Here at Experience UX we love our books. We like to keep a couple of shelves well stocked with books, new and old, that we can turn to for inspiration in any aspect of our world. Our shelves are full of advice whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out. Usability and user experience are the common topics, and come in many forms. Business development, self-improvement, finances. We’ve got it covered somewhere. Conversion rate optimisation is influenced by knowledge from all these books (and more). There is nothing better than on the job training, but a good book helps you to understand from the beginning, and refine when you get to the top.
Recently we came across this great article by Shane Snow called “You are what you read: 14 thought leaders share their bookshelves”, who invited friends and people he admired to send him photographs of their bookshelves. Shane then extended the invite to Thought Leaders. Here at Experience UX we found this fascinating to see what people choose to read to inspire them. As a result we snapped a couple of shots of our book shelves and asked a couple of our fellow digital friends to share their bookshelves too. Enjoy!
Experience UX (@ExperienceSolns) book shelves; old and new classics, and some not so classics. Usability Testing, User Experience, Interactive Design, Conversion Rate Optimisation, business, and some gaming action. Here in the office we think ‘The inmates are running the asylum’ by Alan Cooper (@MrAlanCooper) is a fantastic read, along with ‘This is service design thinking’ by Marc Stickdorn (@MrStickdorn) and Jakob Scheider (@jakoblies) and ‘Designing interactions’ by Bill Moggridge (@billmoggridge). My personal favourite is ‘SPIN–selling’ by Neil Rackham.
Paul Trenchard-Seys (@PaulSeys) is currently ‘in-between’ book shelves, but he’s managed to keep some excellent books out of storage. Rework by Jason Fried (@JasonFried) and David Heinemeier Hansson (@dhh) should be on everyone’s book shelf:
Jamie Shanks (@JamieShanks) confessed to being totally digital now with his Kindle, but was keen to share a photo of his bookshelf of old books. Wally Olins on Brand by Wally Olins is a big hit in our office, you shouldn’t be without it:
Now I’ve seen Michael Ypes’ (The 3rd Room) full wall of books. I’m not sure how he decided which shelves to snap for this article, but at least it’s not his cookery collection:
Wise Old Uncle Matt Desmier (@MattDesmier) doesn’t actually have a library full of leather bound books, but he does have some great books here. I’m currently reading Clarity by Jamie Smart (@Jamie_Smart_) and it is a very interesting read:
Neil Dennis (@NeilDennis) has the advantage of a book shelf at his offices in Bournemouth and his offices in Chichester. This is from his Bournemouth office. Neil even has some books about beer and pubs, which our shelf is definitely missing, so I’m heading to the book shop after this to stock up!
What books do you have on your shelf? Which do you recommend? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.
