Book · ~350 pages

The Design of Everyday Things

Don Norman · jnd.org / Basic Books Paid Beginner

The foundational text on human-centered design that every product person should read once. It rewires how you see every product, including your own.

  • Make affordances and signifiers obvious, users shouldn't guess.
  • Give clear, immediate feedback for every action.
  • Design out errors rather than blaming users ('human error' is usually design error).
Open on jnd.org ↗

It answers 6 questions

  1. What are the core UX principles every founder should know?
  2. Should I learn Figma, and how much design do I really need?
  3. What are the psychology 'laws' behind good UX?
  4. I keep hearing "don't make me think" but what does that actually mean when I'm designing a screen?
  5. Should I just copy the UI patterns of apps my users already use, or does that make my product forgettable?
  6. How do I turn vague feedback like "the app feels clunky" into specific design changes I can actually make?

Read with it

  1. The most accessible, practical intro to usability ever written, you can read it in a weekend and immediately fix your product.... sensible.com Book · ~200 pages Don't Make Me Think, Revisited Steve Krug
  2. Design tactics written specifically for developers and non-designers who need to ship good-looking UI without a design... refactoringui.com Book · ~250 pages Refactoring UI Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger
  3. The single most-cited usability framework in the field, from the definitive UX research authority. A checklist you can hold... Nielsen Norman Group Article · ~15 min read 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design Jakob Nielsen
  4. A crisp, visual reference of the psychology principles behind good UX, perfect for a founder who wants the 'why' without a... lawsofux.com Article · reference site Laws of UX Jon Yablonski
  5. This is the one principle that answers your worry head on: users spend most of their time on other apps, so they expect yours... Laws of UX Essay · 5 min read Jakob's Law Jon Yablonski (principle by Jakob Nielsen)
  6. A two minute explanation of one of the most practical rules for founders: users spend nearly all their time on other apps, so... Nielsen Norman Group Video · 2 min Jakob's Law of Internet User Experience (video) Jakob Nielsen
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