Skip to content

Non-design books for designers

141: To be a good product designer, you must grasp more than just design principles, do research to understand user wants, and focus on your soft skills.

Alex Dovhyi
Alex Dovhyi
— 2 min read

Every time my students ask me about book recommendations for designers, I struggle to answer this question. There are many resources that provide a list of design related books. And every time they share the same ones, which is somewhat annoying.

To be a good product designer, you must grasp more than just design principles, do research to understand user wants, and focus on your soft skills.

Product design is a difficult, multi-disciplinary practice that necessitates a mastery of a wide range of concepts and methodologies, especially if you want to become a senior product designer.

Here is a collection of my favorite books that helped me comprehend various disciplines and widen my perspective on product development and the role of the designer in it.

Handpicked for you

Members Public

Create slowly, Taste, Good design is intentional

151: Embracing the process to figure out the most elegant and sustainable solution, Examining taste more objectively, Why intention matters.

Create slowly, Taste, Good design is intentional
Members Public

How behavioral science can boost your designs

150: People do not always behave logically. We say one thing and then do something else. We even go against our instincts.

Members Public

Bad design managers, Write like you design, The future of design systems

149: The damage of bad design managers, Derivation of Dieter Rams’s principles to illustrate how writing is often the same as design, Unlocking design theming and logic with Figma Variables.