Reading books is a must for UX designers looking to elevate their work and UX design process.At Bonanza Design, when onboarding new UX design team members, we provide them with our curated selection of must-read UX books. Each book in this collection plays a valuable role in shaping the design decisions of our UX designers and reinforcing the design principles.These books on user experience design present remarkable and groundbreaking ideas that benefit every creative problem solver, whether a newbie or an experienced designer. So, let's dive into our list of best UX books to read!
User Experience Design Books: 5 Best UX Design Books You Must Read in 2023
Here's the list of best books for UX design practices to help you expand your horizons in the UX design field. Each of these UX design books provide valuable insights into things every designer needs to know.
HACKING GROWTH
Author: Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown
This bestselling business book remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in growth hacking methodology. It emphasizes the need for innovative, data-driven approaches in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.Ideal for startups, product managers, and marketers, this book offers insights on how to effectively grow a business. It guides readers through a dynamic process that facilitates fast-paced expansion and the cultivation of a loyal customer base.Moreover, UX designers seeking to grasp the mechanisms behind a business's exponential growth will find this book essential. By delving into its pages, they can gain a deeper understanding of the strategies employed by successful companies in reaching their goals.
“Think of the Growth Hacking methodology as doing for market-share growth what Lean Start-Up did for product development, and Scrum did for productivity. It involves cross-functional teams and rapid-tempo testing and iteration that focuses customers: attaining them, retaining them, engaging them, and motivating them to come back and buy more. “ -Sean Ellis
THE LEAN STARTUP
Author: Eric Ries
This is a practical, lean UX design book for startup businesses on how to avoid mistakes and focus on customer-oriented results. Ries emphasizes the importance of building MVPs, conducting user testing and user research, and embracing iteration as the best UX design processes to achieve better results. He also introduces a process called the 5 Whys, which helps startups avoid common mistakes.
“The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute. “ Eric Ries
For UX designers, this book is fantastic. It teaches you how to validate business ideas in a scientific manner. Much of the content in this book will undoubtedly impact your work in one way or another.It guides you through a clear process of validating business ideas through research and testing. Don't miss this book, especially if you're a UX designer working in the startup scene.
CHANGE BY DESIGN
Author: Tim Brown
It's one of the best UX books that delves into the significance of design thinking, its principles, and its impact on the contemporary business world. It consists of two parts that focus on defining design thinking and highlighting its application in business. Tim Brown emphasizes that design thinking can benefit almost any problem. This approach involves adopting a flexible problem-solving methodology, combining convergent and divergent thinking, and prototyping solutions.
“This book introduces the idea of design thinking, the collaborative process by which the designer′s sensibilities and methods are employed to match people′s needs not only with what is technically feasible and a viable business strategy. In short, design thinking converts need into demand. It′s a human−centered approach to problem-solving that helps people and organizations become more innovative and more creative.” Tim Brown
This UX design book isn't only for designers seeking to enhance their understanding of UX. It's also a valuable book for anyone aiming to leverage design thinking to drive innovation and explore new avenues in business.As a UX designer, you'll repeatedly navigate the process of design thinking throughout your career in UX, and this book is an excellent resource to guide you throughout that. Reading this book expands your mindset and broadens your vision for your UX career.
SPRINT: HOW TO SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS AND TEST NEW IDEAS IN JUST FIVE DAYS
Author: Jake Knapp
A must-read book about UX design and game-changer for product teams on how to run sprints. "Sprint" is an excellent read with a practical approach to solving problems. This book provides numerous techniques and best practices for properly ideating solutions, developing prototypes, and testing with users. As a UX professional, this is the book you need to become a better UX designer.With this book on UX sprints, you'll learn a fantastic process for managing teamwork and increasing efficiency.
“Entrepreneurs and leaders face big questions every day: What’s the most important place to focus your effort, and how do you start? What will your idea look like in real life? How many meetings and discussions does it take before you can be sure you have the right solution? Now there’s a surefire way to answer these important questions: the sprint.” – Jake Knapp
BUILDING A STORY BRAND
Author: Donald Miller
Knowing how to communicate with users and write impactful copy is the Achilles' heel of a large part of the UX community. Often, you come across great UI design but poor copy. This book will help you in mastering the art of communication, a skill every designer needs to possess.Believe us, after reading this book, your interface design and prototypes will become significantly more engaging and relatable.
“Every day most business leaders make a mistake that costs them thousands to millions of dollars; they don’t explain clearly what it is their company does.People buy things because they read words that make them want to buy things, and the StoryBrand Framework makes talking about your brand simple and effective.This paradigm-shifting approach to connecting with customers gives you the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret to helping customers understand the benefits of using your products, ideas, or services.Building a StoryBrand does this by showing you how to capture your customer’s attention with clear, effective marketing messages.” – Donald Miller
PRODUCT INNOVATION GUIDEBOOK
Author: Behrad Mirafshar
Straight talk about product innovation is the main takeaway of this e-book. Behrad discusses the Bonanza Design thinking process, using actual UX projects and cases he has worked on. He shares his knowledge and experience in product design, innovation, and development. Through his techniques and expertise, he has helped many startups improve their business, and he shares all of that in this e-book about UX design.
“Our tried-and-tested process has been refined through several projects. By placing necessary constraints on research and validation procedures, we arrive at actionable insights that can seriously benefit your business.” Behrad
If you are a UX designer, this guidebook on UX design is for you. It will teach you how to validate your ideas, find the right process to improve your business, and create unique designs that offer great value to your users.
Conclusion
The books on UX design on this list serve as indispensable resources for UX designers seeking to elevate their design skills. By exploring the principles of design thinking and UX research, these books offer valuable insights that shape our approach to creating meaningful user experiences. They provide guidance on understanding user behavior, leveraging cognitive science, and applying design principles effectively.Incorporating the knowledge gained from these books into our practice empowers us to make informed decisions, solve complex problems, and deliver exceptional results. So, embrace the power of literature and let these books become your trusted companions on your journey towards becoming a better UX designer.Note: This article was originally published on July 2021 and updated on June 2023 reflect the current status of the market.