Every resource founders actually use, in one library.

What founders use most, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

1. A free, structured course that takes you from the basics of why pages are slow through images, fonts, JavaScript, and lazy... web.dev (Google) Course · Multi module course · Starting Up Learn Performance Google Chrome team
2. A talk (with writeup) on serving a genuinely different, lighter experience to low end devices and slow networks, drawing on how... web.dev (Chrome Dev Summit talk writeup) Video · 25 min talk · Starting Up Adaptive loading: improving web performance on slow devices Nate Schloss and Addy Osmani
3. This runs your site on real devices from real locations at set connection speeds, including Slow 3G, so you get an honest... WebPageTest (Catchpoint) Tool · Web tool · Starting Up WebPageTest WebPageTest
4. Video · ~50 min · Starting Up 7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI (talk) Erik Kennedy
5. Mismatched and default fonts are one of the loudest amateur tells, and this fixes them in ten minutes. Butterick gives you... Butterick's Practical Typography Article · ~10 min read · Starting Up Typography in ten minutes Matthew Butterick
6. The most common amateur tell is inconsistent, random spacing, and a spacing scale is the cure. This explains how sizing every... Built to Adapt (Medium) Article · ~8 min read · Starting Up Intro to the 8-Point Grid System Elliot Dahl
7. Generous whitespace is half of the short answer, and this explains both macro and micro space clearly. You learn why breathing... Interaction Design Foundation Article · Starting Up The Power of White Space in Design Interaction Design Foundation
8. A short, credible video from the usability research group explaining whitespace in plain terms. It reinforces that empty space... Nielsen Norman Group Video · ~3 min · Starting Up What is Whitespace? Nielsen Norman Group
9. A well curated reference for what good type looks like in the wild, with recommended fonts and pairings. When you are unsure... Typewolf Tool · Starting Up Typewolf Jeremiah Shoaf
10. Obvious is one of India's most respected product design studios, and their blog distills over a decade of building simple, well... Obvious (India product design studio) Article · Starting Up Obvious blog Obvious (India product design studio)
11. Polish is mostly restraint, and this lays out practical ways to strip a design down. It helps you resist the urge to add more... Interaction Design Foundation Article · Starting Up Simplicity in Design: 4 Ways to Achieve Simplicity Interaction Design Foundation
12. The useful counterpoint: shipping a stripped MVP can leave a disjointed experience that erodes trust, especially outside... Nielsen Norman Group Video · 5 min · Starting Up Why MVP Is the Antithesis of Good UX Kara Pernice
13. 37signals on finding the one thing your product cannot exist without, and building that first. It is the sharpest version of... REWORK, 37signals Podcast · Starting Up Start at the Epicenter Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
14. This is the single most practical book written entirely about the tiny words in your product (buttons, error messages, empty... microcopybook.com (Nemala) Book · ~350 pages · Starting Up Microcopy: The Complete Guide Kinneret Yifrah
15. Kate Kiefer Lee shaped Mailchimp's famous voice, and this book teaches you to write clear, human interface and product copy and... nicelysaid.co Book · ~272 pages · Starting Up Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee
16. Most error copy is written for the calm, ideal user, and this short book forces you to design for the stressed, distracted,... A Book Apart Book · ~132 pages · Starting Up Design for Real Life Eric Meyer and Sara Wachter-Boettcher
17. Sign-up and checkout forms are where founders lose users, and this piece is a focused rulebook for the error text on exactly... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~14 min read · Starting Up How to Report Errors in Forms: 10 Design Guidelines Rachel Krause (Nielsen Norman Group)
18. A button or link label makes a promise, and this article gives you a simple test for whether it will be kept: specific,... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~8 min read · Starting Up Better Link Labels: 4 Ss for Encouraging Clicks Kate Moran (Nielsen Norman Group)
19. The UK government writes for millions of people in hard moments, and their public guidance is one of the best free sources on... GOV.UK Service Manual Article · ~10 min read · Starting Up Writing for user interfaces GOV.UK / Government Digital Service
20. This is a ready-made, accessible pattern for error messages with real wording examples you can adapt (it even shows the... GOV.UK Design System Template · reference · Starting Up Error message component GOV.UK / Government Digital Service
21. Apple's writing foundation is short, opinionated, and free, and it states the button rule plainly: almost always use a verb,... Apple Human Interface Guidelines Article · ~10 min read · Starting Up Writing Apple
22. Shopify's design system spells out how to phrase actions for merchants running a business, which is close to what many founders... Shopify Polaris Article · ~6 min read · Starting Up Content design: Actionable language Shopify
23. Google's content design guidance is a free, thorough reference for clear UI writing, including the classic rule of naming the... Material Design 3 (Google) Article · ~12 min read · Starting Up Content design overview Google
24. Saito was the first UX writer at YouTube and a writer at Dropbox, and this widely read essay shows how a few well-chosen words... UX Collective (John Saito) Essay · ~8 min read · Starting Up The magic of microcopy John Saito

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