almost 7 years ago from Marcus H, Design by Marcus
I'm always on the look out for interesting books to read. They don't necessarily need to be about design although I'm interested in learning about UX at the moment.
If you've read something decent lately I'd love to hear about it!
I am re-reading Shape Of Design. Just can't believe this book is available for free. Brings a lot of clarity to me.
And then I'm gonna finish up the Execute Book.
As an Educator, The Shape of Design is my go-to for whenever I need a bit of inspiration. Such an incredible book.
I'm reading The Design of Everyday Things which is really good so far. I'm planning to share it with my non-designer friends :)
Can only recommend to read Elon Musk, if your also interested in a technical background. Although, really inspirational book for me.
Currently working through David & Goliath by Malcom Gladwell and Creativity, Inc.
I just finished Creativity, Inc the other day, and I really enjoyed it.
Just bought a few actually...
All 3 99u books are gold
Amazing how little of us seem to be reading fiction or philosophy. I have recently enjoyed Zen in the Art of Archery and Silk very much.
Both books are very short and can be finished on a short train ride or evening reading in bed.
Zero to One — by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
I just finish reading it, it was good, but not exceptional... your thought?
Thanks for the replies and recommendations, I've added quite a few of these to my to-buy list!
I'm currently reading To Sell is Human, only a third of the way through but so far so good.
The User Experience Team of One by Leah Buley. Straightforward, "real", and provides actual tools instead of only theory.
I second this. It's an excellent book, and talks about real world scenarios, and gives great tips about getting people on board with UX.
I did my UX certification with BCS earlier this year, and this book was on the "recommended reading" list.
Do you think it would be useful for a beginner that freelances or is it more for designers that work in companies on their own?
I haven't read it fully cover to cover, but I'd say its geared towards design agencies and designers that work in companies.
Ah ok, are there any other UX books that you would recommend?
I haven't read it but Lean UX normally gets a mention.
One nice feature she includes in the book is "essential" summaries for each section. "If you only have the time/budget to do one single thing, do this...", which might be nice for freelancers who don't have the resources, time, or scope to do all the research and testing a larger budget may allow. It's modular enough to cherrypick what works best for you.
Couple on the go
Draplin - Pretty much everything
This makes me feel that even if I worked 10 careers I probably still wouldn't put out as much work as the man himself. Amazing.
Nice to own the hardback too, lots to leaf through and browse.
Interesting reading on sprints for projects no matter how complicated and how you can get masses done with the right team in 5 days.
Today We Die a Little: The Rise and Fall of Emil Zátopek, Olympic Legend
I run a lot so I've usually got at least one running related book on the go on my Kindle. This one's a bit slow going to be honest.
A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis
Next - Everything on Stoicism (Seneca, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius)
Recently purchased Hackers & Painters by Paul Graham.
Halfway through Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future and enjoying it.
Recently finished "The power of habit". (Even wrote a little Medium post about it here )
I'm currently reading Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and "The design of everyday things".
But I have other books lined up, the list for is: - Hooked : How to build habit forming products - Priceless: The Hidden Psychology of Value - Sprint: How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days - 1984 of George Orwell (yeah didn't read it)
Naked Economics. The author makes the otherwise painfully boring topic extremely interesting.
A book apart: Design for real life It's a really good read, I'm gonna say best read this year so far... it's focus on "stress case." Stress case is edge case brought to the center of conversations. Edge cases effect an insignificant number of users, "We're designing for the 90% not the 10%" That classic edge case thinking. It define the boundaries of who/what you care about and what you can marginalize. When we make things for people at their worst, they'll work that much better when people are at their best.
I recently picked up An Essay in Typography by Eric Gill and Ways of Seeing. I still need to get around to reading them though.
Do you have a strong feeling about something and want to express it? Write an essay.
Best essay service - financial assignment help
The term "essay" refers to any piece of writing that expresses the author's point of view on a subject, whether academic, editorial or even funny. There are a million different ways to write an essay and a million various subjects to pick from, but we've discovered that effective essay writing follows a similar pattern.
Some people believe that writing an essay is as straightforward as sitting down at their computer and typing. However, writing an essay takes a great deal more planning. If you've never written an essay before, or if you're having trouble writing and want to improve your abilities, it's a good idea to go over a few key steps in the essay writing process.
