Add Universal Principles of Design (William Lidwell) to your reading list!

7 Books Every UX Designer Should Read

Having developed a love for reading from a young age, resulting in my current state of myopia now (after many good reads in poor lighting) — I’ve compiled the best, most recommended design books. From human perception to behavioral psychology, to creating more meaning through thoughtful reduction, these are the books and voices that have shaped my thoughts on design.

Read on, fellow bookworms.

The Big Seven

1. Universal Principles of Design (Jill Butler, Kritina Holden, and William Lidwell)
   Principles of design, using psychology, perception, behavioral research, backed with relevant examples. Concise and incredibly useful.
2. A Pattern Language for Web Usability (Ian Graham)
   Organized by HCI and usability principles, book goes through examples in depth and is a great primer for usability patterns and process.
3. Laws of Simplicity (John Maeda)
   Principles for creating more meaningful design.
4. Designing for interaction: creating innovative applications and devices (Dan Saffer)
   Filled with great examples, lengthy and great reference manual.
5. Don’t Make Me Think (Steve Krug)
   Classic perspective on the role of design.
6. Mental Models (Indi Young)
   User methodology and thought process for movement through a system.
7. Designing Interactions (Bill Moggridge)
   Classic on interactions and well organized chapters with careful observation.

General design reads

1. Visualization analysis & design (Tamara Munzner)
   Data visualization by type of data — broken into what data users need to see, why users need to carry out their tasks, and how the visual representations proposed can be constructed and manipulated.
2. Six Thinking Hats (Edward de Bono)
   Guide to improving communication and decision making in groups.
3. Design of Everyday Things (Don Norman)
   Thoughtful use of principles of cognitive psychology to help users achieve their goal with minimal frustration.
4. History of Modern Design (David Raizman)
   Delve into the field of modern day design by looking at the past.
5. Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton)
   A thorough explanation and breakdown of typography and proper usage.
6. Information Dashboard Design (Stephen Few)
   Data visualization broken down into common problems and how to fix them.
7. Designing Brand Identity (Alina Wheeler)
   Gain business insight into connecting and engaging your users.

Web Resources

1. Journey Mapping
   Filled with useful links — interesting and in depth examples.
2. 5 Questions for 100 Designers
   A project featuring short interviews with designers (mostly with graphic designers). Each interview consists of five questions and five answers.
3. Design Matters
   Podcast with design, writers, artists, curators, musicians, and other luminaries of contemporary thought.
4. Creative Mornings
   A breakfast lecture series for the creative community, with locations in most US cities.
5. Website Awards
   A site that recognize the talent and effort of the best web designers, developers and agencies in the world.

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