Hey, guys.
Alan Brannigan here.
In this video we're going to discuss the top five product
design books that I think every entrepreneur should read.
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When it comes to product design, there's
a whole plethora of books out there
ranging from human cognition and buying habits
to understanding grid systems in graphics design.
What I've tried to do here is cover five books
that cover a broad range that could
be applicable to web design, app design, physical product
design, electronics design, and understanding
too that not every entrepreneur is
a product designer by default.
You might be a sales and marketing expert.
Your experience might be in finance, whatever it is.
But you may have to do the first round of product design
just purely out of bootstrapping yourself.
But if you're lucky enough to have
a team of people or contractors to do that for you,
you should at least understand the process.
And these five books, I hope, will give you
a broad range of understanding to at least start you
on their journey and discovery process.
And you can decide then where you go from there.
So let's take a look.
Starting at number five is Value Proposition Design
by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.
Now, this follows on from their first book, Business Model
Generation, and it really takes the key elements of that book
and hones into more detail.
What I really like about this book
is it really hones in on the value proposition
for your target customers, which is
obviously paramount to any business venture.
But it really breaks it down in simple layman's terms.
And just graphically this book is fantastic.
It's really, really laid out really
nicely, really good guides.
And while I also really like Business Model Generation,
I just think value proposition design is probably
where your key area of focus should be.
It's great having a business model,
but you've got to get the value proposition right first,
in my opinion.
So I would really check this one out.
It's really, really easy to read.
It's wonderfully laid out in terms of its graphics.
It's got really, really pragmatic, useful tools for you
to follow through.
This is one that any entrepreneur could
pick up and take a look at it.
It doesn't matter whether you're writing a book,
creating a movie, starting a high-tech venture, whether it's
a consultancy service, really the principles
told in this book cover all aspects of whatever
your venture might be.
Coming in at number four is The Art of Innovation
by Tom Kelley--
Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, arguably the world's greatest
design firm.
I highlight this book because there's
a real emphasis on brainstorming,
but also collaboration, innovation,
creativity with a team.
And it's a really, really easy read.
It covers real life experiences from the team within IDEO
and a broad range of examples.
And like I say, I think it's just a-- it's quite a fun read,
very light-hearted, but also gives
some real-world experiences about how you actually
create and innovate as a team as opposed to just design
principles.
So a very, very practical book.
And like I say, you can't really go wrong
if you're taking a lead from the world's greatest design
company.
Coming in at number three is Hooked by Nir Eyal,
also available on Kindle.
I'm outside and didn't have the book with me.
This book focuses on how to build better products
and is very much a user guide for customer engagement.
It explains in detail what they call the hook process, which
effectively is a four-step process embedded
in customer engagement and product
design by many successful companies.
So beyond just design process, this one
really hones in on customer behavior-- how
we as human beings form habits.
And how companies can harness that and understand
that to provide better value and better engagement
to those customers, understanding how they're
going to interact or what are the drivers
or triggers that they see benefit in when
engaging with your product.
I think it's important to understand behavioral habits
when you're designing.
And so this one goes a little bit esoteric
but nonetheless, is a very, very popular book and one
I'd suggest you read.
Coming in at number 2 is Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.
This is one of the quintessential books
on UX design.
Although it was written some time ago,
the fundamentals still hold true.
I love this book because it's very, very candid,
and it's sad to say we are emotional human beings.
We're a little bit flawed.
We're a little bit lazy.
And this book really hones in on that
and understands that in terms of how we should be laying out
our web sites, understanding how we really
behave when we're searching.
And I know this book is very much focused on web design,
and we're trying to cover a broad spectrum
of potential opportunities or products,
but even so the fundamentals of how we behave remains the same.
So I really enjoyed this book.
I think it's very funny.
It really breaks things down very simply.
So if you're a beginner, this is going
to be a great book for you.
It doesn't go into very technical jargon.
It talks about the average user and it--
I guess it's targeted at an audience that is just
sort of finding their way.
And it's also applicable to those
who do this for a living in terms
of web design and UX design.
It's a great, great book by one of the main commentators
in this space.
And as you can see, it's not that thick.
It's laid out with very nice illustrations.
I really, really enjoyed this book.
I think you'll find this one funny.
But the underlying principles are very, very common,
and very important when you're factoring in your design.
Yes, it's focused on web design.
But you could apply, I guess, the behavioral focus
or understanding to any product that you're working on.
And finally, the book I think you should all read
is the Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
This is the quintessential book on user-centered design
and usability.
Again, irrespective of what type of product
you're delivering or service, and even if you are not
the designer, as an entrepreneur understanding how your end
users are actually going to identify and use your product
is key, right?
And what this book does really, really well
is that it understands that all of us are fallible.
What we might think is really easy and intuitive,
most people won't.
So this covers everything from, yep,
teapots to how to open up and close doors.
Very, very basic things, but things that we take for
granted that aren't necessarily true.
This is a must-read.
Of all the five I've presented, I would start with this one.
It's very, very easily laid out.
It's, again, designed-- no pun intended-- for the layman.
So you should all understand it irrespective of
whether you have a design background or not.
So that's it, guys.
I hope you enjoyed that.
If you find it useful or not, please leave your comments
below.
I wish you well on your learning journey.
And, again, please up-vote, follow, like,
subscribe, all that good stuff.
Until next time.
Thanks, guys.
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