UX design is one of the hottest growth areas on the web. Evolving and getting better to design great user experiences is critical.
There are 100’s of books out there ready and willing to help UX designers and developers get to the next level.
UX design is not about one book or one resource. It is a huge and complex topic – it is about psychology, sociology and design. The field also requires tactical skills, such as user research, usability testing, create interactive wireframes or prototypes.
Below is a list of my favorite reads, ranging from the traditional user experience stories to those focused on user behavior, psychology, marketing, and design concepts.
These 15 books are must-reads for anyone on a journey to become a badass UX designer.
The Design of Everyday Things – DON NORMAN
If you can choose just one book about design, UI, usability, and caring about users — This is that book.
Buy on Amazon
Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited – STEVE KRUG
Don’t Make Me Think so essential to Web designers and developers around the world. This is a longstanding classic in the UX Design field.
Buy on Amazon
Badass: Making Users Awesome – KATHY SIERRA
A smart, fast read on helping users become badass not just at using your product, but at whatever it is your product can help them do and be.
Buy on Amazon
About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design – COOPER, REIMANN, CRONIN, NOESSEL
About Face 3 is a great intro to UX Design and will show you how to design the best possible digital products and services.
Buy on Amazon
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People – SUSAN WEINSCHENK
This book combines real science and research with practical examples to deliver a guide every designer needs.
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The Elements of User Experience – JESSE JAMES GARRETT
This book cuts through the complexity of user-centered design for the Web with clear explanations and vivid illustrations.
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The UX Book – REX HARTSON AND PARDHA PYLA
This book will be useful to anyone interested in learning more about creating interaction designs to ensure a quality user experience.
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Evil by Design – CHRIS NODDER
Approaching persuasive design from the dark side, this book melds psychology, marketing, and design concepts to show why we’re susceptible to certain persuasive techniques.
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A Project Guide to UX Design – RUSS UNGER AND CAROLYN CHANDLER
If you are a young designer entering or contemplating entering the UX field this is a canonical book.
Buy on Amazon
Seductive Interaction Design – STEPHEN P. ANDERSON
In Seductive Interaction Design, speaker and author Stephen P. Anderson takes a fresh approach to designing sites and interactions based on the stages of seduction.
Buy on Amazon
The User Experience Team of One – LEAH BULEY
This Design Survival Guide presents a very structured and stylized approach to web design with an entire focus on the user experience.
Buy on Amazon
The Best Interface Is No Interface – GOLDEN KRISHNA
In this amusing, smart, and brave case against our screen-based world, Golden Krishna reinforces his position as one of the world’s foremost thinkers of user experience design.
Buy on Amazon
Design for Hackers – DAVID KADAVY
David Kadavy uses this “reverse-engineering” process in Design for Hackers to deconstruct classical design principles and techniques for web designers.
Buy on Amazon
Smashing UX Design – JESMOND ALLEN AND JAMES CHUDLEY
Smashing UX Design provides web designers and developers with all the tools, techniques, and practical, hands-on guidance they need to make their lives easier.
Buy on Amazon
UX Strategy – JAIME LEVY
This UX Strategy book stands out in the UX field as a much-needed and very practically-minded bridging of business strategy and UX design.
Buy on Amazon
Your UX design education is never complete. So call off your search and get into the UX mindset with these 15 UX Design books mentioned here. Pick a book and put your newly found UX skills to work.
Have I missed your favourite book off my list? Remind me about it in the comments!