12 Books That I Recommend for UX/UI Design Students

Written By Begum Oral

To excel as a UX/UI designer, four key skills need to be developed and honed: 

  • Critical thinking helps you solve problems within teams

  • Communication is essential to understand and communicate ideas to the teams, especially in cross-functional environments

  • Collaboration is vital for teams, but not every team does it well, and the results can often be weak. UX is a team sport, and everyone needs to put in time and effort to complete projects successfully

  • Creativity helps us brainstorm effectively and produce high-quality work

After I switched to UX/UI design, I read several books on design, business, and psychology, and I wanted to compile a list of my favourite books and share it with our bootcamp students and those who are new to the field of UX. So, here are some of the books I can recommend so far, and they’ll help you improve four key skills and others.  

 

1- How to Speak Tech

This book is highly recommended for those who have little or no experience in the tech industry because it will help you understand the technical jargon used in the tech and startup industry, which will enable you to communicate effectively with your team members, including developers, product managers, and other designers. 

 

2- The Design of Everyday Things

"The Design of Everyday Things" is a classic book on design that was first published in 1988 by Don Norman, an expert in design, usability engineering, and cognitive science, and many beginners start with this one. The book was revised in 2013 and discusses simple rules for creating good and usable designs that offer positive experiences to users.

 

3- Lean UX

Lean UX is based on the principles of Lean and Agile development and teaches valuable Lean UX concepts and techniques, such as how to quickly experiment with design ideas, validate them with real users, and make adjustments based on feedback. Additionally, the book explains how to work closely with other members of the product team and gather feedback frequently.

 

4- Solving Product Design Exercises

This one is a phenomenal book that helps you prepare for the design interviews and practice whiteboard challenges to ace design interviews. Whiteboard challenges can be tricky, and you need to be able to solve the challenge within the given time with the hiring manager, so I can easily recommend this book to every design student willing to practice design challenges and present them effectively during interviews.

 

5- Articulating Design Decisions

I  listened to the audio version of this book that provided valuable tips on how to effectively communicate our ideas and solutions to stakeholders and clients who may not have the time to understand every step of our process or the technical details. The book emphasizes the importance of proper documentation and presenting our work in a clear and engaging manner by using data to support our points and empathizing with the audience. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to improve their communication skills in professional settings.

 

6- Sprint

Design sprints are 5-day process that enables teams to solve design-related issues. Typically, the process starts with research and then moves on to synthesis, ideation, prototyping, and testing solutions on users. During my time at a boot camp, I was part of a design sprint, and reading a particular book like this helped me better understand the sprint steps and made the process even more clear for me.

 

7- Draw to Win

Are you switching your career to UX/UI design but worried that your lack of drawing skills will hold you back from creating sketches? As someone who struggles with drawing, I highly recommend this book that teaches you how to effectively visualize and communicate your ideas through simple sketches. It also emphasizes that the focus is not on creating perfect drawings but rather on how to transfer your ideas to paper in the most logical and straightforward ways, and it's a fun book!

 

8- Steal Like an Artist

That's another interesting and fun book full of visuals for creators who are keen to learn how to get inspiration from others' work professionally. The book is called "Steal Like an Artist", but the idea of stealing here means finding and innovating an existing idea or solution.

 

9- Show Your Work

Imagine that you have recently completed your design education or a bootcamp and have created a portfolio showcasing your projects, case studies, and creative work. Your next goal is to present your work to the world! However, it's not always easy to have the confidence to share and discuss your work, especially when imposter syndrome affects new designers heavily. But this book will help to make that process more comfortable and smooth.

 

10- Ask Powerful Questions

This book was recommended by one of my instructors, as he always emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions during user interviews or even simple conversations. The book focuses on five steps, including intention, rapport, openness, listening, and empathy to start meaningful conversations and build relationships.

 

11- Thinking with Type 

Typography is super important in visual design because it influences how the users perceive the written content: it gives a significant touch to design and contributes to branding. This book teaches about typography and how to use it well in design, and it's a great guide for designers, students, writers, and others working with words.

 

12- Designing Your Life

We all learn about design thinking during our studies and keeping things human-centric. Have you ever thought about applying this approach to our personal lives instead of just limiting it to our professional lives? This book explains how design thinking can help us create a meaningful and fulfilling life, regardless of background, profession, or age. Enjoy reading it while you're dreaming and planning your ideal life!