UX audiobooks, podcasts and other things to listen to 🎧
By Jason Stockwell, Insights Marketing Manager at People for Research
If, like me, you’ve exhausted your record collection, you’ve probably turned to podcasts as a form of escapism. Once you are done with comedy, crime stories and news, it’s worth digging deeper into areas that can help to improve your career.
This is not an exhaustive UX audio list by no means, but it’s a good start if you’re looking to keep up with what’s happening in the industry and go a bit deeper into the archives.
Audiobooks
🎧 UX Design for Growth
Author: Molly Norris Walker
As a user experience professional, you have the power to influence your companies’ trajectories and peoples’ lives. This audiobook covers the day-to-day design operations in a way that convinces people to take action based on your findings and get buy-in from people to justify your findings. The audiobook uses case studies and covers simple and low-cost design techniques deployed by companies of all sizes.
🎧 UX: Learn to Design Great Products for a Better User Experience
Author: Steven Branson
If you are looking for a complete guide in UX that you can digest in just a few hours, this audiobook is for you. It showcases a different approach to user experience development covering UX design principles, implementation practices and how good UX leads to benefits for businesses.
🎧 UX Lifecycle | The Business Guide to Implementing Great Software User Experiences
Authors: Jeremy Baines & Clive Howard
The perfect start to your UX journey. This audiobook addresses the basics, the importance of user research and how the process is all about continually improving products and services.
🎧 User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play
Authors: Robert Fabricant & Cliff Kuang
This was one of the first audiobooks I added to my list, and I’m sure you’ll do the same. I learn through stories and the ones included in this audiobook are engaging. It covers the hidden rules governing how design shapes our behaviour. Some of the stories include what the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island reveals about the logic of the smartphone and how a failed vision for Disney World yielded a new paradigm for design experience.
🎧 The Design of Everyday Things
Author: Don Norman
Published in 1988, but still relevant! Anyone who designs anything to be used by humans must read (or listen to) this book, and it is an equally interesting read for anyone who uses anything (so, all of us) created by another human.
🎧 Design Is a Job
Author: Mike Monteiro
Flipping hilarious, and I took a lot away from it. It’s not often someone’s personality comes across in a book, and this one is exceptional.
Podcasts
🎙 UX Podcast
Hosts: James Royal-Lawson and Per Axbom
We kick off the list with the long running UX Podcast. The focus here is on insights from business, tech and people. A lot of the podcasts are interviews with user researchers and people who work in the industry sharing their experiences.
🎙 UI Breakfast: UI/UX design and product strategy
Host: Jane Portman
Jane Portman talks all things UX strategy, trends and best practice and has exciting conversations about UX/UI and product releases with guests. A must subscribe for all user experience and user interface design professionals!
🎙 Shop Talk
Host: Dave Rupert & Chris Coyier
A podcast that focusses on the process of building websites, from development to front-end web design and UX. It’s the perfect on-the-go audio show to keep you up to date on tech and design updates and development trends.
🎙 99% Invisible
Host: Roman Mars
The ultimate design-for-real-life podcast. If you’ve ever wondered how they’ve designed anything, 99PI have probably covered it. From architecture to street signs, this is a must-listen regardless of your background.
Host: Jason Ogle
User Defenders: Podcast highlights those leading the way in their craft by diving deeper into who they are and what makes them tick, in order to inspire and equip those aspiring to do the same.
Hosts: Laura Klein & Kate Rutter
This podcast pair beverages with podcasts to make the most of your listening experience. A funny take on user experience and all the flaws that come with it.
🎙 Design Life
Hosts: Charli Marie & Femke van Schoonhoven
Design Life is a podcast about design and side projects for motivated creators. It was born after the hosts, two serial side-project addicts, saw a gap in the podcast market for a conversational show led by women that focussed on design and the issues young creatives face.
What about you, what have you been listening to during this time?
We want to keep in touch! Join our mailing list to receive our newsletter and/or our monthly round-up.
