This recommended reading list is for anyone who wants to learn or deepen their knowledge in the disciplines of User Research, Usability, Information Architecture, User-Interface Design, Interaction Design, and Content Strategy experience Strategy.

The list is broad and includes books that exemplify design thinking, processes, methods, principles and best practices. Many of the books on this list are over 20 years old and yet they are still relevant more than ever.

Each book has influenced my perspective, made an impression and helped us to advance our craft. They have shaped the designers we are today and inspired the designer we will be tomorrow.

There’s not a day when we don’t find ourselves thinking and applying the ideas from these books. We hope that you too can extract the same value. 

Our Top Ten

1. The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman

2. About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Alan Cooper

3. The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond, Jesse James Garrett

4. Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World, Peter Merholz, Todd Wilkens, Brandon Schauer, David Verba

5. A Practical Guide to Information Architecture, Donna Spencer

6. Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning, Dan M. Brown

7. Designing Together: The collaboration and conflict management handbook for creative professionals, Dan M. Brown

8. Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences, Stephen Anderson

9. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, Susan Weinschenk

10. The Shape of Design, Frank Chimero

50 More Must-Reads On Thinking, Methods, Principles and Best Practices

We find it helpful to choose what to read based on what’s relevant at the time. Applying what you’re reading, as you’re thinking and making is a great way to solidify concepts, reflect and learn.

Some old, some new. All important reading, in no particular order.

• Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interactions, Bill Scott, Theresa Neil

• The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life), John Maeda

• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing for the Web and Beyond, Peter Morville, Louis Rosenfeld, Jorge Arango

• Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design, Bill Buxton

• Well Designed: How to Use Empathy to Create Products People Love, Jon Kolko

• Thoughts on Interaction Design by Jon Kolko

• Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind, Jocelyn K. Glei, 99u

• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Seth Godin

• Don’t Make Me Think AND Rocket Surgery Made Easy, Steve Krug

• Designing Interfaces, Jennifer Tidwell

• Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell

• Designing Interactions, Bill Moggridge

• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information AND Envisioning Information, Edward R. Tufte

• A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making, Russ Unger & Carolyn Chandler

• Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers, Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, James Macanufo

• Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior, Indi Young

• Practical Empathy: For Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work, Indi Young

• Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, Steve Portigal

• The Mobile Frontier: A Guide for Designing Mobile Experiences, Rachel Hinman

• Design Is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable, Nathan Shedroff

• The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide, Leah Buley

• Prototyping: A Practitioner’s Guide, Todd Zaki Warfel

• Making Meaning: How Successful Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences, Steve Diller, Nathan Shedroff, Darrel Rhea

• Content Strategy for the Web, by Kristina Halvorson, Melissa Rach

• Responsive Web Design, Ethan Marcotte

• Just Enough Research, Erika Hall

• Design Is A Job, Mike Monteiro

• Designing for Emotion, Aaron Walter

• Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics, by William Albert, Thomas Tullis

• Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills, David Sherwin

• Letting Go of The Words: Writing Web Content that Works, Janice (Ginny) Redish

• Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design, Robert Hoekman Jr

• Designing the Moment: Web Interface Design Concepts in Action, Robert Hoekman Jr

• Designing for the Social Web, Joshua Porter

• Undercover User Experience Design, Cennydd Bowles, James Box

• Product Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Web Products, Randy Hunt

• Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, by Ben Shneiderman, Catherine Plaisant, Maxine Cohen, Steven Jacobs

• This is Service Design Thinking: Basics, Tools, Cases, Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider

• Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform Audiences, Nancy Duarte

• Metaskills: 5 Talents for the Robotic Age, Marty Neumeier

• The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design, Marty Neumeier

• Getting Real AND Rework, 37 Signals, Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson

• Glut: Mastering Information through the Ages, Alex Wright

• The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems, Jef Raskin

• Designing with Web Standards, Jeffrey Zeldman, Ethan Marcotte

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

• Search Patterns: Design for Discovery, Peter Morville, Jeffery Callender

• Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, Don Norman

• Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? Susan Weinschenk

• Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services, Kim Goodwin

• A Web For Everyone, Sarah Horton, Whitney Quesenbery

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