Ask HN: What's the best book on modern UI/UX?

"Don't Make Me Think" is a good read, but the direct info is not really as important as the point it is trying to make. Aggressively reducing friction and decisions for the user at all points. If reading that book helps get that point across then it's worth the read. On how to do that...

If you are new to design, just pickup a used intro textbook on design. Something like "Design Basics" by Lauer and Pentak. Or really any intro book on design. They all cover the same basic concepts you'll need for UI/UX design. Fundamental stuff like visual hierarchy and composition. Honestly, just go find a used one for $8 and read through it. Most of them are pretty quick reads.

After that, although no one really goes out and tells you this, it involves a lot of following the trends and looking at past work and pulling in ideas and pieces together to create a new design. Another comment in this thread talks about how they don't write books and this is pretty accurate. A designer rarely just sits at a blank screen and starts from nothing. They usually have a list, whether formally or informally, of examples and ideas to start with. Then through iteration, critique and testing they mold something into a complete design/interface. But one typically needs some background learning in the basic fundamentals of design and typography to piece everything together. Remember, part of good UX is doing what the user expects. Which often means using conventions and design elements the user has already seen.

So pick up a book on typography and basic design and then find some design blogs that seem well written. For example Airbnb has a fairly nice one https://airbnb.design/. Best of luck!

https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-the-design-of-everyd...