The design book club of one: an intro
There is a joke that I like to tell the web developers that I work with when we have our proverbial water cooler conversations. It starts with a brief chat about the work that we do, what our weekends were like, before I turn to them and go, “So…done any hacking today?”
Hilarious…I know.
Except, after the sixth or seventh time it loses its punch. We chuckle, the conversation fizzles out, and we return to whatever it is that we were doing before I decided to perform my little standup routine. I float to my corner desk, prop my chin into my hand as I gaze longingly from the office window, and sigh out, “…Hello World…” A bleak reminder that although I “work in Tech” I’m not exactly in Tech with a capital T. If you get my drift.
The reality is that I love my job. I love my job as much as I love teasing the developers that I work with. On the daily I connect with motivated and curious individuals, having conversations about their career journeys and the triggers that led them to pivot into tech. I’ve connected with students fresh from their undergraduate degree, lawyers who have been in their field for 10+ years, a published astronomer, and even a decorated olympian. What they all shared was the desire to learn something new and to get Technical (yes, with the capital T).
This is where I came up with the idea for The Design Book Club of One. This would be a way for me to better understand and familiarize myself with the principles of design while pumping up my reading stats. My overall goal is to document my reading journey to better understand Design Thinking, Information Architecture, Typography, and all the other aspects that go into great, human-centred designs.
Why Design?
Funny enough, most of my day is spent asking others this very question.
For me, design is the ultimate form of communication. We’re all familiar with the cliché, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, good design (according to this article by Adam Toda) is like a well-written book.
Since beginning my professional journey in education tech, I have wondered about how the principles of each technical discipline affect not only my work, but my day to day life. As I continued to connect with budding UX Designers, I became more and more fascinated by the psychological factors that affect design decisions. From font choice to colour to the placement of information, I began to notice and question the thought processes behind the design of every website and application I used.
To properly summarize my answer to the question, “Why Design?” I would just have to say — genuine interest, curiosity, and a desire to have more meaningful conversations with the designers I meet.
First Rule of Book Club
Talk about it…frequently.
I am an avid reader (last year I read 42 books and in 2020 I read 65) so there is no question I can turn a lot of pages. That being said, I want to walk away from each book with proper reflection and valuable insights. The best way for me to prevent my thoughts from shifting into the obscure and forgetful part of my brain is to get them written down.
Moving forward I plan to share my opinions, takeaways, and recommendations as I learn more about the Design space. After all, the whole point of a book club is discussion and reflection.
Ideally, I would be completing at minimum one Design book a month and then writing about it!
Where Do We Begin?
Over the past weeks I have been researching books that are commonly recommended for those that are new to Design. An exceptionally helpful resource has been the Monster List of UX Books.
When I connect with individuals who are curious about expanding their Design library, I always recommend The Design of Everyday Things, Don’t Make Me Think, The Laws of Simplicity, and Ruined By Design…despite never having read them myself. It’s about time that I actually get to know what I’m talking about.
My first book will be The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
If you have recommendations for books, podcasts, and/or any other design related media, let me know! I’m always up for learning more.
I’m looking forward to sharing more about this reading journey!
