I was once asked to share information to help someone get up to speed in the world of UX. In response, I generated a somewhat lengthy list of books, resources, and software applications that I felt were critical to the discipline and the trade.
Here’s a slightly revised version of the list that I presented to a small group in 2014. I trust many newer/aspiring and seasoned UX professionals will find this list handy:
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Overview of User Experience (Career)
Wireframing & Diagramming
- “The Importance of Wireframing” with Jim Babbage*
- Omnigraffle (Mac users only)
- Visio
- MindNode/MindNode Pro (Mac/iOS, mindmapping only)
Prototyping & Concepting
- “Foundations of UX” with James Williamson*
- “Prototyping Tools” with James Williamson*
- Axure
- iRise
- InVision
- UXPin
- Justinmind
- Balsamiq
Remote User Testing
Graphic Design
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
Associations & Learning Resources
- User Experience Professionals Association
- Interaction Design Foundation
- Information Architecture Institute
- Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T)
- SIGCHI
- Interaction Design Association
- Content Strategy Alliance
- Customer Experience Professionals Association
Learning Resources
- Usability Body of Knowledge
- Nielsen-Norman Group
- Interaction Design Foundation
- The Team W
- User Interface Engineering
YouTube Videos
- The ROI of User Experience (Susan Weinschenk)
- UX Tutorial: The 5-Second Test (Lynda.com)
- Building a Winning UX Strategy Using the Kano Model (Jared Spool)
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but it should provide a great foundational and/or reference point and encourage learners to delve deeper into the discipline.
Enjoy!