Consider Three Things
Before you start writing your essay, think about the thesis, the type, and the audience. Your thesis, or the core of what your essay is about, is by far the most essential of these.
The essential thesis you're seeking to communicate is summarised in your thesis statement. In Bertrand Russell's article "In Praise of Idleness," for example, the argument is that people are overly focused on labor and do not appreciate the time spent idling. Essays may occasionally deviate and ramble off on related tangents, but they always return to the thesis's central point.
Types of Essays
Essays, like any other sort of writing, come in a variety of formats. The kind is sometimes dictated by the task, such as admissions essays, and other times it is determined by the thesis.
Expository essay
An expository essay delves deeply into a topic in order to broaden the reader's understanding. The style is similar to that of an argumentative or persuasive essay, with one major difference: expository essays do not contain a slant.
Personal essay
Personal essays, such as David Sedaris's, are frequently anecdotal or true-life experiences of the writers. The thesis might be flexible or interpretative since they tend to follow narrative frameworks.
Persuasive essay
A persuasive essay is exactly what it sounds like: an essay written to persuade or persuade the reader of a particular point of view. It's similar to an argumentative essay in that they both firmly support a certain point of view, but the difference is the ultimate goal: argumentative essays must just make their case, but persuasive essays must offer their case and persuade the reader.
Argumentative essay
Argumentative essays are written to support or refute a point of view. Keep in mind that this is the most popular sort of school assignment while writing your first college essay.
Start Writing Your Essay
You can't compose an essay if you don't know what you're going to write about. The technique of brainstorming is how you come up with an essay topic. During this period, you should just sit and brainstorm ideas.
Make a list of anything that comes to mind; you can always filter down the themes afterward.
To create a decent essay, you may need to perform some research once you've done your brainstorming and picked your topic. Look up information about your topic in the library or on the internet. Interview persons who could know a lot about the topic.
Your teacher or the topic of your project will influence the writing style you use for your essay. There are three types of writing styles that you could encounter in high school and college.
MLA (Modern language of Association)
is intended for articles in the humanities and language arts. The author-page number citation format is used. Students in high school and college utilize this writing style the most.
APA (American Psychological Association)
It was designed for social science and psychology research papers and essays, and it follows the author-date citation format. It is the second most often used writing style.
Chicago Manual of Style
There are two writing styles in Turabian: author-date and notes-bibliography. The author-date style is most commonly employed by college students and professionals for scientific papers, whereas notes-Biblio makes arts and humanities papers a breeze.
The primary element of your essay is your thesis statement. It is simply a single sentence that states the topic of the essay. "Dogs are derived from wolves," for example might be your thesis statement. You may then utilize this as the foundation for the rest of your essay, noting that all of your ideas must ultimately come back to this one primary thesis. In most cases, your thesis should be stated in the first paragraph.
The next stage is to plan out what you'll write about. This implies you'll need to create a skeleton for your paper. An outline may assist you in ensuring that your work is logical, well-organized, and flows smoothly. If you've been assigned an argumentative essay, here's the finest method for creating an outline for an argumentative essay.
It's time to start writing once you've completed your plan. Write an essay based on the outline, fleshing out the skeleton to create a complete, coherent, and clear essay.
The Systems Bible is a fantastic read. It's great for understanding why nothing goes the way you expect.
Lea Verou's CSS Secrets. It is a truly entertaining read, incredibly straight-forward and full of helpful tips.
Recently finished Jacques Ranciere's The Politics of Aesthetics which is a short but challenging read. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the critical aspects of design.
From the description:
The Politics of Aesthetics rethinks the relationship between art and politics, reclaiming "aesthetics" from the narrow confines it is often reduced to. Jacques Rancière reveals its intrinsic link to politics by analysing what they both have in common: the delimitation of the visible and the invisible, the audible and the inaudible, the thinkable and the unthinkable, the possible and the impossible.
I have an fond interest in psychology and was thrilled when i discovered the book "the like switch" by a former FBI-recruiter, if you are intrested in human pscyhology I very much recommended this book. Link: [The Like Switch](ohlsson.link/the-like-switch)
I'm reading both Hooked and The Obstacle is the Way at the moment. Oh and I'm also listening to David and Goliath. I would recommend all three of these actually.
Two books I read recently and would recommend are Ishmael and The Alchemist. They are not about design but more philosophical. Especially Ishmael made me think a lot about how we perceive the world.
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