Must-read books for every designer (Part I)
Are you looking for good sources of UX knowledge? I’m sharing my reading list with must-read books for every designer. I strongly believe educating yourself is the answer to a better life.
Although knowledge is becoming faster and easier to obtain online, there’s still something incredibly special, intimate, and tactile about reading a book.
These books are suitable for any skill level and will help you strengthen your skills as a designer. The list it’s a mix of design, product and business-related reads, after all, design is not just about aesthetics.
Feel free to share your favorites.
Best UX Design Books
- Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell
This pocketbook is an easy read and is an essential tool for any designer to have. It contains 100 principles, with a design principle per page, this book is incredibly handy to just pick up and reference a principle. There is an abundance of useful tips that are great not just for how you design, but also how you interact with clients. Such as understanding design trade-offs and discussing the principle of Usability vs. Flexibility, or even the 80/20 rule. There’s also a couple of funny anecdotes such as the Nudge theory, used in toilets in Amsterdam (worth checking out). The overall goal of the book is to help enhance usability and help make better design decisions.
Categories: Usability; Interaction Design; Psychology
2. Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug
This book is written for UX designers but there is also value for coders, product designers, and management to read this. It is not a technical book, Krug talks about usability as something everyone in the team should think about. Instead, it gives you clear guidance and provides vivid examples of how to make your site easy for users. It is written in an easy to read way and I got through it quite quickly. Although the website examples he shows aren’t really good examples of great design and very dated, I challenge you to ignore the old design and focus on what he says, because that is still valid.
Categories: Usability; Interaction Design
3. Lean UX: Designing Great Products with Agile Teams, by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
This book is suitable for anyone who wants to learn about lean UX. In this book, the author shows us how to collaborate closely with team members of an agile product team and gather feedback early and often.
Category: Methods & Processes
4. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All, by Tom and David Kelly
The core argument of Creative Confidence is simple: Everyone can be creative. Those who see themselves as non-creative might unsettled at the notion. The authors argues any people assume they are not creative simply because they don’t dare to be creative. Too many people are afraid of failure, when in truth, it is through failure that one eventually achieves success and breakthrough. But Kelley brothers make a compelling case that creativity is innate in human beings — all human beings. The difference is that some of us recognize the creativity inside, and others don’t.
Category: Creativity
5. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, by Susan Weinschenk
Designers might be great at designing beautiful work, but if they don’t understand people, their work won’t have the impact they want. This book is highly recommended for those who want to gain insight into consumer behavior and needs, and how to tap into those elements through design. It gives you information and scientific studies that will help you validate and reinforce your designs.
Category: Psychology
Enjoy your reading!
And if you have any books you would like to share, feel free to. Community is what makes us great!
