Prioritizing Web Usability

Source: Prioritizing Web Usability

“Users are not designers.”

Design Designer Users

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Designers are not users.”

Design Designer Users

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Ultimately, users visit your website for its content. Everything else is just the backdrop.”

Design Users Website Backdrop

Book:Designing Web Usability

Source: Designing Web Usability

“A general principle for all user interface design is to go through all of your design elements and remove them one at a time.”

Principles Design Elements Remove Users Interfaces Usability User Interface

Book:Designing Web Usability

Source: Designing Web Usability

“On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If the homepage fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website's information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key questions, they leave. Note a pattern here?”

People Ifs Hard States Use Lost Difficult Can Do Answers Company Failing Conditions Information Keys Offers Survival Notes Patterns Users Site Website Usability

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Good information architecture makes users less alienated and suppressed by technology. It simultaneously increases human satisfaction and your company's profits. Very few jobs allow you to do both at the same time, so enjoy.”

Humans Jobs Enjoy Company Technology Information Increase Profit Satisfaction Architecture Users Good Information Information Architecture

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“On the Internet, it's survival of the easiest.... Give users a good experience and they're apt to turn into frequent and loyal customers. But ... it's easy to turn to another supplier in the face of even a minor hiccup. Only if a site is extremely easy to use will anybody bother staying around.”

Ifs Giving Use Faces Turns Easy Internet Survival Customers Bother Staying Users Loyal Minors Site Suppliers Loyal Customers Good Experiences Hiccups

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“The usability tests we have conducted during the last year have shown an increasing reluctance among users to accept innovations in Web design. The prevailing attitude is to request designs that are similar to everything else people see on the Web.”

People Years Lasts Attitude Accepting Design Tests Innovation Users Last Year Request Prevailing Reluctance Usability Web Design

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.”

Knows Way Mean Programming Users Site

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“If your users have many questions, it's a failure of your primary site design. It becomes not so much customer support, as much as customer complaints.”

Ifs Support Design Customers Primaries Users Site Complaints Customer Support

Author:Jakob Nielsen

“Diversity is power on the Web. Big sites may be bigger, but smaller sites will keep scoring higher for specialized topics, both in terms of their connections with users and in terms of each visit's commercial value.”

May Bigs Values Term Internet Higher Diversity Connections Bigger Users Site Topics

Author:Jakob Nielsen

About the Author

Born: October 5, 1957
Known for: Usability consultant
Quotes: 42

Books & Sources

Designing Web UsabilityRelated source material

Prioritizing Web UsabilityRelated source material

Usability EngineeringRelated source material

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