This is a nonexhaustive list of resources I recommend for design, research, accessibility, and tech.
Guides
The Ad Hoc Accessibility Beyond Compliance Playbook – Archived Copy on Internet Archive
Color in UI Design: A (Practical) Framework – Erik D. Kennedy
GOV.UK Accessibility Posters and Guide
- Dos and don’ts on designing for accessibility – Home Office
- Blog post | Guide | GitHub page | Posters
- Designing for people with dyscalculia and low numeracy – HMRC and DWP
Federal Plain Language Guidelines
- GSA Plain Language Guide
- PlainLanguage.gov – Archived Copy on Internet Archive
- PlainLanguage.gov – GitHub Archive
Qualitative Research Practice Guide – Code for America
The User Experience Research Field Guide – User Inteviews
Web Typography: Designing Tables to be Read, Not Looked At – Richard Rutter
What is Co-design? – Beyond Sticky Notes
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods – Christian Rohrer / NNGroup
Standards
10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design – Jakob Nielsen / NNGroup
15 Principles of Good Service Design – Lou Downe
Section 508 Guide to Accessible Web Design & Development – Section508.gov
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – W3C
Books
A Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide – The StoryGraph | Website
Design for Cognitive Bias – The StoryGraph | Publisher Site
Design for Real Life – The StoryGraph | Website
Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It – The StoryGraph | Website
Good Services: How to Design Services that Work – The StoryGraph | Website
Everyday Information Architecture – The StoryGraph | Website
Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights – The StoryGraph | Publisher Site
Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design – The StoryGraph | Publisher Site
Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It – The StoryGraph | Website
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech – The StoryGraph | Website
Find more books in the Monster List of UX Books.
Articles
Bye-Bye, My. – Erika Hall
Dear Tech, You Suck at Delight – Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Don’t Defend Your Work – Austin Knight
Empathy as Faux Ethics – Thomas Wendt
Erika Hall Knows How to Fix Your Design Process (But You’re Probably Not Going to Like It) – Mac Hasley & Erika Hall
How Nir Eyal’s habit books are dangerous – Per Axbom
How to embrace vulnerability and build better products – