Essential UI Resources
on 10 January 2013
I’m often asked “Can you give me some book references for good UI and usability design?” or “What are the 10 essential resources for the new UX worker?”
There are a metric ton of design books.
Most are mediocre. Chomping through to the creamy center and identifying the best software design books is time consuming.
Here is my list.
Required for all software designers and engineers at the Invo studio:
- Designing for People
- The Elements of Friendly Software Design
- The Elements of Style by Strunk + White is still one of my favorites (yes, for Design)
Other classic reads:
- Universal Principles of Design
- The Design of Everyday Things
- Designing Interactions
- Designing Visual Interfaces
For sketching, a few recent rags have popped up that are compelling:
- Design Sketching
- The Sketchnote Handbook (and while this is a bit of a trendy pick, keeping a sketchbook is a valuable outlet and tool for people, especially engineers and designers)
Lastly, when diving into type, chew on:
For a fabulous face to face experience with a living legend of information design, spend $375 and a day at the Edward Tufte Workshop. While most of his books are unreadable (which are all included as part of the experience), the graphic examples and visual lessons are phenomenal.
… and drum roll …
I have yet to find the penultimate resource, an interface field guide, that’s for the craftsman, that’s more visual, uses real examples, that’s free, constantly evolving, under 100 pages, and fits in my pocket. It maybe an impossible task to make.
We’re pushing the Design Axioms to be just that resource.