Reading
The best way to learn is by doing, but it would be remiss of me if I didn’t list some of the books that have helped contextualise what I do.
If you want to deepen your understanding of interaction design, service design, research, business, leadership, and more, here’s a reading list to get you started. I’ve been selective with the list, not exhaustive; time is precious.
If you have any suggestions of what to add, get in touch.
Interaction design
- About Face by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin and Christopher Noessel
- Conversational Design by Erika Hall
- Design Systems by Alla Kholmatova
- Designing for Interaction by Dan Saffer
- Designing for the Digital Age by Kim Goodwin
- Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge
- Form Design Patterns by Adam Silver
- The Inmates Are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper
- Universal Methods of Design by Bella Martin and Bruce Hanington
- Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler
Service design
- Closing the loop by Sheryl Cababa
- Design Journeys through Complex Systems by Peter Jones and Kristel Van Ael
- Good Services by Lou Downe
- Service Design by Andy Polaine, Lavrans Løvlie and Ben Reason
- The Service Organization by Kate Tarling
- Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
- This Is Service Design Doing by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Edgar Hormess, Adam Lawrence and Jakob Schneider
- This Is Service Design Methods by Marc Stickdorn, Markus Edgar Hormess, Adam Lawrence and Jakob Schneider
- This is Service Design Thinking by Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider
Design thinking
- Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
- Change by Design by Tim Brown
- Design Thinking by Thomas Lockwood
- Design Thinking by Nigel Cross
- Exposing the Magic of Design by Jon Kolko
- Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo
- The Design of Business by Roger Martin
- Universal Methods of Design by Bella Martin and Bruce Hanington
Content
- Content Design by Sarah Richards
- Content Everywhere by Sara Wachter-Boettcher
- Content Strategy for Mobile by Karen McGrane
- Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach
- Conversational Design by Erika Hall
- Lead with Content by Padma Gillen
- Letting Go of the Words by Janice Redish
- The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane
Research
- About Face by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin and Christopher Noessel
- Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology by Peter Harris
- Designing for the Digital Age by Kim Goodwin
- Exposing the Magic of Design by Jon Kolko
- Handbook of Usability Testing by Jeffrey Rubin and Dana Chisnell
- Interviewing Users by Steve Portigal
- Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
- Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert
- Observing the User Experience by Mike Kuniavsky, Elizabeth Goodman and Andrea Moed
- Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods by Michael Quinn Patton
- Quantifying the User Experience by Jeff Sauro and James Lewis
- Talking to Humans by Giff Constable
- The Art of Scientific Investigation by W.I.B. Beveridge
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
- Think Like a UX Researcher by David Travis and Philip Hodgson
- Usability Inspection Methods by Jakob Nielsen and Robert L. Mack
- User Research by Stephanie Marsh
- Validating Product Ideas by Tomer Sharon
Psychology
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk
- Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology by Peter Harris
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi
- Human Error by James Reason
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
- Persuasive Technology by B.J. Fogg
- The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
- The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin
- The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Business
- Building Successful Communities of Practice by Emily Webber
- Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
- Closing the loop by Sheryl Cababa
- Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
- Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
- Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
- Design Journeys through Complex Systems by Peter Jones and Kristel Van Ael
- Design Thinking by Thomas Lockwood
- Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo
- Just Enough Research by Erika Hall
- Org Design for Design Orgs by Peter Merholz and Kristin Skinner
- Radical Focus by Christina Wodtke
- The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley
- The Design of Business by Roger Martin
- The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier
- The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf
- Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
- Value Proposition Design by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernada and Alan Smith
Innovation
- Change by Design by Tim Brown
- Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
- Design Thinking by Nigel Cross
- Insight Out by Tina Seelig
- The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley
- The Designful Company by Marty Neumeier
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Leadership
- Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
- Radical Candor by Kim Scott
- Resilient Management by Lara Hogan
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- The Leader’s Journey by Donna Lichaw
- The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo