Top 14 UI Design Books Every Designer Should Read

With high-intensity training and good resources, it is possible to start off as a novice UX designer. However, like every profession, UX design also takes further research and constant self-improvement. Whether you are a UX writer, UX designer, copywriter, product manager, even straight-up the CEO of a business; this book has a lot to offer in terms of practice and inspiration. Whether you are ui ux design books a UX writer, a UX designer working on UX writing, or the poor developer above, here are great books on UX writing to get your writing top-notch. The book takes a step-by-step approach and considers every possibility you might come across when working on a new product; it even has a chapter on building a better team. That’s someone you listen to when it is user experience we’re talking about.

  • You’ll learn how to create intuitive controls for settings, mute buttons, email notifications, and more.
  • If you are already familiar with UX design and want to figure out ways to effectively make UX writing a part of your workflows and projects, this is a must-read.
  • Gothelf’s work encourages you to reflect on your role within the organization and the overall UX strategy.
  • Refactoring UI will teach you how to design beautiful user interfaces by yourself using specific tactics explained from a developer’s point-of-view.

As a content creator, I love Google, but I don’t need to read about them in every book of this genre. Whether you’re looking for your first product design job or to accelerate your career into a more senior role, this book has something for you. Not because it’s revolutionary but because it presents solid knowledge without pretension. Today, much of the equipment and software recommended in this book has been replaced by usability testing software, like Useberry. Most people who read this book say they wish they had read it earlier.

#3. Designing products people love by Scott Hurff

If you come across any other useful books for UI design that should included on this list, let us know! It’s a useful resource for modern UI design and includes great advice on how to design with color, typography, and how to combine typefaces. In 2021, he released Landing Page Hot Tips with 100 actionable lessons and 200+ landing page resources for creating perfect landing pages. It contains multiple visual references and external resources and has a fully interactive launch checklist. Landing Page Hot Tips by Rob Hope is an insanely good investment for strengthening your web design skills. Rob runs a popular web design curation site and newsletter called One Page Love, and knows a thing or two about what makes a good landing page.

ui ux books

You’d then prefer books that propose a new understanding of UI design or books to refresh your memory. Designing Interfaces showcased those best practices as design patterns — solutions to common design problems, tailored to the situation at hand. Each pattern contains practical advice, recommendations, and design alternatives that you can use to create effective web designs. It also features a variety of examples illustrated in full color.

Build Better Products: A Modern Approach to Building Successful User-Centered Products by Laura Klein

We’ve picked out the best of the best and regularly update this post. Jeff Johnson wrote Designing with the Mind in Mind to help the next generation(s) of users understand the cognitive psychology behind these rules so they can apply them more effectively and thoughtfully in UX design. Some of the design best practices may be a little out of date today, but About Face is still a wealth of information for user experience best practices in design. Universal Principles of Design is also featured on our list of the the best books for UI design.

ui ux books

It will help the reader create apps and websites, as well as products, that will match the way people behave, decide and think. It focuses on the psychology behind how users behave and interact with interfaces. One of the most valuable skills for any UX designer is to create intuitive human-centered experiences. It mixes psychology and UX research with real-life examples to help you understand your users on a deeper level. Hooked is written by Israeli-born bestselling author Nir Eyal with a contribution from Ryan Hoover. Hooked synthesizes Eyal’s expertise gleaned through many years studying human psychology and UX research.

Best UI/UX Books that Every Designer Should Read

The Visual History of Type by Paul McNeil was originally published in 2017 and traces the evolution of typeface design over the last 200 years. It’s a fascinating read, but also a great primer on typography and how typefaces and fonts are designed and used in modern design. How to Design Better UI Components 3.0 focuses specifically on UI design. When we purchased this ebook in March 2024, it was 197 pages and growing (typography, copywriting, and accessibility chapters are still to come). This e-book by web designer Tom Kenny provides an in-depth analysis of high-quality web designs.

Hall covers a wide range of topics and offers useful methods for better and faster research. Giles Colborne presents four strategies (remove, hide, organize and displace) to achieve this simplicity. The book emphasizes that products that are the simplest to use often win customers. The book emphasizes the value of practice, empathy, curiosity, an abundance of ideas, and resilience in fostering creativity. It encourages the reader to view the world with fresh eyes and adopt an “abundance mentality.” You must treat creativity as a flexible muscle that benefits from regular exercise and teamwork. If your main objective is keeping up with the latest news and trends in the world of UX, then UX Magazine is a good place to start.

Best Books to get in the mindset

But even it is an old book and many designers would say the web has changed so much from 2013, there are a lot of people still saying it should be read by anyone working on web designing. After 8 years of crafting the next generation’s web design tools, UI Kits, Admin Dashboards, and Mobile App Templates, Creative Tim decided to write this UI/UX book guide based on their experience. This book is all about real-world examples, a historical perspective, and a holistic approach to design. In order to help you make more informed design decisions in the future, it grounds you in the fundamental essentials of interactive design to improve your UX design awareness. This is a beginner’s practical guide to communicating visually through graphic, web, and multimedia design. It features expanded sections on Gestalt theory, color theory, and WET layout.

ui ux books

He focuses on functional aspects of design rather than form, offering concrete examples to improve usability and enhance the user experience. And last, but not least, a selection of 6 great books for UX designers with experience. Here you will find essential classics, books on designing with data, microinteractions, UX for XD, conversational analysis, and the 5-second rules guide. The fact that some products and services become essential for users is not accidental.

Laws of UX: Design Principles for Persuasive and Ethical Products

This entire edition focuses on the agile UX lifecycle process explained in the funnel model of agile UX, as a better match to the standard agile approach to software engineering. When you try to understand your user or stakeholder – you should hone your conversational skills and learn how to perceive information, how to empathize and collaborate. Stay confident about stakeholders wishes, edits and micro details that can be forgotten in the groin of the development cycle. How not to drop most influential deliverables of your research and connect all the dots in perfect documentation of a project – arm yourself with this book and achieve your Zen.

ui ux books

Now when you believe design is your thing, it’d be helpful to shadow experienced designers at work to gain some practical insights. These planes cover both the abstract and concrete aspects of user experience design. Each plane is based on the decisions made on the plane below while influencing the planes above.

In around 500 pages, Tidwell does a great job of explaining common product design patterns and design terminology. Whether you’re a designer or not, this book is a great way to gain a new understanding and appreciation for the design of everyday objects. In “User Friendly”, Kuang and Fabricant set out to cover the evolution of user-friendliness and its impact on our lives. The first is to tell the history of user-friendliness in a serious yet engaging fashion. The biggest problem with this book is that it could be much-MUCH shorter. Otherwise, it’s still relevant and a staple in the product design community.

ui ux books

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