I will be updating this reading list whenever I see new UX books that I think will help you become a UX designer. In addition, I’ll be creating follow-up lists focused on specific topics, like UI design books. Universal Principles is a contender for the number one spot on every beginning UX designer’s reading list.
The Design of Everyday Things is a powerful primer on how and why some products satisfy users while others only frustrate them. Therefore, the entire book revolves around understanding the user and providing you with the strategies and resources that allow you to design a satisfactory ui ux books user experience. In addition, everything is always explained with a touch of humor and with dozens of easy-to-execute examples to learn, little by little, how to create a user-friendly UX design. Web design is more than just creating clean codes and sharp graphics.
Design Like A PRO — How to master Spacing in UI
Through consecutive “hook cycles,” these products reach their ultimate goal of bringing users back again and again without depending on costly advertising or aggressive messaging. How someone sees an object and how he thinks it will work is what we call a mental model. User research is an essential part of your design process when working as a UX designer. Understanding the mental model involved is key to delivering a user experience that’s both helpful and delightful. The Design of Everyday Things is an all-time classic in UX design. Written by Don Norman in 1988, this book is still relevant today.
#oldbutgold The book lays out some clear and effective principles as well as basic tips for building and improving user interfaces. Krug talks about the importance of ‘ease of use’ and how user experience is the key to any successful type of website. I would absolutely recommend it to everyone as a starting point to UI design.
“100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People” by Susan Weinschenk
The Visual History of Type traces the evolution of typeface design over the last 200 years. As much a beautifully-design coffee table as an exhaustive and thorough history of type, The Visual History of Type is a great primer for levelling up on your typography knowledge. The designers at Mailchimp valued to the power of typography and typographical identity in their recent rebrand when they selected an old-style serif, Cooper Light, as their primary typeface. Cooper Light was originally released over 100 years ago, and the slightly ironic choice (for a tech company) has become synonymous with Mailchimp’s brand in just a couple of years. The instant classic about why some ideas thrive, why others die, and how to improve your idea’s chances—essential reading in the “fake news” era.
A full-color practical book that teaches you how microinteractions can turn a good digital product into a great one. RefactoringUI teaches you how to design beautiful user interfaces by yourself using specific tactics explained from a developer’s point of view. Another valuable skill is to know how to communicate your work with stakeholders. Unfortunately, having good confidence and articulation doesn’t come naturally to everyone especially for more introverted types. The good news is, you don’t have to be a natural debater and a charismatic speaker to communicate your work and win. There are some principles and tactics that could help you go around and present your concepts.
Free course: Introduction to UX Design
Scrum events like the daily standup, sprint retrospectives, and reviews are common for almost any UX designer. This book helps you find your place within a Lean and Agile working environment. He is known for his talks and lectures around the world and for being the co-founder and design director of Mule Design, an interaction design studio based in San Francisco. The book builds on every chapter that passes with new info and insights.
As soon as you’ve mastered one tool, framework or technology, something else comes along. If you’re working in a small team, the burden to be a unicorn UX designer is even heavier. You might already be wearing some of these hats, while other roles might be shared with product managers or developers.
Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life.
- The 168 pages long book is all practical advice delivered in the good ol’ fun Krug sense of humor, and it is reference-worthy for a design novice and experienced designer alike.
- It also examines how new technologies can refine user experience measurement, helping usability and user experience.
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- It aims to teach you fundamental principles on designing useful products that are delightful to use.
It’s very rare that a book dives deep on the UI side of things and how to actually design digital products, with practical tips and real actual examples. Because it’s primarily written from a developer’s point-of-view, it explains concepts clearly and suggests common sense tactics to make your design more user friendly. Considered a classic in the field, “Don’t Make Me Think” is a must-read for any UX designer.