The Top Ten Essential Interaction Design Books
As this is the season of lists and of gift giving, I thought I would put together the top ten books I thought every designer of interactive products should have in their library. I’ve also seen some reading lists floating around that leave out what are, to me, essential texts, or include books that are too focused on a particular medium (web, mobile). (For reasons of impartiality, I excluded my own book, Designing for Interaction, although I certainly hope it sits alongside these on the bookshelf.)
10. Shaping Things
9. Designing Interactions
8. Designing Interfaces
7. Designing for People
6. The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems
5. The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design
4. About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design
3. Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
2. Universal Principles of Design
1. The Design of Everyday Things
After this, of course, there are many great books that delve into particular types of interaction design, design theory, information and communication design, physical computing, and many other topics. But I think these ten books form the center of any interaction designer’s library. Feel free to add more in the comments!
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11 Comments
Very helpful list, thank you!
I would also add a book that changed completely my way of thinking about interaction design: Paul Dourish’s “Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction” http://bit.ly/80wmGE
Orestis Tsinalis
Great list. All indubitably essential. I would add at least Design Research: Methods and Perspectives edited by Brenda Laurel and Information Architecture (“The Polar Bear Book”) by Peter Morville.
Thanks,
-royc.
Hurrah for UPoD, the book that taught me more than any other. It still surprises me how many people in the field haven’t read it.
great list Dan! Thanx!
One stand out for me is
Digital Ground by Malcolm McCullough
I’m teaching a seminar on theory of interaction design this quarter (NOT a Studio class) and this is the list of books I am requiring for the quarter:
Designing for Interaction – Saffer, D. (2nd Edition; 2009)
Thoughts on Interaction Design – Kolko, J. (2009)
The Humane Interface – Raskin, J.
Digital Ground – McCullough, M.
Inmates are running the Asylum – Cooper, A
Designing Interactions – Moggridge, B (ed.)
Everyware – Greenfeild, A.
Designing Social Interfaces – Malone & Crumlisch
Emotional Design – Norman, D.
Invisible Computer – Norman, D.
Persuasion Technology – Fogg, BJ
Thoughtful Interaction Design: A Design Perspective on Information Technology by Jonas Lowgren and Erik Stolterman (Paperback – Mar 30, 2007)
Obviously, lots of overlap, but some differences as well. I assumed that grad students already read DOET or POET or whatever.
I also think that Digital Ground & Everyware are important for the embedded in space side of IxD as well.
the CAPTology book by BJ Fogg is there b/c persuasion as noted by Jon Kolko recently is the next area of ixd … not just fitting people, but making people fit.
– dave
Great list. I didn’t think much of “Shaping Things”, found it frankly just too wacky for me
I would however, add a few more:
- Designing Visual Interfaces by Mullet/Sano (yes, even “interaction” designers should keep this on their shelves)
- Creating Breakthrough Products by Cagan/Vogel, which IMHO is THE definitive textbook on innovation process and case studies
- Kolko’s Thoughts on Interaction
- McCullough’s Digital Ground
and of course John Dewey’s Art as Experience
because if you’re gonna design “interactions” and “experiences” you better damn well know some intellectual basis to this stuff! also provides a nice reminder of the humanism that we strive for underlying the digital.
Great list, and I agree wholeheartedly especially with The Design of Everyday Things – pretty much the bible for thinking from the user’s perspective.
Hi Dan Saffer,
Thanks for the list, many great books there that I appreciate, too. For other readers, I would also suggest your book, Designing for interactions!
It has the needed, introductory and very good content when designing new services for others and is pedagogically written with good illustrations! I use it this semester for a new course on Managing innovation, design and creativity at BI (our management school in Oslo), a course which is innovation and service design focused. It is on the curriculum, as compulsory reading for our business innovation students! (who by the way also collaborate with design students from AHO, in shared concept design and business proposal work between design and business innovation students in Oslo).
Greetings,
Birgit H Jevnaker, Assoc prof BI
Good list, I’d like to suggest:
Steve Krug – Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
See Jef’s summary of the rules and principles from The Humane Interface on my website. The point is to make the computer never take your attention away from your task. We don’t go the the movies to watch the projector.
I also enjoyed the details in the GUI Bloopers books but they don’t compare on giving grand principles.
Kim Goodwin’s Designing for the Digital Age is an awesome reference book. As a professional, I have found it a bit more readable and useful than About Face 3.
My personal bible of design is Nelson and Stolterman’s The Design Way. Though not IxD specific, this book has helped me the most in understanding the nature of design practice.
Where’s the “Add all to Amazon wishlist” button?
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