2018 UX Reading Challenge
2015 was the year when I decided to enter a reading challenge. Mission accomplished; that year I read over 50 books in 50 preset categories. Tell my friends I’m going to have no time for them cause I’m doing the same reading frenzy but with design books next year.
My reading experience back in 2015 gave a true sense of achievement and showed a clear evidence that I can structure my time and that I can be disciplined enough to follow through on my goals. Reading is an adventure that enriches the mind, helps building empathy and it’s the cheapest way to travel to anywhere you’d want. From this perspective, 2015 was an outstanding and fulfilling year for sure. I still consider myself as a heavy reader, but without competing (against myself) in a similar challenge, 2016 and 2017 was not that fruitful (btw here’s the link to Popsugar’s 2018 challenge).
Following the same principle as my previous reading adventure, I’m now taking on another challenge next year. Since I am studying UX and UI design I’d like to deep dive into the field by setting up a custom-made UX reading list. Obviously non-fiction reads and textbooks in this quantity will be a greater and a more stretching commitment than my past experience.
I have to admit I always felt rather overwhelmed by the amount of UX titles and by the sea of blog posts with countless book recommendations. By having a well thought out and structured approach that I can follow, I hope I can stay productive and manage my anxiety that I have over this demanding journey.
By publishing this challenge, I am trying to create a healthy pressure to deliver against the target. By defining different sets of difficulty levels and milestones within the challenge I’m hoping to mitigate the risk of feeling guilty if I fail to achieve the ultimate goal of reading 50+1 books during a single year (which I will surely fail to do. Let’s be honest, it’s nearly impossible to accomplish that much reading beside your day job and design school.) For me 25 books from this list seems to be a realistic but still a though goal for 2018.
When working out the details, I set the target to
- list essential UX topics while also putting emphasis on future trends,
- make a multidisciplinary list as design is a cross-functional and collaborative work,
- group the topics per priority to enable smart goal setting,
- customize each difficulty level to make the most out of the challenge. First block (1–10 categories) should add value to the general understanding and the main areas of the design process. Second block (11–25 books) should help deepening this knowledge and getting more detailed insight into business context, marketing, design principles. The second half (25–50 and the plus one) is balancing some graphic design and UI content with somewhat lighter topics about personal development and with the more robust reads like the ones about coding or SEO.
How it works?
Find a book per each category and start reading. Browsing online and deciding which actual book you’d like to shoot for per category is making the challenge versatile, personal and customized. I’ll definitely choose a beginner’s guide to some of the topics, however if you are already more immersed in a topic as a student or you’re a practicing professional, just choose an advanced level book, stop procrastinating and just commit to reading. Additionally, browsing books is always fun and it helps gaining a more holistic view of what’s out there.
I’d be most grateful if you’d have any suggestions about how I structured the challenge or what books I should pick to read.
Level 1 (#1–10) — Come on Champ! This should be manageable!
- UX Strategy
2. User Interviews
3. Usability Testing
4. Empathy and user journey
5. Prototyping/wireframing
6. Information Architecture
7. Interaction Design
8. Documenting the design process
9. Designing for mobile/responsive design
10. A book labeled as “essential UX read”
Level 2 (#1–25) — Congrats! A performance to brag about!
11. Service design
12. Product management
13. Data visualization
14. Design thinking
15. Psychology/behavioral science
16. Habit-forming products and services
17. Social platforms
18. Content strategy
19. Online marketing
20. Storytelling
21. Branding guidelines
22. Design communication
23. UX writing/copywriting
24. Design principles
25. Design trends
Level 3 (#1–40) — WOW! You’re a ninja!
26. Typography for web
27. Color theory for web
28. Game design
29. Designing for AR/VR
30. Voice user interface
31. Animation design
32. Agile project management
33. Stakeholder management
34. Workshop techniques
35. Working with cross-functional design teams
36. Business strategy
37. Stories behind great products/use cases
38. Social platforms
39. SEO
40. Coding
Level 4 (#1–50 +1) — You’re a brutal super villain! Hope to join you some day on the dark side!
41. How to kick off/evolve career in UX (scroll to bottom for a tip)
42. Sth that helps to create/improve your portfolio
43. Productivity and creativity
44. Graphic design history
45. A designer’s autobiography
46. Essays about design
47. Sth about the future of design/services/etc.
48. Sth not about design but would help you with your design
49. A book that helps gaining a healthy mindset
50. Lifehack/design your life
+1 A book that inspires you
Here are some sources I used as inspiration:
The Ultimate List of UX Topics All Beginners Should Know
The 10 best design books that aren’t about design
(May 9 2018 Update) And here’s an extra suggestion especially for item #41 How to kick off/evolve career in UX: https://productdesigninterview.com Seems as a valuable read for those who seek new opportunities. #ad
