Build the product

What founders use for build the product, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

1. The original essay that introduced Architecture Decision Records, a one page format capturing the context, the decision, and... Cognitect (Michael Nygard) Article · 8 min read Documenting Architecture Decisions Michael Nygard
2. The second half covers the moves that trip up founders most: overlaying text on images so it stays readable, making text pop... Learn UI Design Article · 20 min read 7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI (Part 2) Erik D. Kennedy
3. Typography is where most non-designer products quietly fall apart, and this free online book fixes that with plain rules. Start... practicaltypography.com Book · Free online book, start with the 10-minute summary Butterick's Practical Typography Matthew Butterick
4. A logic-driven handbook aimed at developers who no longer want to depend on a designer, from someone who has designed products... practical-ui.com Book · Book plus Figma design system kit Practical UI Adham Dannaway
5. Color is where founders most often go wrong, and this walks you through a simple, safe system: one primary, a set of neutrals,... DEV Community Article · 12 min read A beginner's guide to applying color in UI design George Francis
6. This is the how behind reduce the thinking to zero. It names the three levers you actually control: cut visual clutter, build... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 9 min read Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability Kathryn Whitenton
7. Tognazzini built Apple's original interface guidelines, and this is his deep list of principles: anticipation, autonomy,... AskTog (Bruce Tognazzini) Article · 40 min read First Principles of Interaction Design (Revised and Expanded) Bruce Tognazzini
8. Crisp, opinionated principles from the team that made government services genuinely usable at massive scale. Start with user... GOV.UK (Government Digital Service) Article · 10 min read Government Design Principles UK Government Digital Service
9. Error prevention is one of Nielsen's ten heuristics, and this unpacks how to actually do it: match the user's mental model,... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 8 min read Preventing User Errors: Avoiding Conscious Mistakes Page Laubheimer
10. An Indian product team writing about how they think, not just how they draw. Zomato argues that good UX starts from... Zomato Article · 10 min read Product Before Pixels: a product thinking workshop for designers Zomato Design
11. A behind the scenes look at how an Indian company built consistency into a fast moving product with a shared design system. It... Zomato Article · 8 min read Zomato's Sushi Design System Zomato Design
12. The quality of your test depends entirely on the tasks you give. This piece shows how to write realistic scenarios that do not... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~9 min read Turn User Goals into Task Scenarios for Usability Testing Marieke McCloskey
13. Wireframing is the skill the short answer says you actually need, and this explains it without design jargon. It covers low... Figma Article · 12 minute read What is Wireframing? The Complete Guide Figma
14. The short answer says the real work is thinking through the user's path, and mapping the flow is how you do that before... Figma Article · 10 minute read What is a user flow, and why it matters Figma
15. From the Google Ventures team, this shows how to go from a fuzzy idea to a tested prototype in a single week. The core move is... Jake Knapp (jakeknapp.com) Book · Approx. 275 pages Sprint: Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Five Days Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz
16. This chapter argues you can think through a whole flow with words and crude sketches before any real design tool. Breadboarding... Basecamp Essay · 20 minute read Shape Up: Find the Elements (breadboarding and fat marker sketches) Ryan Singer
17. Zerodha built one of India's most used products with a tiny team and a stubborn focus on simplicity over polish. Kamath's view... Inc42 Article · 15 minute read Instincts, People and Vision: Nithin Kamath on Zerodha's Product Secrets Inc42
18. This is the book behind the whole idea that good design is affordances and feedback, the exact language in our short answer.... Don Norman Book · Book, approx 350 pages The Design of Everyday Things (Revised and Expanded Edition) Don Norman
19. This backs up the first three seconds claim with research: people judge a page in milliseconds, and that snap verdict is hard... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 10 min read First Impressions Matter: How Designers Can Support Humans' Automatic Cognitive Processing Therese Fessenden
20. The rule behind trimming your onboarding, your pricing tiers, and your menus. More choices mean slower decisions, so this card... Laws of UX Article · 5 min read Hick's Law Jon Yablonski
21. Why your primary button should be big and easy to reach, especially on mobile. The time to hit a target depends on its size and... Laws of UX Article · 5 min read Fitts's Law Jon Yablonski
22. The chunking principle that keeps forms and dashboards from overwhelming people. Working memory is limited, so you group... Laws of UX Article · 5 min read Miller's Law Jon Yablonski
23. The deeper, research backed treatment from the field's most trusted usability lab. It explains the actual mechanics of target... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 12 min read Fitts's Law and Its Applications in UX Raluca Budiu
24. A curated map of the psychology that underpins these laws, with links to go deeper on each. Rather than one principle, it... Nielsen Norman Group Article · 10 min read Psychology for UX: Study Guide Tanner Kohler

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