Userability #11 – The Most Influential Books in UX
July 10th, 2009
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This week: The Most Influential Books in UX
Duration: 14m | 8 MB
Recorded: July, 2009
Brian Christiansen, UIE Podcast Producer
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This week a question from one of the world’s most well-read cities fittingly enquires about the must-read books in design.
Damon Dimmock of Cambridge, MA, asked,
If you had to recommend just three books on user experience (classic, new, fundamental, etc.), which ones would they be?
How will Robert hold off from recommending his own books? You’ll have to tune in to see!
Have a serious UX question? Send it in and Jared Spool and Robert Hoekman, Jr. will answer it with a healthy dose of levity. Please send your deep, vexing questions to us at userability@uie.com. We’d love to feature you on the show!
Here are links to each of the books Robert and Jared recommended:
Robert:
- The Inmates Are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper
- A Project Guide to UX Design by Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler
- Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug
Jared:
- Designing for People by Henry Dreyfuss
- Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge
- User and Task Analysis for Interface Design by JoAnn Hackos and Janice Redish
What are the most influential books you’ve read in the field? Share them with us in the comments!



July 13th, 2009 at 4:53 am
I’m definately on board with putting “Don’t make me think” on top of the list! Reason being it does a good job in describing UX in terms everyone can understand.
Another one is Rolf Molich’s (in Danish) “Brugervenligt Webdesign” (en:Userfriendly Webdesign). I’m amazed that a UI guru like Rolf is able to put things in such simple laymans terms that everyone can understand. Truly signs of a great expert. Don’t think his book is out in English though, which is a shame.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:16 am
“The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman is fantastic. I’ve also gotten something valuable out of all of the books I’ve read by Jakob Nielsen (Designing Web Usability at the top of the list).
July 14th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Humane Interface by Jef Raskin
August 13th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
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