Experts Tell Us the Best Books on UX Strategy

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2 years ago
This article showcases our top picks for the Books On UX Strategy. We reached out to industry leaders and experts who have contributed the suggestions within this article (they have been credited for their contributions below). We are keen to hear your feedback on all of our content and our comment section is a moderated space to express your thoughts and feelings related (or not) to this article This list is in no particular order.

UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques by Jaime Levy

This product was recommended by Eduarda de Paula from Coupon Hunt

The book has 10 chapters. Chapter 1 involves what UX strategy and product strategy are. Chapter 2 establishes the UX strategy structure that will form all the tools and techniques in this book. Chapters 3 through 9 instructs the readers how to execute product strategy techniques. And finally, Chapter 10 concludes everything up with a brief closure. UX Strategy reveals what to do before designing and coding, as well as market research, validating business ideas, prototyping, user research, and more. This book addresses the large knowledge gap between product design and business strategy. Providing a much better chance of a successful digital product is what this book is all about. It teaches how to specifically invent innovative products and takes you through numerous profound techniques that you can apply regardless of your work environment. The author discusses real life examples and arguments that can be applied, tested and developed. It is a book with strong explanations of what business owners should and should not do in phases of discovery as in many years of UX experience. This book also tackles step by step approaches in applying different methodologies.

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Eyal Nir

This product was recommended by James Diel from Textel

We see businesses fail all the time, but Hooked helps you understand how poor UX contributes to those product flops. This book is a no-nonsense guide to better UX success, using the Hook Model to design technology patterns for that “can’t get your product out of their head” effect. Eyal shows how real companies, including the likes of Twitter and Pinterest, have found success with the model through years of research and practical experience.

UX on the Go: A Flexible Guide to User Experience Design by Andrew Mara

This product was recommended by Cindy Corpis from SearchPeopleFree

This purpose-driven book, designed with flexibility and readers’ requirements in mind, provides novice UX practitioners with brief and detailed instructions on how to perform user research and design interfaces and products quickly in the classroom or at work.This detailed guide describes the process of a User Experience project cycle, from organizing a team to investigating user needs to designing and validating a prototype, with 16 challenges to learn from.

Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles By Jeff Gothelf

This product was recommended by Stephen Light from Nolah Mattress

The Lean UX approach to interaction design is tailor-made for today’s web-driven reality. In this insightful book, leading advocate Jeff Gothelf teaches you valuable Lean UX principles, tactics, and techniques from the ground up—how to rapidly experiment with design ideas, validate them with real users, and continually adjust your design based on what you learn. Lean UX is the ultimate guidebook for designers looking to design UX that best fits users. They show you how to take the steps to thoroughly research your users and test UX principles, designing around what you know rather than making best guesses in the meeting room. Their focus on solving user problems rather than adding flashy features will have you building UX around what matters most—functionality for your users, rather than for prestige.

UX for Beginners: A practical handbook on the space of user experience design and strategy by Joanna Ngai

This product was recommended by Stella Scott from EasyPaydayLoan

This book is a practical handbook on the space of user experience design and strategy for beginners. It covers topics relating to UX, such as understanding your users and defining their needs, UX research, personas and screener surveys. The author expresses that this book is intended for those who are new to UX design or those who may be interested in getting a refresher on the fundamentals of the field. This book is a good read for beginners as it touches on the basic topics of UX and most importantly, includes real life situations like how to conduct a user experience evaluation of a product or service. It is well-written and has lots of practical examples. The case studies in this book could be used as references for future projects.

Hands-On UX Design for Developers By Elvis Canziba

This product was recommended by Maria Saenz from FastTitleLoans

This book will cover everything from the history of design, to choosing tools and toolsets, to building your wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. This book covers the basics of user experience design for developers. It provides a step-by-step process for designing anything from a button design to an entire app or website. You’ll learn how to use Sketch and Photoshop alongside cloud services like Sketch Cloud and PS Cloud Pro as well as some React Native tools like Expo and Nodera so that you can prototype right in your browser. The book is structured around the idea of simply moving through the process as you go. Whether you’re new to design or a seasoned veteran, this book will show you how to design something from scratch and get it out of your head and onto your screen. Throughout the challenges, each chapter concludes with an exercise you can tackle to start learning more about user experience for developers.

Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability By Steve Krug

This product was recommended by Ridho from DesignUserInterface

If you want to make sure your website is easy to use and loved by users, you need to read this book! Don’t Make Me Think is a book about how to make websites that are easy and enjoyable for people(users) to use. It’s based on the author’s years of experience as a usability consultant, and it’s full of practical advice that you can apply to your website. You’ll learn how to get rid of the clutter and confusion that often makes web pages difficult to navigate. You’ll also find out how to design web pages that are visually appealing and easy to use. And best of all, you don’t need any special skills or knowledge – just read this book, and you’ll be able to create simple, straightforward, and user-friendly websites.

