10 Best UI UX Books that Every Designer Should Read 2022 DEV Community

It’s a fascinating read and insight into why we do the things that we do. Eyal explores the 4-step framework that makes these products so successful, with practical insights to create user habits that stick. This is a book written by a developer-designer duo, Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger. That being said, I think it should be required reading for every designer and everyone working on digital products.

top ux design books

Because as long as the user-centered design is a thing, we will be reading more and more UX books. Minding the microcopy and actively working towards improving it is what makes timeless user experiences. Then the authors move onto real-life situations, strategizing in a project environment and best practices on other aspects of writing for UX. UX being directly linked to the internet and contemporary trends, it is even more important for a UX designer to keep reading even in the later years of their career. The project guide offers insider tips for understanding the roles of stakeholders in a UX project, conducting user research, doing SEO, coming up with personas, and more.

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk

It’s a working methodology that helps UX designers, product manager and teams solve huge problems in just five days. When Sprint was published in 2016, it overhauled many dated project management processes in lieu of Google’s faster, smarter approach. Knapp’s goal with this book is to help you design and build better products faster. Hooked is based on Eyal’s years of research, consulting, and practical experience.

I’ll provide a list of essential must-read UX books you can read in 2024. Once you have read these books, you can consider yourself to have a solid understanding of UX theory. Here are user experience books that you might wanna give a read as an experienced UX designer.

Simple and Usable Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design by Giles Colborne

Heaths’ framework will help you as a designer to focus on the highest-impact ideas and to better communicate with your target audience. Nir Eyal is a behavioural design and consumer psychology expert with a focus on helping businesses change user behaviour and retain customers. Hooked is a distillation of his knowledge, after years of research and working with clients.

  • Aside from the fact that it has precious knowledge for any new UX designer, what makes Don’t Make Me Think even better is that it is a usability manual that is supposed to be serious and boring, but isn’t.
  • UX design templates allow you to detail the project plan, assign tasks to the team, and create a collaborative environment so everyone works in sync.
  • In this revised edition, Krug updates and expands upon his classic work and offers invaluable insights and a better understanding of designing user-friendly websites that prioritize simplicity and clarity.
  • In addition, the book includes incredible examples and illustrations, which makes it an easy and fun read.
  • Authored by Jill Butler, Kritina Holden, and William Lidwell, «Universal Principles of Design» is an exploration into the fundamental principles that underlie effective design decisions.
  • With high-intensity training and good resources, it is possible to start off as a novice UX designer.

Once you realise you’re not Jack and you’re never going to be a master of all of these trades, you can instead focus on becoming a life-long learner. “Laws of UX” provides an in-depth examination of the relationship between psychology and user experience design. Yablonski presents ten principles – or laws – sourced from his behavioral economics studies and his own research into user behavior. 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. How someone sees an object and how he thinks it will work is what we call a mental model.

Reviewed as part of my 100 books challenge: http://jimmylongley.com/blog/books/ Run-on Sentence Summary A list of 100…

Whatever type of design work you do, it exists in a space between human attitudes, perceptions and physical artefacts. 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. Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art is the creatives equivalent of Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.

The purpose behind the book is to emphasize the importance of simplicity as well as consistency when coming up with a web design. When designing websites, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that people will actually be using your published work. Some of the design best practices may be a little out of date ui ux design books today, but About Face is still a wealth of information for user experience best practices in design. Universal Principles of Design is also featured on our list of the the best books for UI design. It’s become an invaluable cross-disciplinary reference for both UX design and UI design best practices.

Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People

It’s a practical resource, particularly beneficial for those beginning their UI design journey. Don Norman’s «The Design of Everyday Things» underscores the importance of user-centered design – a concept he helped popularize. He emphasizes that design should primarily focus on user needs rather than secondary factors like aesthetics. He illustrates the outcomes of adhering to or straying from this user-focused approach through detailed examples.

top ux design books

If you’re wondering what «perceptual and cognitive psychology» is, don’t worry! This book is essentially about the psychology behind the user interface design principles and rules that we know today. Early UI designers were trained in cognitive psychology — the science behind how users behave and make decisions — but somewhere along the way, the UI design industry has moved onto established «rules».

Browse UX / UI Design Topics

I was told to read through tons of pages and websites, even though I had prior experience with writing. Enables personalizing ads based on user data and interactions, allowing for more relevant advertising experiences across Google services. For those just beginning their journey or seasoned professionals looking to refine their skills, our range of courses caters to all levels. Embark on your learning adventure with our beginner UX courses today. This e-book by web designer Tom Kenny provides an in-depth analysis of high-quality web designs.

top ux design books

It’s just tightly packed with relevant ideas and actionable tips. The book has many autobiographical elements and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. I think most of us can agree that many books in our realm are just manicured blog posts. In the era of monster-length blog posts, I believe there’s still space for books about UX design. Because investing in a valuable book is the kind of gesture that’ll keep you committed and motivated. I’m Nick Groeneveld, a senior designer from the Netherlands with experience in UX, visual design, and research.

They reveal the hidden impact of design on societal shifts, from major historical events to the dawn of the digital era. «UX for Beginners» is a comprehensive yet entertaining guide for anyone interested in user experience (UX) design. This book covers the fundamentals of UX across 100 self-contained, engaging lessons. This template integrates with your idea board and process mapping tools, making it ideal for creating amazing user experiences.

top ux design books