Best User Experience & Website Usability Books of 2025

Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter) by Steve Krug is a must-read for anyone working on websites. Krug's witty and practical guide has been helping designers and developers understand the principles of intuitive navigation and information design since its first publication in 2000. The latest edition includes updated examples and a new chapter on mobile usability, making it even more relevant today. With over 600,000 copies in print, this book has done more to improve the abilities of web designers than any other. It's short, profusely illustrated, and fun to read.

This book, "Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value," offers a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery, helping product teams infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. Author Teresa Torres teaches readers how to balance action with doubt so they can get started without being blindsided by what they don't get right. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to discover products that customers love, while also delivering business results.

Grokking Algorithms by Manning Publications is a friendly and fully illustrated guide that teaches programmers how to apply algorithms to solve practical problems. The book starts with basic topics like sorting and searching, and gradually progresses to more advanced subjects like data compression and artificial intelligence. The use of helpful diagrams and annotated Python code samples makes the learning process easy and engaging. This book is highly recommended for programmers who want to understand the most important algorithms effectively without slogging through dense proofs.

Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever is a practical guide that focuses on principles, tactics, and actionable methods for presenting designs to stakeholders, clients, and other non-designers. The book teaches how to empathize with stakeholder perspectives, cultivate listening skills, express effective feedback, create the right documentation, and follow through on decisions. The real-life examples and stories make it engaging and applicable. This book is a must-read for anyone involved in design, from engineers to executives, and it will change the way designers talk about design.

Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri is a must-read for anyone in product management. The book focuses on how organizations can adopt customer-centric practices to create real value instead of just shipping features. It teaches how to build a product culture that benefits both the business and the customer by communicating and collaborating effectively. The book covers product management principles that can be applied to any organization, big or small. Overall, Escaping the Build Trap is an insightful and practical guide that can help any organization avoid the trap of just building features and focus on delivering value to customers.

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, Third Edition by Jesse Schell presents over 100 sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design. This book describes the deepest and most fundamental principles of game design, demonstrating how tactics used in board, card, and athletic games also work in video games. The book provides practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again. The author, Jesse Schell, is a top game designer, professor, and CEO of Schell Games, LLC. This book is an essential resource for game designers and enthusiasts alike.

The book "Laws of UX: Using Psychology to Design Better Products & Services" by Jon Yablonski is a practical guide that explains how designers can use principles of psychology to build more intuitive and human-centered products and experiences. Yablonski deconstructs familiar apps and experiences to provide clear examples of how UX designers can build experiences that adapt to how users perceive and process digital interfaces. The book covers the most useful psychology principles for designers, predictive models, ethical implications of using psychology in design, and a framework for applying these principles. Overall, the book is a valuable resource for designers who want to improve the user experience of their products and services.

The "Universal Principles of UX" is a comprehensive encyclopedia that focuses on user experience design. It covers 100 laws, guidelines, human biases, and general considerations in a clear and easy-to-navigate format. The book is organized into six categories, covering everything from research to validation. Each principle is presented in a two-page format, with a succinct definition and visual examples to support a deeper understanding. This book is a must-have for designers, engineers, managers, and students who want to broaden and improve their user experience design expertise.

The iPad Seniors Guide is a step-by-step manual that helps non-tech-savvy seniors master their iPads in no time. Written by an Apple engineer, this guide offers easy-to-follow instructions on how to set up and use iPads, including selecting the right model, setting up internet and apps, and using social media. It also provides helpful tips on taking pictures and video-calling loved ones. The book is designed to cater to the learning style of older people, making it an essential tool for seniors who want to unlock all the amazing benefits of their iPads.

The HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide is a comprehensive book that teaches the fundamentals of HTML5 and CSS3 for web design. The author, David DuRocher, breaks down the complex concepts into manageable and engaging segments, making it approachable for beginners. The book is currently used in college-level courses and is an Amazon bestseller. The bonus digital asset access includes hands-on projects, GitHub code repository, online tools, and resources. The book is perfect for job seekers, artists, bloggers, digital entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to create modern and responsive websites. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for beginners and experienced developers alike.