The Best Product Design Resources
A list of resources to learn product design that I wish I had when I started out.
Last updated on 2 March 2023
The reason for this list
When friends ask me how to get into UX or Product Design, I always send them a list of resources off the top of my head.
There are a couple of problems with that list:
- It's not consistent, meaning I sometimes forget to include stuff that I think is helpful
- It's not public, so other people can't benefit from it.
That's what motivated this "listicle." The idea is to continue improving it with time — I hope you'll find it helpful.
LinkedIn accounts 💼
- Memorisely – I love their "supafast" short clips with advanced Figma tips
- theFutur — These guys are a quality content powerhouse, so you might as well follow them everywhere
- Chris Do — The best part about following Chris Do on LinkedIn is when he likes or comments on something, it'll pop up in your feed, so he's acting as a top-notch content curator.
- Hang Xu – Focuses on job hunting and has a superb sense of humor.
- Romina Kavcic – Insightful posts about design tokens and design strategy
YouTube channels 🎥
- Mizko — Founder of The Designership
- theFutur — Started by, and featuring Chris Do
- MDS — Fantastic designer you should be following
Books 📘
- Designing for People — Henry Dreyfuss.
- Less But Better (Weniger Aber Besser) — Dieter Rams. Design boss at Braun during its golden era.
- The Vignelli Canon — by Massimo Vignelli. Most famous for designing the NY Metro signs and map.
- Don't Make Me Think — Steve Krug
- The Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman (also great TED talks)
- Mobile First — Luke W (also great conferences on YouTube)
- Thinking, Fast and Slow - Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman. It's a bit long. You don't have to read the whole thing, but if you do, it's packed with great insights into how our brain processes external stimuli. In my opinion, it's the best non-design book that a designer can read.
- Just Enough Research — Erika Hall. Great to-the-point summary of research methods to be aware of and where it makes sense to apply them.
- UX Pin - almost of them
update from 9 February 2023 — I came across this list of books by Chris Oliver. While comprehensive lists can foster serendipity or as reference, I find they are not really actionable. You should still research the book to decide if it's for you.
Ed Orozco
Podcasts 🎙️
- theFutur Podcast
- The Design Better Podcast by Invision
Websites 🖥️
Read these instead of doomstrolling on Instagram and TikTok
- https://lawsofux.com/ — Basically, a cheat sheet of psychological principles applied to digital product design.
- https://growth.design/ — Insightful breakdowns of mainstreams apps.
- https://staff.design/ — Stories about making a career as an individual contributor.
- https://builtformars.com/ — Peter Ramsey's blog. He writes some of the most in-depth UX case studies I've seen.
- https://anthonyhobday.com/sideprojects/visualtechniques/ — Enrich your visual design vocabulary with this comprehensive collection of visual techniques.
Online conferences 📣
TBH 100% honest, I rarely invest the time in watching these. I much rather watch the 10 min recap later. However, lots of folks like them. So decide for yourself.
- Figma Config
- AWWWARDS
- Dribbble conference
Contribute to this list 📨
I want this list to be as helpful as possible.
If there's anything you think I should include, shoot me an email at ed@edorozco.com and I'll add it.
Cheers ✌️