I described my new habit of reading books daily in my previous Medium post. In that post, you can also read how I beat my mindless social media scrolling habit and what the author of “Atomic Habits” recommends to do, to adopt a reading habit.
In 2022 I plan to read 20 books that cover topics such as design skills and career, business, self-development, and family life. The books are sorted by categories.
Design skills
As a product designer, I am not responsible only for beautiful and pixel-perfect final designs. I also need to understand user needs and goals. I need to take into account visual perceptions, user psychology, and design principles.
I have to be able to work with rough sketches and leave space for creativity. I also need to have great facilitation skills.
These are the books I plan to read this year to help me grow as a designer:
- Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules by Jeff Johnson
- UI is Communication: How to Design Intuitive, User Centered Interfaces by Focusing on Effective Communication by Everett N. McKay
- The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs by Jim Kalbach
- Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
- The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide: How to use your listening, thinking, and drawing skills to make meaning by Brandy Agerbeck
- The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently by Sunni Brown
Design management
Once I have more experience in my current role as an individual contributor, I would like to transition into a design manager role. I recently interviewed my current manager at Pipedrive to learn more about his job and the joys and challenges that come with it. I plan to interview a few other managers within the next months.
By asking for recommendations from my manager and doing some research on my own, I decided to go with these books to learn more about design leadership:
- The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo
- Liftoff!: Practical Design Leadership to Elevate Your Team, Your Organization, and You by Chris Avore
Business
Design helps create valuable business opportunities. As a designer, I find it important to be business-aware and to know the business impact of the design solutions. It is also beneficial to be able to talk to business stakeholders in terms that they are most familiar with.
- Hacking Growth: How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success by Morgan Brown and Sean Ellis
- Onboarding Matters: How Successful Companies Transform New Customers Into Loyal Champions by Donna Weber
- Better Onboarding by Krystal Higgins
- Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
- Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation by Alexander Osterwalder and David J. Bland
- Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith, Trish Papadakos
Self-development
In addition to being a designer, I’m also a person that wants to learn and become a better self. This year I will focus on how to be less distracted and how to be a better communicator.
- Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal and Julie Li
- How to Listen: Tools for Opening Up Conversations when it Matters Most by Katie Colombus
- Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
Family Life
Having a balanced inner life and a dream job would not mean anything if I did not have my family to complement my life. I want to be an awesome mum and partner too.
- How to be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute by K. J. Dell’Antonia
- The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
- Getting the Love You Want by Harville Hendrix
What do you think, should I do a recap at the end of the year with key takeaways from all the books I read? Do you have any other books you would recommend from these categories that I posted?
