Not so usual design book recommendations
And why you should include these titles in your letter to Santa this year
As the year is ending and the holiday season with all its festivities is just around the corner, it’s time to write a letter to Santa. Or, if you don’t believe in Santa, hop onto Amazon and add a few titles to the basket by yourself.
Here are a few surprising books I’d love to recommend you read next year. Some may not look like titles a UX or product designer would suggest to their peers, but they are super insightful. Ready to learn something new?
You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy
I read this book more than a year ago, and it was the most surprising and inspiring title on this entire list. We used to have an informal book club with a group of colleagues at work, and Kate Murphy’s title was one of our choices for Q2 of 2023. Why have we picked a non-design, non-technology, and non-business title for the book club?
Listening is a critical skill that has been increasingly neglected in our modern, technology-driven world. People are more focused on speaking and being heard than genuinely understanding others. The fact is that most people are poor listeners. We often prepare our responses while others speak instead of truly paying attention to what is being said.
This book teaches how to change this behavior and truly listen to what others are trying to tell us. Kate Murphy shows that listening is a learned skill that can be improved with practice, self-awareness, and a genuine commitment to understanding others beyond surface-level interactions. As UX and product designers, it’s crucial to understand why our users and customers do what they do, and listening is one of the tools that helps us achieve that.
The Growth Equation by Andy Budd
This one is the newest title on the list. The Growth Equation was released in October 2024. In his book, Andy Budd gives almost a full recipe on how to create a new product and keep it growing in a sustainable way.
Budd identifies seven critical factors that significantly influence startup growth, forming the basis of The Growth Equation—a framework for understanding and driving growth. The book covers different stages of startup life, such as product development, idea validation, go-to-market strategy, marketing operations, dealing with customers, pricing, and finally, forming a growth team.
Many of us work in a startup environment (or will do so someday), and this book makes it much easier to understand the parts of the sum, which we, as designers, often can’t see.
Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
Another title that I discovered thanks to our book club. In his book, Sinek discusses the differences between finite games (with clear rules, players, and endpoints) and infinite games (with changing players and no definitive winning condition), arguing that most meaningful pursuits in business and life are infinite games.
This book brings enormous value to all product designers by demonstrating that being shortsighted, playing a finite game with your product, and setting your primary goal to beat your competition doesn’t end well. As one example, Sinek brings Steve Ballmer’s leadership style, who, as Microsoft’s CEO, was mainly focused on beating Apple. He brought to life not-so-successful products like Windows Phone or Zune, which is reflected in Microsoft’s stock price dropping by more than 30% since he took over the role in 2000.
Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace
Released 10 years ago, this title may already be on the Finished reading bookshelf for many of you, but I still couldn’t resist putting it on my list.
Creativity Inc. is a guide for nurturing creativity and building a resilient organization capable of sustained innovation. In his book, Catmull shares unseen stories from Pixar since its early days. He highlights the importance of embracing failure as a stepping stone to the success of any team and organization. Pixar’s co-founder encourages teams to learn from mistakes rather than fear them.
Is this really a book for designers? Sure it is. Ed Catmull emphasizes the iterative process of rapid prototyping, where early drafts can be improved through continuous feedback. He also discusses the sense of storytelling, arguing that a compelling narrative is far more important than visual details.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Some may argue that this is a genuine design book since it’s often recommended as a must-read for UX designers. And for a good reason.
In his book, Kahneman explains two systems of thinking in the human brain: System 1 for fast thinking (which relies on heuristics and patterns, making it prone to biases and errors) and System 2 for slow thinking (which is deliberate and analytical and requires more cognitive resources. It is engaged during complex decision-making processes).
The reason that Thinking, Fast and Slow is so frequently recommended to UX designers is that it covers cognitive biases – something we designers must be aware of. Kahneman also discusses the decision-making frameworks, the role of framing, and the differences between the experiencing self and the remembering self.
Bonus: three genuine design books
Effective Product Designer by Artiom Dashinsky
One of the best design books I have ever read. There’s no word about the craft, but countless tips on becoming a more influential, impactful, smart, and effective product designer through strategy, collaboration, planning, and better communication.
Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
This is a must-read if you want to design products that customers love and deliver business value. In her book, Teresa Torres discusses the concept of product trio and how this body can drive product discovery to make it something customers really want.
The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garret
Oldie, but Goldie, in which Jesse James Garret emphasizes the importance of different stages of design (strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, surface) and how the decision-making on lower levels impacts higher levels, highlighting the importance of a systematic approach in creating good UX.
What books from this list have you already read?
And what other titles would you include in your letter to Santa?
Let me know in the comments!
Cover photo by Jasmine Coro