There are a few great books that are talked about over and over again by UI/UX and Product Designers and they tend to pop up again and again for good reason. The foundational principles and ways of thinking laid out in these books are important for designers at any level and it's amazing how the same words can take on new meaning when they are read again later on in your career. If you are a user interface, user experience or product designer and haven't read them yet, I highly recommend these books as a great primer or reminder of the possibilities and responsibilities we designers possess.
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User Interface Design Books
The Design of Everyday Things
- Author: Don Norman
- Tags: Design Principles, UX
- Summary: The ultimate guide to human-centered design
Don't Make Me Think
- Author: Steve Krug
- Tags: UI Design
- Summary: Understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design. Witty, commonsensical, and eminently practical, it’s one of the best-loved and most recommended books on the subject.
Designing for Emotion
- Author: Aaron Walter
- Tags: UI Design
- Summary: Make your users fall in love with your site via the precepts packed into this brief, charming book by MailChimp user experience design lead Aarron Walter. From classic psychology to case studies, highbrow concepts to common sense, Designing for Emotion demonstrates accessible strategies and memorable methods to help you make a human connection through design.
User Experience Design Books
The Elements of User Experience
- Author: Jesse James Garrett
- Tags: User Experience
- Summary: With so many issues involved—usability, brand identity, information architecture, interaction design— creating the user experience can be overwhelmingly complex. This new edition of The Elements of User Experience cuts through that complexity with clear explanations and vivid illustrations that focus on ideas rather than tools or techniques. Garrett gives readers the big picture of user experience development, from strategy and requirements to information architecture and visual design.
Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research
- Authors: Dr. Elizabeth Goodman, Mike Kuniavsky, Andrea Moed
- Tags: User Experience
- Summary: Filled with real-world experience and a wealth of practical information, this book presents a complete toolbox of techniques to help designers and developers see through the eyes of their users. It provides in-depth coverage of 13 user experience research techniques that will provide a basis for developing better products, whether they're Web, software or mobile based. In addition, it's written with an understanding of product development in the real world, taking tight budgets, short schedules, and existing processes into account.
Business and Product Strategy Books
Change by Design
- Author: Tim Brown
- Tags: Design Thinking
- Summary: Change by Design is not a book by designers for designers; it is a book for creative leaders seeking to infuse design thinking into every level of an organization, product, or service to drive new alternatives for business and society.
LEAN STARTUP: Ultimate Collection
- Author: Jason Bennett, Jennifer Bowen
- Tags: Lean
- Summary: 8 Books to help you master Lean Startup, Lean Analytics, Lean Enterprise, Kaizen, Six Sigma, Agile Project Management, Kanban, Scrum, Kaizen
Rework
- Author: Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
- Tags: Lean
- Summary: Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who’s ever dreamed of doing it on their own. Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs they hate, victims of "downsizing," and artists who don’t want to starve anymore will all find valuable guidance in these pages.
