Donвђ™t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense ... Apr 2026

The next morning, Steve started "Revisiting" his design with a common-sense lens:

He imagined a user being blindfolded, spun around, and dropped onto a random page of his app. He realized they’d have no idea where they were. He added clear breadcrumbs and a persistent "Home" icon. Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense ...

A week later, they ran a user test. A grandmother, who usually struggled with tech, tapped through the app in seconds. The next morning, Steve started "Revisiting" his design

He made the "Checkout" button large, green, and exactly where a thumb expects it to be. A week later, they ran a user test

"Read this," she said. "The user's brain is like a battery. Every time they have to wonder 'Can I click this?' or 'Where is the home button?', you’re draining that battery. By the time they find the milk, they’re too tired to buy it."

Steve was a brilliant software engineer, but his latest project—a grocery delivery app—was a labyrinth of "innovation." To find a carton of milk, a user had to navigate through three animated splash screens and a categorized "lifestyle" menu. Steve called it "immersive."