Top User Interface Design books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite User Interface Design books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of User Interface Design

Understanding the concepts of User Interface Design starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

The Design of Everyday Things

The fault, argues this ingenious -- even liberating -- book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Universal Principles of Design

Whether a marketing campaign or a museum exhibit, a video game or a complex control system, the design we see is the culmination of many concepts and practices brought together from a variety of disciplines. Because no one can be an expert on everything, designers have always had to scramble to find the information and know-how required to make a design work—until now.

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Designing Interfaces

Designing good application interfaces isnâ??t easy now that companies need to create compelling, seamless user experiences across an exploding number of channels, screens, and contexts. In this updated third edition, youâ??ll learn how to navigate through the maze of design options. By capturing UI best practices as design patterns, this best-selling book provides solutions to common design pr…

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About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design

The interaction design profession is blooming with the success of design-intensive companies, priming customers to expect "design" as a critical ingredient of marketplace success. Consumers have little tolerance for websites, apps, and devices that don't live up to their expectations, and the responding shift in business philosophy has become widespread. About Face is the book that brought int…

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The Elements of User Experience

Smart organizations recognize that Web design is more than just creating clean code and sharp graphics. A site that really works fulfills your strategic objectives while meeting the needs of your users. Even the best content and the most sophisticated technology won't help you balance those goals without a cohesive, consistent user experience to support it.
But creating the user experience …

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A Project Guide to UX Design: For User Experience Designers in the Field Or in the Making

“If you are a young designer entering or contemplating entering the UX field this is a canonical book. If you are an organization that really needs to start grokking UX this book is also for you. " -- Chris Bernard, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft
User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application—one that’s easily navigated and meets the …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional User Interface Design Reading

These books are not required for you to learn User Interface Design, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Since Don’t Make Me Think was first published in 2000, hundreds of thousands of Web designers and developers have relied on usability guru Steve Krug’s guide to help them understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design. Witty, commonsensical, and eminently practical, it’s one of the best-loved and most recommended books on the subject. Now Steve returns with fresh pers…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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Hi 👋 I’m Raul — a software engineer with over a decade of experience in the tech industry. Throughout my career, I’ve developed a strong blend of technical expertise and soft skills that have helped me grow, adapt, and thrive in different roles and environments. Like many others, my journey …

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I’m a Designer with a passion for creating compelling user-focused experiences and storytelling. Currently at Microsoft Vancouver, I have 10+ years of experience designing digital products that are used by millions worldwide. I work with a talented team at Microsoft Teams as a UX designer. Through the span of my …

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🎯 Trying to land your first UX job? I can help. Whether you need to polish your CV and portfolio, create case studies that reflect your skills, or figure out how to present yourself in interviews — I’m here to support you. You don’t need big-name brands in your past …

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👋 Hi there! I’m Rina, a Product Designer at Meta. Previously, I worked on Alexa at Amazon. Before transitioning into the tech industry, I studied Architecture at Cornell University. For the past few years, I've mentored 60+ people through career transitions, interviewing skills, and helped mentees receive offers at Google, …

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I am a seasoned HR executive with 20+ years of experience driving transformative people strategies that enhance organizational performance and employee engagement. I have had the pleasure of holding executive leadership roles across the service industry where I am responsible for aligning talent strategies with business goals to fuel growth …

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Hi, I'm Katarina and I love helping people build their PM skills. I've had leadership roles at large companies and as an early employee (and co-founder) at start ups. I'm great at: - interview prep -- I've interviewed hundreds of candidates during my time at Meta/Facebook, Microsoft, and other start …

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