top reads for UX-ers

Classics, used textbooks and newer releases on user-centered design, design methodologies, creativity and behavioral science. Here's a list of my top picks.

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1. Mastery

By Robert Greene

Temple Grandin, Martha Graham, Henry Ford, Buckminster Fuller. Profiles in pursuing, acquiring and achieving creative excellence.

2. Product Management for UX People: From Designing to Thriving in a Product World

By Cristian Crumlish

An ideal cross-trainer for understanding the road mapping process, launch planning and cross team development. Christian Crumlish demystifies product management for UX practitioners who want to understand, partner with, and even consider adding product managment to their skill set.

3. ENGAGED: Designing for Behavioral Change by Amy Bucher

Buy at Thriftbooks

Wonderfully practical, this book outlines the impact of the behaviors on design and some excellent tips you apply to benefit your design process. It's both high level overview of the impact of behavior science and also a step by step guide for apply behavioral science to market research and UX design, with real world examples. A must-read for experience design practitioners, digital media creators and marketers.

4. The Design Thinking Playbook: Mindful Digital Transformation of Teams, Products, Services, Businesses and Ecosystems 1st Edition / Kindle

by Michael Lewrick (Author), Patrick Link (Author) Buy on Amazon

Practical frameworks, real-world solutions, and radical innovation wrapped in a whole new outlook give you the power to mindfully lead to new heights. From systems and operations to people, projects, culture, digitalization, and beyond, this invaluable mind shift paves the way for organizations—and individuals—to do great things.

5. Experience Required: How to Become a UX Leader

Robert Hoekman Jr. Buy on Amazon

For all the resources on great design, there is almost nothing on how to be a great design professional. For all the schools and classes and workshops on what constitutes a good user experience, there is not one bit of formalized education on how to earn the respect of your team and get your recommendations out the door.

6. The Design Thinking Toolbox

by Michael Lewrick (Author), Patrick Link (Author), Larry Leifer (Author) Kindle Edition Buy on Amazon

If you an educator as well as a working creative professional you HAVE to add this book to your library. In a world were we desperately need our students and junior designers to be problem solvers, Michael Cohen offers a master class on infusing design thinking and creativity into your classroom and teamwork. I couldn't recommend this book more.

7. Design Thinking for Business Growth: How to Design and Scale Business Models and Business Ecosystems (Design Thinking Series) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Michael Lewrick (Author)  Format: Kindle Edition

Buy on Amazon

A fresh approach to design thinking for the development of business ecosystems. Contains critical design methods and tools you’ll need to make your own ecosystem a success including case studies, strategic thinking, developing the midset for growth. Some excellent exercises in ideation, innovative thinking, and product management.

8. Coaching with Design Thinking: The creative process for innovators, and champions of transformation and change

Kindle Edition

by Jon Elejabeitia (Author), Sylvia Marín (Translator)

A practical framework for using design thinking (DT) along with its multiple tools and understanding its conceptual importance and its power to achieve surprising results. Each one of the five stages of DT arrange the coaching process for collaborating with the client in the achievement of their objectives. If you already have some type of coaching qualification and you have been practicing for some time, you will be familiar with the previous steps and you will be able skip directly to savoring the material.

9. Laws of UX: Using Psychology to Design Better Products & Services

by Jon Yablonski (Author)

To-read list / free listen on Audible

A practical guide for reconciling designs with business goals and justifying our design decisions based on user needs.

Recommend by UX guru Zander Whitehurst, who called it "a bangin' read for anyone struggling to communicate their design to non-designers."

10. Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Design

By Robert Hoekman Jr.

Buy on Amazon

A rare treasure I carried around for half my career, this second edition of Designing the Obvious explains why and how to design applications that are so easy to use that people attribute their ability to use them effectively to pure common sense.. You'll make design decisions based not on whim, but on strategy, and build only what's absolutely necessary; reduce and refine task flows to make the complex clear, and design not for users, but for their situations. Most of all you'll design persuasively by helping users make decisions that align with their needs.

11. POP!: Create the Perfect Pitch, Title, and Tagline for Anything Kindle Edition

by Sam Horn (Author)  Buy on Amazon

I received a signed copy at San Horn's workshop on how to communicate an idea so that it catches fire in people's imaginations, creates excitement, and fuels change and innovation. Popular author, consultant, and workshop leader Sam Horn identifies what makes an idea, message, or product break out, and presents a simple and proven process. POP! (Purposeful, Original, Pithy) is a must-read to create one-of-a-kind ideas, products, and messages that pop through the noise, off the shelf, and into consumers imaginations.

12. Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights 2nd Edition

by Steve Portigal (Author), Jamika D. Burge PhD (Foreword)

Buy at Thriftbooks

I re-read this title every year. Both a tactical and strategic guide to gathering insights from which to create value-drven products and design intelligently for the customer funnel.

13. Practical Empathy for Collaboration and Creativity in Your Work

by Indi Young

Buy at Thriftbooks Empathy in process centric because it focuses on the people who will use

our products. This book provides guidance for gathering and comparing

thought patterns and perspectives toward making better design, strategy and collaborative decisions.

14. Time Management for the Creative Person

Lee Silber

Buy at Thriftbooks

Originality doesn’t follow a time clock, even when you have to. This book offers time saving solutions such as:

* Saying no when your plate is just too full

* Knowing when a good job, not a great one, is good enough

* Making “to do” lists that include fun stuff, too—that way you won’t feel overwhelmed by work

* Time-saving techniques around for working from home

* The keys to clutter control that will keep your work space and your living space neat

15. Validating Product Ideas Through Lean User Research

by Sharon Tomer

Buy at Thriftbooks

Answers to your most burning questions about your customers. With step-by-step guidance, Validating Product Ideas shows you how to tackle the research to build the best possible product experiences.

16. The User's Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love

by Donna Lichaw

Buy at Thriftbooks

In my opinion the best book out there on designing user journeys through stories.. Shows you how, when, and why to use narrative structure, technique, and principles to ideate, craft, and test a cohesive vision for an engaging outcome. See how a “story first” approach can transform your product, feature, landing page, flow, campaign, content, or product strategy.

17. Prototyping: A Practical Guide

By Todd Zaki Warfel

Buy on Amazon How to communicate your thinking around the customer experience and demonstrate the functional use of your designs.! Older publication, still great for it's presentation ideas.