(Book Review) The Elements of User Experience, 2nd Edition

Overview

Review Published: August, 2015.

From UX designer, author, and consultant Jesse James Garrett comes an overview of UX Design and how it works.

From outlining his model of UX design, to a detailed run-through of the activities necessary for a successful project, this book serves as a definitive guide for new and experienced UX designers alike.

Rating:

4.5 / 5

(Great Content, Presentation is Engaging)

What does this score mean?

Difficulty:

Beginner (Assumes no previous knowledge of UX Design).

Length:

172 pages.

Where to Buy It:

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What's Good

Simplifies the understanding of User-Experience Design as a whole; the author has provided a clear and simple picture of the activities that go into the process of UX design, and how they build upon each other to create a user-focused solution.
Updated to include different types of UX projects; the second edition goes further into sharing how this model can be applied across various product types (i.e. apps, websites, software, etc.), and broadening what UX Design can be used for.
A comprehensive & easy-to-understand introduction; the author does a great job of moving through each discipline in his 5-plane model of UX Design, and presents everything in an easy-to-follow way.

What Can Be Improved

Model of UX Design doesn’t include Content Strategy; while the author admits this up-front, it is still a significant gap that could be addressed in an updated 3rd edition (if only to show where it fits in the broader framework of UX Design).
No further reading; if readers want to take the next step into UX design it’s up to them to figure out where to go, and this could be easily solved with a small “further reading” section in a future edition.

The Bottom Line

Great first-step for those serious about UX design; while this book can only go so far into each discipline, it provides an essential framework for working and learning more about UX.
For any level of UX designer & interested stakeholders involved in product development; this book does a great job of formalizing a complex field into understandable bites, and provides an accessible overview of how they interact to create successful products.
An essential resource & reference; although a little bit pricey (around $50) this book is a fantastic resource for anybody looking to learn more about UX Design, and can be recommended to anyone involved in product development (i.e. project managers, developers, stakeholders, etc.) so that they can be more effective when working alongside designers.