Design book recommendations for non-designers?

[AnaRodriguez]

I am a non-designer and have been wondering : What’s the product design version of Inspired ?

The book that everyone reads to contextualize the work of user research, discovery, prototyping, etc. I’ve read Don’t Make Me Think , Design Sprint , and Sprint but none of them make me feel ready?

[SamanthaYuan]

I didn’t find one book “to rule them all” - but I think the best way to approach would be a combo of books. My combo consists of :

• Microinteractions - gives understanding of how to architecture every design element
• design of everyday things - gives more fundamental overview of design
• Laws of simplicity J. Maeda - gives complex overview of how to extract simplicity in product
• Laws of UX - some psychological patterns in design
• Designing devices - actually good source of industrial design - simple book - but patterns can be transferred to software as well

[DonovanOkang]

@SamanthaYuan Great suggestions!

I’m not sure that I’ve ever really found the “Inspired” equivalent for modern product design either (one might argue that Inspired is also for product designers) - but I’ll add a few recommendations that I always come back to:

• The Elements of User Experience (Jesse James Garrett) - One of those foundational classics, that I’d rank up there with Design of Everyday Things. Sure, it’s a bit old (which might be the only thing that stops it from being an “Inspired for UX”), but it’s as relevant as ever.
• About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design (Alan Cooper) - Another must read on designing digital products and interactions, even if also slightly dated.
• Org Design for Design Orgs (Peter Merholz, Kristin Skinner) - Excellent insights and guidance on setting up a modern in-house design team, and how design fits into a modern product organization.