The other day one of my designer friends asked me if I have any good books to recommend.

He’s a junior designer who just recently got into reading. Just like more experienced designers he realized that the timeless wisdom can be discovered within pages.  Furthermore, like myself he wears many hats daily. Shifting from the shoes of researcher, strategist, product manager, UI designer etc. (you know the drill). And so he’s always on the lookout for some inspiration and process improvement ideas.

Right there and then I mustered a couple of obvious picks (Lean UX, Sprint etc.). And yet after thinking more, I distilled those essentials into 7 absolute musts.

If you think I should add any extra titles to this list – do let me know!