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The 15 Absolute Best Ux Ui Design Books In 2025 Uxfolio Blog

Leo Migdal
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the 15 absolute best ux ui design books in 2025 uxfolio blog

In the era of monster-length blog posts, I believe there’s still space for books about UX design. Because investing in a valuable book is the kind of gesture that’ll keep you committed and motivated. The emphasis here is on valuable. I think most of us can agree that many books in our domain are just manicured and inflated blog posts. No wonder we are discouraged from dropping money on them. In this article, I’ll give you an honest review of 15 books from various product-related fields to help you choose the ones worth your time and money.

I’ve sorted them into 4 categories to help you skim: Books about the psychology of user experience and product strategy. Whether you’re an aspiring designer, freelancer, or seasoned professional looking to accelerate your career, I have something for you in this category. “Refactoring UI” is a single-day read, but not because it’s superficial. Quite the opposite. In the constantly changing landscape of UX design, it is quite important to stay anchored in foundational principles while attempting to stay informed about emerging trends.

If you are starting as a UX designer or if you have been in the game for several years, some books consistently come up and stand out for insight, depth, practicality, and inspiration. Below is a curated list of 15 UX books that you should consider for 2025, followed by some guidance on how to approach reading them. Before diving into the list, it’s helpful to understand why these books are so often recommended: As an example, one article says, “One of the easiest ways to upskill and inspire your own UX design is by reading books from people who are passionate about creating intentional user experiences.” The UX discipline is at an interesting juncture in 2025: design remains rooted in understanding people, while technology demands that designers frame both single screens and ecosystem experiences. These 15 books strike a balance between the human side of UX, the practical craft, and strategic systems.

You are building a reading habit around them, doing more than just acquiring knowledge; you’re developing a design mindset that can adapt, critique, and lead. As the saying goes: “You design for people, not for screens.” User experience design (UX design) may feel like a new and exciting field, but many of the UX design concepts and design principles we know today have been around since the late 1940s when... Traditionally, UX design has focused on the interaction between human users, machines, and contextual environments. Since the 1990s, UX design has evolved to help us understand user behavior for digital user interfaces such as computers and devices. After decades of user research, we like to think we have a pretty good understanding of user behavior guided by key user experience design principles and best practices.

As a designer, developing a deeper understanding of these UX design principles will help you design better products and websites that are not only easier to use but more effective at guiding users. Have you ever used an app, website, or online form and been frustrated with the user experience? Maybe certain parts didn't behave as you expected and we unintuitive. That's bad UX design. Contrarily, when you use an app or website with good UX design, you likely don't even realize. Good UX design is intuitive and invisible because it's in tune with human behavior.

Many people won't consciously think about the overall user experience, but bad UX will hurt your brand and product. As more and more companies realize this, it's more important than ever to invest in UX design, user research, and usability testing. The digital world may be where it’s at for user experience (UX) design, but of course it’s grounded in the real-world needs of human users. Books—those physical-based stalwarts of information transmission (although, yes, you can get electronic versions of them)—are maybe the most traditional way for someone to get and brush up on knowledge. That’s why we’ve carefully curated a list of the most influential UX design books for this year—all for you—from beginner-level titles to more advanced ones, so find out which might be best to help... That’s right—books remain vast repositories of vital information, and that’s even in a fast-moving world where more and more people—or “users,” in UX terms—tend to pick up learnings from video, sound bites, and the...

Yet, this is the same dynamic—“fast-movingness”—which designers need to adapt to if they’re to stay current so they can fine-tune design solutions like websites and apps so every pixel, every interaction, and every little... Because of that need to learn constantly, because design is constantly evolving and therefore both seasoned professionals and newbies can find themselves in the same boat sometimes, and because the success of businesses depends... Books—much like they pretty much always have—are a brilliant medium for learners to get a solid foundation in UX and UI (user interface) design, equip themselves with new ideas, feel challenged to think in... UX for Beginners is a comprehensive—yet entertaining—guide for anyone who’s interested in user experience design, and a neat point about this book is how it covers the fundamentals of UX and takes you across... A key thing to come away from this book with is for you to recognize the diversity in user behavior and know why it’s so important for you to design for these variations—a bit... This 2025 UX reading list is your comprehensive professional library, distilling 35 essential reads that span from foundational usability to the frontiers of AI and service design.

It’s more than a list; it’s a strategic curriculum for your growth, based on a survey of 150+ design professionals and emerging industry demands. These are the non-negotiable classics. Master these to build your entire career on a solid foundation. This book’s core lesson is simple but powerful: design should be self-evident. It provides foundational rules for interfaces that respect user time and cognitive energy. Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug introduces Krug’s First Law of Usability: digital products must be obvious to reduce user cognitive load.

Essential for Beginner UX/UI Designers, it offers actionable techniques for usability testing and writing scannable web copy. 💡 Pro Tip & Action Step: Run your first guerrilla usability test this week. Grab five colleagues, give them a simple task on your product, and watch them work without saying a word. Think everything you need to learn about design exists online? Blog posts and quick tips rarely give deep knowledge to master modern UX/UI trends. Design changes fast – AI interfaces, fresh interaction models, and new user behaviors reshape how we create digital products in 2025.

Books still offer structured, complete guidance to build real design skills. If you want to become a stronger designer, this article will cover great UI UX design books to help you grow from starter level to advanced. They're all available on Headway, letting you read or listen to summarized books and easily learn the key points. Check them out and upgrade your skills! These books cover core principles like layout, usability, and visual style. You get practical tips on how to build designs people actually use.

They help you understand exactly what makes good design effective. This book explains how good design works and why some products confuse people. It shows what designers often do wrong and gives tips to make clear, usable objects. This book helps readers spot common problems in usability and understand exactly how to fix them. The examples Norman uses are practical, understandable, and fit your daily life. Why you should read this book: You will learn what makes an object's design clear or confusing.

The only constant in the fast-paced world of UI/UX design is change! Which means, if you’re a UI/UX designer looking to stay ahead, keep your skills sharp, and stay marketable to your clients, then you’re going to have to embrace a life of continuous learning. And while quick tutorials and online courses can definitely help you get started, there’s just something about the heft and insight of a good book. So, if your shelves are looking a little sparse right now and you’d like to fill them up with the best UI/UX books a designer can have, then today’s blog is here to help... We’ve compiled a list of the top UI/UX books to help you boost your skills and set yourself apart in 2025! Whether you’re a beginner, a seasoned pro, or anything in between, these must-reads are packed with the inspiration and advice you need!

The most useful and practical UX design books to help UX designers create seamless user experiences. The UX design process is becoming an increasingly important aspect of creating quality website applications and software products. There are heaps of different UX design books out there with a myriad of techniques and methods that are important for us to know and use as UX designers. I’ve read quite a few design books over the past few decades and they’ve definitely helped me level up my UX design skills. It can be confusing figuring out the right UX design practices to use, so I’ve put together a list of some of the best UX design books I’ve read. I’d love to hear what your favourites are and how they’ve helped you improve your design process.

UX design, or user experience design, is the process of creating websites or applications that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. It involves designing the overall interaction between users and a product, ensuring that the product is not only functional but also easy to use, enjoyable, and tailored to meet the user’s needs. The primary goal of UX design is to create products that are user-friendly, efficient, and enjoyable to use. Good UX design makes a product feel intuitive, reducing the effort required to learn and use it. It’s about solving problems for the user and delivering a product that meets their needs in the most effective way possible.

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