If you are interested in how design impacts UX, this might help you build your design thinking. In this weekly podcast about building websites, Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier discuss topics like cognitive bias in the design, digital minimalism, and where to find inspiration. It’s an excellent resource for any web UX designer or frontend developer who wants to level up their skills. This podcast is all about fighting for your users through good design practices. UX designer Jason Ogle interviews guests on a wide range of topics, from learning to love synthesizing data to overcoming imposter syndrome. After all, how will you know what your users will need if you don’t spend time discovering how they interact with products?
Universal Principles of Design is an in-depth encyclopedia of design, user psychology and mental models. It’s so broad that it’s applicable across any discipline, making it a fantastic resource to broaden your design knowledge and understanding with just one book. Knowing how to craft a compelling message and integrating that message into your product design and marketing is easier than you may think.
Building a StoryBrand
Now in its second edition, this book examines how to conduct research and apply those findings to design and development. Start applying psychology and behavior science to your UX design process with this book. It addresses topics like how our brains process visual cues, the relationship between typography and pattern recognition, and why it might be good news that people forget things. The book also looks at the potential of Big Data and AI to shake up product design. It is an eye-opening read that made me take a second look at the things I use daily and appreciate the effort that went into designing them.
Building a StoryBrand is efficiently packed with useful information and frameworks to help you create a story that will capture customer attention. An incredibly useful ui ux design books skill for a UX designer, copywriter, marketer or entrepreneur. Thinking, Fast and Slow is a book that has altered how I approach and think about problems in my life.
by Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger
Now, they might sound very fancy, but I found all of them easy to grasp. On top of the 10 laws, Yablonski also explores the ethical considerations we should keep in mind when applying these principles. Wathan and Schoger pack as much information about UX and UI design into 252 pages as possible.
For example, your users might have a prejudice or bias you’re not aware of. In other cases, using your designs might be scary for first-time users. After that, the training wheels come off when you read The Design of Everyday Things. It tackles real-life situations, while Don’t Make Me Think is very concrete and focuses on best practices and actionable tips and tricks.
Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People
It’s a common struggle for UX designers to fill the About page of their portfolio with adequate content. I suggest you write three 4-5 sentence reviews about your favorite UX-related books. This will signal to design leads that you invest time and effort into your craft. Here’s a great structure to include your product design reading list in your portfolio.
It’s a huge wake-up call for the design industry and how UX people can help design a world we all want to live in. As a data-driven person, I design, write, and create only things that I can measure. If you’re looking for the best books on web design topics, you are in the right place. This 2005 book on web design has become a classic in the world of UX. Although the internet has changed dramatically since Steve Krug wrote the original edition of Don’t Make Me Think, his lessons on usability and accessibility in design remain evergreen. As we approach an inflection in the evolution of user research, it’s important to unpack its expansive role in catalyzing innovation.
User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design are Changing the Way We Live, Work and Play by Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant
This book is a must-read for designers of all levels — from novices to gurus. This book is a great starting point for all new and aspiring designers. From three design partners at Google Ventures, a unique five-day process for solving tough problems using design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers.
He emphasizes the importance of early and frequent testing, making problem identification and resolution a seamless part of your design process. Steve Krug presents a common-sense approach to mobile and web usability with his engaging writing style. He focuses on functional aspects of design rather than form, offering concrete examples to improve usability and enhance the user experience. Prototyping for Designers is a helpful guide to prototyping methods and best practices, packed with valuable tips and ideas to help designers develop more successful products. This expansive read draws on techniques from the worlds of human-computer interaction, marketing, and social sciences to offer innovative ideas for UX researchers.
Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction by Helen Sharp
It’s gained considerable popularity for being a reliable companion in challenging times for UX designers. In this video, CEO of Experience Dynamics, Frank Spillers urges designers to “get out of the building” before designing anything. Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think” underscores the power of simplicity and consistency in web design. He advocates for intuitive, skim-friendly interfaces and emphasizes the importance of user testing. Krug suggests that, while creativity is important, it shouldn’t compromise the expected consistency unless it enhances the user experience. It strays from dry, technical material and, instead, adopts Marsh’s unique snarky humor to teach UX in a simple and practical manner.
Also, Tidwell uses plenty of example screenshots to make her points more comprehensible. Just be prepared that some of the screenshots are a real throwback. I was recommended this book while looking for something comprehensive to prepare for my first interviews.
I wonder how hard it would be to collect stories from smaller-scale companies and individuals for some diversity in these books. As a content creator, I love Google, but I don’t need to read about them in every book of this genre. “Inspired” by Marty Cagan is catering to product managers, but product designers can also learn from it, thanks to information about various product risks, discovery, and other techniques. This was a light read for me, but that could be because I have no desire to become a product manager, so I wasn’t really invested. Whether you’re looking for your first product design job or to accelerate your career into a more senior role, this book has something for you. Not because it’s revolutionary but because it presents solid knowledge without pretension.
- It does so by taking a closer look at how users work and perceive things.
- It’s for anyone with a big opportunity, problem, or idea who needs to get answers today.
- The author believes that well-designed websites should be intuitive, requiring users to exert minimal cognitive effort.
- The book also underscores the significance of continuous learning and practice in navigating the evolving UX landscape.