Borrow or purchase Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug.

Schedule

• Begin reading as soon as possible
• "Reading Group 1" will take place next Monday
• "Reading Group 2" will take place the following Monday

Reading Group 1

Preparation

Before RG1, you need to:

• Read through Chapter 6 (up to page 94)
• Write a blog reflection detailed below

Writing

On your class blog, write an article that explores one or more of the following questions:

• This book is ancient in technology-years. Is it still relevant? What feels dated and what feels on point?
• Was there an idea that particularly clicked for you?
• Was there a concept or recommendation you disagreed with?
• What did you learn from "Street Signs & Breadcrumbs" (Chapter 6)?
• How did/will lessons from the book influence your current project?

Group Session

Split up into groups…

Protocol

• Gather in your four-person groups
• 30 Minutes: For each person in your group
  • 8 Minutes: Read their entry
  • 2 Minutes: Add a comment
• 5 Minute Break
• 25 Minutes: Group Discusion

Group Discussion Questions

Have a discussion in your small group reflecting on any of the following questions:

• Are there any ideas/concepts that you think should be added to the chapters you’ve read so far (maybe from apps that have been created since the book was written)?
• Were you able to apply any lessons to StoreEngine?
• How are you feeling about the second half of the book? Why?
• What’s the most valuable concept/lesson so far? Why?

Reading Group 2

Preparation

Before RG2, you need to:

• Read through Chapter 12 (up to page 186)

Group Session

For your next project, Son of Store Engine, you’ll need a workflow that allows users to create stores. Combine the lessons from DMMT and our discussion with John Athayde last week to plan how this process will work in your project.

It is strongly recommended that you use paper, dry-erase boards, and a lot of group communication to get this done. Try not to think about how to implement your ideas, focus on the perfect interaction for your users.

WHO is your user?

• What is their background?
• How comfortable are they with web applications?
• What can you expect them to understand about your technology?
• What do they understand about their business?
• What are their aspirations and fears?

WHY are they using your application at all?

What do they hope to gain? Why aren’t they using your competitors?

WHAT is the essential information you need?

You want to minimize the amount of data they have to give you before they are active on the site.

• How little data can you collect?
• What elements are required?
• What things should be optional?
• What data elements need to be validated? What are the validation criteria?

HOW will the store creation process flow?

• How many screens do you need? What goes on each?
• Will/can you validate the information on each page, or do you need to build more of a "wizard" that validates everything at once?
• Where will the error message go? How can you make the corrective actions clear to the user?
• How many clicks will the whole process take? Any way to trim that?

Aggregate Results

Put together a useful, actionable archive of your ideas and thinking that you can actually use for your SoSE project. Take pictures of your drawings or papers and share them among your group.