Don't Make Me Think is a short and very easy-to-read book by Steve Krug about human computer interaction and web usability. The book has a very simple premise, exactly as its title says, that a good program or website should let users accomplish their intended tasks as easily and directly as possible. Krug points out that people are good at satisficing, that is taking the first available solution to their problem, so design should take advantage of this. He frequently cites Amazon.com as an example of a well-designed site that manages to allow high quality interaction even though the site gets bigger and more complex every day. Krug cites Amazon's intelligent use of file folder-like tabs.
The book in itself is supposed to be an example of concision and extremely well focused writing. The goal was to make a text that could be read by an executive on a one or two-hour flight.
I have spent years at RIT studying how to make applications and specifically websites easy to use. I would summarize this book to be a quick-start-guide to getting you heading in the right direction when it comes to what to put where on your website. It is critical that you have this book if you are determined to make a great website.
To further wet your appetite for usability, check out this episode from DevSource featuring Steve Krug talking about usability.
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