101 UX Principles

Publisher's note: This edition from 2018 is outdated and doesn't make use of the most recent UX best-practices. A new 2nd edition, updated for latest use cases and examples, has now been published.

Book Description

We want our UX to be brilliant. We want to create stunning user experiences. We want our UX to drive the success of our business with useful and usable software products. This book draws on the wisdom and training of Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman to help you get your UX right - in 101 ways!

101 UX Principles shows you the 101 most important things you need to know about usability and design. A practical reference for UX professionals, and a shortcut to greatness for anyone who needs a clear and wise selection of principles to guide their UX success. Learn the key principles that drive brilliant UX design.

Enjoy 101 Principles including 'Good UX has a Beginning, a Middle, and an End', 'Make Your Links Look Like Links', 'Don't Use Obsolete Icons', 'Decide Whether an Interaction Should Be Obvious, Easy, or Possible', 'Test with Real Users', 'Making the most of fonts', 'Good UX for search results', and 'Show your user - don't tell your user!'

“Good to read from beginning to end, and a nice dip-in-and-out text, the chapter titles reminded me of principles I don't even think about explicitly when I likely should. The book inspired me to start more explicitly articulating some of the principles I just take for granted.”

- Elizabeth Churchill, Director of User Experience at Google

“This is a great practical read. It is convenient to use as a reference when solving real UX problems. I would definitely recommend it as an introduction to UX, but also as a good reminder of best practices for more experienced designers.”

- Anne-Marie Leger, Designer at Shopify

Some more of the 101 UX Principles featured in this book:

Work with user expectations not against them

How to build upon established metaphors

How to arrange navigation elements

How to introduce new ideas to your user

Matching pagination and content structure

When invention is not good for UX

Striving for simplicity

Reducing user tasks

What to make clickable

Making the most of fonts

Making your links look like links

Picking the right control for the job

Data input and what users care about

How to handle destructive user actions

When color should not convey information

Tappable areas and the size of fingers

Getting payment details the right way

Use the standard e-commerce pattern

If you really must use a flat design

When to use progress bars or spinners

Dropdowns the right and wrong way

Handling just-off-screen content

How to do Hamburger menus right

When to hide Advanced Settings

Good UX for Notifications