Reading The Design Of Everyday Things by Don Norman had such impact on me that I eventually transitioned from architecture to experience design. Universal Methods of Design showed me where my passion was. Peter Morville’s Intertwingled changed my view of the whole universe. Since I finished reading it two months ago, I’ve been recommending it to pretty much anyone who talks to me. I FEEL more in control of my world. Today, I picked up The psychology of Human-Computer Interaction and the first paragraph made me want to jump in here and create this post, so that I can say how much impact books have had on my career and if you want to start a career in UX, read books that great designers have written, read about usability, information architecture, cognitive science, etc..
Read, read then read some more.
Here is the paragraph from Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction:
“A scientific psychology should not only help us to understand our own human nature, it should help us in our practical affairs. In educating our children, it should help us to design environments for learning. In building airplanes, it should help us to design for safety and efficiency. In staffing for complex jobs, it should help us to discover both the special skills required and those who might have them.”
