These 38 books contain everything I learned in my UX Master’s degree (and more)
Except I read them through my professors’ slide deck
This list is my best attempt to replicate what I learned in my UX Master’s degree.
Why? I have been receiving a few messages recently in my LinkedIn inbox about UX — how do you start? Where do you start? I reflected back on my experience trying to decide the true north on a winding and weary journey that is becoming a UXer. I asked myself, “what truly made a difference”?
It was this: my expensive, time-consuming Master’s degree from San Jose State University, California.
Where do these recommendations come from? Some of these come from my own experience as a UX designer, and others come from professors, mentors, and peers. During my time as VP of the UX Student Club during my Master’s program, I accrued these recommendations from lecturers and from other students, as well as my own experience learning UX.
How to make the most of this list
Please remember that you don’t have to read every single book on this list. Some of these books are defined by their specialty or niche within the UX world — if there is something that you are particularly interested in, then you can build your own course from scratch!
Full Disclosure: Nothing in this article is an affiliate link. I added them for everyone’s benefit!
General User Experience & Human Factors
Set Phasers on Stun: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error by Steven Casey (1998)
The Atomic Chef: And Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error by Steven Casey (2006)
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (2011)
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal (2014)
Laws of UX by Jon Yablonski (2020)
Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity by Chris Risdon & Patrick Quattlebaum (2018)
This Human: How to Be the Person Designing for Other People by Melis Senova (2017)
Designing for People: An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering by John D. Lee, Christopher D. Wickens, Yili Liu, and Linda Ng Boyle (2017)
Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction by Helen Sharp, Jennifer Preece, and Yvonne Rogers (2019)
Engineering Psychology and Human Performance by Christopher Wickens, Justin Hollands, Simin Banbury and Raja Parasuraman (2012)
Start with Why by Simon Sinek (2009)
UX Design
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman (2013)
Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug (2013)
Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler (2010)
Computers as Theatre by Brenda Laurel (2013)
100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D. (2011)
About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, and Christopher Noessel (2014)
Microinteractions: Designing with Details by Dan Saffer (2013)
Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines by Jeff Johnson
UX Magic by Daniel Rosenberg (2020)
UX Research
Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights by Steve Portigal (2013)
Think Like a UX Researcher: How to Observe Users, Influence Design, and Shape Business Strategy by David Travis & Philip Hodgson (2019)
Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research: An Introduction by Margaret LeCompte and Jean Schensul (2010)
Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes by Robert Emerson, Rachel Fretz, and Linda Shae (2011)
UX Writing
Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience by Michael Metts, Andy Welfle, and Nick Madden (2020)
UXD Information Architecture
Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango (2015)
Data Visualization
Beautiful Visualization: Looking at Data Through the Eyes of Experts by Julie Steele and Noah Iliinsky (2010)
Information Dashboard Design: Displaying Data for At-a-glance Monitoring by Stephen Few (2013)
Story Mapping
The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products People Love by Donna Lichaw (2016)
User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product by Jeff Patton and Peter Economy (2014)
Accessibility
A Web for Everyone: Designing Accessible User Experiences by Sarah Horton, Whiten Quesenbery, and Aaron Gustafson (2014)
Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind by Regine Gilbert (2019)
Disability Visibility: First-person stories from the 21st century by Alice Wong (2020)
Healthcare
Error Reduction in Healthcare: A systems approach to Improving Patient Safety by Patrice Spath (2011)
Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience by Peter Jones (2013)
Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health by Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton (2022)
Ethical Design
Living in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places by Jorge Arango (2018)
Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It by Mike Monteiro (2019)