Think Like a UX Researcher By David Travis

This product was recommended by Jonathan Zacks from GoReminders

Travis has presented his book in such a way that it can either be read cover to cover or kept as a handbook for any user experience researcher. He doesn’t teach you the basic concepts but instead shows how he has applied them and the research behind them. Complex ideas are presented in a concise and understandable way. The numerous case studies guide us through every aspect of the role from planning and conducting your analysis to getting everyone on board.

Strategic Writing for UX By Torrey Podmajersky

This product was recommended by James Chapman from Bella Bathrooms

If you’re thinking about getting into UX writing, this book should be your first read. You’ll learn about different voices and it even comes with a voice chart you can use as a template for developing voice guidelines for your own team. I particularly like the section on what to do during the first 30, 60, and 90 days to earn trust and lay the groundwork for effective UX writing. It’s straightforward, useful, encouraging, and easy to follow.

Get Agile!: Scrum for UX, Design & Development By Pieter Jongerius

This product was recommended by Madilyn Hill from Truepersonfinder

Scrum is a top-notch project management tool allowing people with various skill sets to strategize together. This essential manual is targeted at everyone who works on interactive products in a development and design environment, which contains all the basic details needed for getting started with the project management method scrum. However, it also provides a number of in-depth chapters looking at topics that even the most experienced scrummers have getting issued with on a regular basis.

A Project Guide to UX Design By Russ Unger

This product was recommended by Jason Cordes from CocoLoan

Creating a functional and useable Web site or application that fits the needs of both the site owner and the users is called user experience design. But there’s more to good UX design than cutting-edge web technologies and design trends: It takes tact, project management, and business acumen. This book fills that void. Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler teach you to use UX principles throughout your project.

Killer UX Design By Jodie Moule

This product was recommended by Jason Cordes from CocoLoan

How to Apply a UX Process to Your Projects? This book is for you. The goal is to make UX design concepts accessible and easy to try out. In this sense, this book is targeted UX newbies rather than seasoned pros. Those with some UX experience may be interested in how we tackled design difficulties.

Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works By Ash Maurya

This product was recommended by Steven Walker from Spylix

Based on his own experience producing high-tech and low-tech goods, Ash Maurya walks you through a precise method for attaining product/market fit for your nascent firm. He draws on novel approaches like Lean Startup, Customer Development, and bootstrapping throughout. The Running Lean book is a great resource for business owners and managers who want to establish their businesses.

Information Design By Robert Jacobson

This product was recommended by Emma Gordon from USSalvageYards

I had to come up with strategies to formally approach and defend what we were doing as I progressed into managing teams. I began studying methods, attending seminars, and reading. I made notes about principles and practices that I still retain today, and I still use many of them in some form or another. Information Design, edited by Robert Jacobson, was one of the smartest books I read at the time. I still use the term information design on a daily basis. It’s a layer between the user interface and the information architecture, in my opinion. However, it’s an older practice area founded on library science that stimulates a lot of reflection and gives a lot to learn. This book contains a compilation of articles, papers, and essays written by a number of different authors.Richard Saul Wurman writes the foreword, and it only gets better from there, as Robert Jacobson edits the collection into a narrative that conceals its anthological origin.

The Design of Everyday Things By Don Norman

This product was recommended by Vincent from Notta

This book is considered an all-time classic in the field of user experience design. Every UX designer should read this book. This book, written by Don Norman in 1988, is still relevant today. Its goal is to teach you the fundamentals of creating useful and enjoyable products. The concept of affordances is one of these ideas. This is a true UX 101 topic that every designer should be aware of. Introduction to user-centered design, the Norman Door, and design thinking are other key topics. To put it another way, read this UX gem! The Design of Everyday Things describes how design serves as a link between an object and its users. It explains how smart design may make users’ interactions with objects more joyful. This book underwent a big upgrade in 2013 after its initial release. As a result, the book is relevant for today’s UX designers.

Building Design Strategy By Thomas Lockwood

This product was recommended by Emilia Flores from UKBadCreditLoans

I recommend this book because you will learn how design can be used to solve business problems. Topics explore the full range of issues today, including adapting to challenges, developing tangible strategies and using design to create fiercely loyal customers.

Designing Visual Interfaces By Kevin Mullet

This product was recommended by Cayla Thurman from Rize Reviews

A UX book I’m recommending is Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques (Kevin Mullet). The examples are stunning even though it’s from 1995, and the emphasis is on designing interfaces. Although the examples are so dated, they are easy to understand, and most of the same principles still apply today. Its unique strength is that it shows examples of both good and bad interface design side by side. This is such a powerful book, and it’s a must-read for anyone who wants to know about UX design principles and practices.

Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics By Bill Albert

This product was recommended by Stewart Dunlop from Linkbuilder

Technology has made UX easier than ever, and this book focuses on recent technology changes that have made analyzing UX easier than ever. Tullis and Albert explore neuro-marketing and how it pertains to online markets. They break down tips to appease stakeholders and business leaders. It also contains case studies and actionable steps that can help you land some serious users.

David Friedland

Bit of a gear addict.

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