Top UX Design books curated by experts

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

  • Curated by industry experts
  • Proven learning resources
  • Updated annually
Top UX Design books recommended by experts
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Fundamentals of UX Design

Understanding the concepts of UX 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 Pocket Universal Principles of UX: 100 Timeless Strategies to Create Positive Interactions Between People and Technology

The Pocket Universal Principles of UX: 100 Timeless Strategies to Create Positive Interactions Between People and Technology

Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, Universal Principles of UX pairs clear explanations of each concept with visual examples of the ideas applied in practice. The book is organized into six broad categories:

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Build Better Products: A Modern Approach to Building Successful User-Centered Products

Build Better Products: A Modern Approach to Building Successful User-Centered Products

Build Better Products is a hands-on, step-by-step guide that helps teams incorporate strategy, empathy, design, and analytics into their development process. You’ll learn to develop products and features that improve your business’s bottom line while dramatically improving customer experience.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems

Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems

It's been known for years that usability testing can dramatically improve products. But with a typical price tag of $5,000 to $10,000 for a usability consultant to conduct each round of tests, it rarely happens. In this how-to companion to Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usab…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

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

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 o…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Designing Interfaces

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…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Designing Interfaces, 3rd Edition

Designing Interfaces, 3rd Edition

Designing good application interfaces isn’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, you’ll learn how to navigate through the maze of design options. By capturing UI …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional UX Design Reading

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

Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience

Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience

The Lean UX approach to interaction design is tailor-made for today’s web-driven reality. In this insightful book, leading advocate Jeff Gothelf teaches you valuable Lean UX principles, tactics, and techniques from the ground up—how to rapidly experiment with design ideas, validate them with rea…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play

User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play

In User Friendly, Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant reveal the untold story of a paradigm that quietly rules our modern lives: the assumption that machines should anticipate what we need. Spanning over a century of sweeping changes, from women’s rights to the Great Depression to World War II to t…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules

Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules

In this completely updated and revised edition of Designing with the Mind in Mind, Jeff Johnson provides you with just enough background in perceptual and cognitive psychology that user interface (UI) design guidelines make intuitive sense rather than being just a list or rules to follow. Early …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Thinking, Fast and Slow

*Major New York Times Bestseller
*More than 2.6 million copies sold
*One of The New York Times Book Review's ten best books of the year
*Selected by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best nonfiction books of the year
*Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
*Daniel Kahneman's …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Lean UX

Lean UX

Inspired by Lean and Agile development theories, Lean UX lets you focus on the actual experience being designed, rather than deliverables. This book shows you how to collaborate closely with other members of your Agile product team, and gather feedback early and often.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Universal Principles of Design

Universal Principles of Design

Universal Principles of Design is the first cross-disciplinary reference of design. Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, this book pairs clear explanations of the design concepts featured with visual examples of those concepts applied in practice.

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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