10 Books on User Experience That You Should Be Reading
Jahnavi Mirashi, UX Researcher at Hureo UX Research Company
Some time earlier, we’d mentioned some of our favourite UX Reads in a tweet:
And we thought, why not expand upon it? There are so many books available on UX, but we’ve picked a few more of our favourites on user experience and design. Some are classics, some are new, but we’ve kept the list quite broad to encompass a wide range of subjects that should be of interest to UX novices and veterans alike.
Elements of User Experience has been widely accepted as reference reading material for UX-ers all over the world. It explains practices and processes of creating a cohesive user experience (combining various disciplines such as usability, interaction design, information architecture) and is a good guide for newcomers and experts.
2. Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik
As a user researcher, I have a special affinity for Dev Patnaik’s book on empathy. Using a wide range of examples from various fields, Wired to Care makes learning about empathy very engaging. The book also talks about how listening to your customers and understanding their needs will help you develop a successful product. A must-read for anyone involved in building products and services.
3. Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience by Jeff Gothelf
Lean UX encapsulates Hureo’s way of thinking — validate your ideas or product with real users, collaboration, design thinking, getting feedback continuously during your development cycle. Jeff Gothelf explains how Lean UX can be a part of a product development process through methods and guidelines and real life examples.
4. Don’t Make Me Think and Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug
A list of books on usability will not be complete without adding Steve Krug. Two of his books mentioned here are considered classic texts for anyone interested in usability. Don’t Make Me Think is a fun, short read on usability principles. Rocket Surgery Made Easy is also a short read that functions as a guide to conduct usability tests. Both books are practical, very handy and great to refer to over and over again.
5. Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work by Indi Young
Too often, empathy is considered a soft aspect of product development. This book gives a deep dive into the value of listening to not just your users, but also your colleagues, friends, and family. Indi Young’s second book addresses the value of empathy and gives practical ways in which to apply it to every facet of your life. Her first book on understanding users to map solutions to challenges is also a great read.
6.Hidden in Plain Sights: How to Create Extraordinary Products for Tomorrow’s Customers by Jan Chipcase
As Jan Chipcase mentioned, often our line of work is considered exotic and adventurous. This book unfolds many such adventurous stories from different parts of the world. This book teaches how to do observations in people’s natural settings, and draw insights from a chaotic world.
7. 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People( Voices That Matter) by Susan Weinschenk:
Though the book seems designer- led, it is also necessary for a UX researcher to know the behaviour of the people. This book explores the psychology of design. You’ll learn about how people think, how do they decide, what motivates them to click or purchase or whatever it is you want them to do? What grabs their attention, what errors they will make and why, as well as other things that will help you as a researcher know them better.
8. Observing The User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide To User Research by Elizabeth Goodman, Mike Kuniavsky and Andrea Moed:
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.
9. Emotional Design: Why we love (or Hate) Everyday Things by Don Norman:
This book mainly covers how emotions have a crucial role in the human ability to understand the world, influence decision making and how they learn new things. The book focuses on the design of an object and how it is perceived on various levels, and how any product should evoke an emotion when the user is interacting with the product. Emotional Design focuses on how a product should be designed but is also a great read to understand User Experience.
10. Just Enough Research by Erika Hall:
This is a great easy to read book that underlines the importance of research. The author outlines what makes research effective and provides different methods on how to conduct user research. A short book with just 154 pages, it is a great starting point for learning how to incorporate UX research into your process.
