Great books on research and design strategy

If you’re around me for more than, say, a day or two, chances are you’ll hear a book recommendation—or perhaps three. I love to read, and I can’t help but share titles when I discover good ones.

Here are a few books I often recommend to people who are building their expertise in human-centered design, design research, user experience (UX), customer experience (CX), and business strategy. (All links point to the book pages on Goodreads.com.)

I update the list from time to time, so I invite you to check back and send me recommendations.

Books on how brains work

100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People, by Susan Weinschenk

Susan Weinschenk is a behavioral psychologist who translates formal scientific studies into principles for practical application. 100 Things is an easy-t0-digest list that Wienschenk has created just for those in the UX/CX design field. It’s often the first book I recommend to people who are looking to build their UX design and research muscles.

Designing with the Mind in Mind, by Jeff Johnson

This book is a fantastic entry-level resource on cognitive psychology as it applies to digital design. I highly recommend this book as a resource for UX researchers, designers, and product managers who are interested in understanding how brains work.

Metaphors We Live By, by George Lackoff and Mark Johnson

I’m trained as an applied linguist, and I’m a believer that people process “user experiences” and “customer experiences” metaphorically; in other words, I believe that the frictions customers encounter often relate to their underlying mental models and metaphors. This book, written by linguists Lackoff and Johnson, describes how we humans use metaphor (abstract ideas) to understand the worlds we live in. I recommend this book to people who are ready for a deep dive into the concepts.

Books on research practices and methods

Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design, by Liz Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers

Convivial Toolbox is my favorite practical book on participatory design. It’s written for students who are just getting started and features both templates and case studies.

Just Enough Research, by Erika Hall

Erika Hall is witty, wise, authentic, and practical—and this book offers a great starting point for designers and product people who want to integrate research into their practice.

Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug

First published over 20 years ago, Krug’s primer is now considered a classic—perhaps the classic—book on usability. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about how and why to conduct usability testing. (You can also look for Krug’s videos on YouTube.)

Practical Ethnography, by Sam Ladner

Ethnography is my personal favorite form of research as a practitioner, and this book is a great starting point for people in commercial spaces who are new to the approach.

Mixed-Methods: A Short Guide to Applied Mixed Methods Research, by Sam Ladner

If you’ve ever asked, “what’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative, and why do we need both,” this is the book for you.

Books on “big-picture” UX, CX, and journey mapping

Mapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Creating Value through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams, by James Kalbach

I’ve gifted this book to many team members who are eager to stretch into customer experience mapping, journey mapping, and service blueprinting. Kalbach offers a variety of examples and practical tips.

Customers Know You Suck: Actionable CX Strategies to Better Understand, Attract, and Retain Customers, by Debbie Levitt

With refreshing candor, Levitt outlines the why and the how of CX strategy. This is a fantastic read—especially for leaders who are interested in establishing or refining a CX practice.

Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business, by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine

This is a foundational book for those who are interested in CX strategy and the broader field of CX management.

Books on strategic design and business strategy

Change Ahead: How Research and Design are Changing Business Strategy, by Carola Verschoor

This is a great practical read for people who are interested in learning how various forms of research can support the development of business strategies or strategic plans. Great visuals. Interesting interviews and case studies. I recommend this book to researchers and designers stretching into strategy or to organizational teams learning how to embed the practices of research and design into their current innovation and planning processes.

Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences and Beyond, edited by Natalie W. Nixon

If I were teaching a college course on strategic design, I’d likely use this as one of the textbooks. It’s densely packed and includes important business concepts, historical phases and developments in the design field, and case studies that would be valuable to those doing a deep dive into the world of strategic design.

Books on design for learning and EdTech

Interface Design for Learning: Design Strategies for Learning Experiences, by Dorian Peters

If you’re in EdTech and you haven’t read this one yet, please grab a copy for yourself and your teammates. It includes a great introduction to learning theories (behaviorism, constructivism, Bloom’s taxonomy, and so forth) and provides several strategies for designing products that are intended to support learning experiences. The author, Dorian Peters, writes in a warm and humorous style.

How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Practices for Smart Teaching, by Susan A. Ambrose, Michael W. Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha C. Lovett, and Marie K. Norman

Ambrose and her collaborators wrote this one for college educators, but I think anyone in higher ed, adult learning, or even high school educational design contexts would benefit from the wisdom shared.

When working on products for adults, it’s especially important that teams be mindful of the prior learning (“schema” or “mental models”) that students bring to the experience. In UX design, we often advocate for supporting existing mental models to remove friction and create ease. Ambrose and her co-authors remind us, however, that sometimes existing schema can hinder the learning experience. This book highlights examples that can help practitioners make wiser design decisions in support of students’ learning journeys.

The Design of Future Educational Interfaces, by Sharon Oviatt

This is a fascinating, deep-dive book that explores the cognitive science of learning via digital interfaces and supporting hardware. One of the key takeaways is that our brains learn differently when the content is delivered through digital interfaces and supporting hardware; as designers, we should not equate digital learning experiences with print-based ones.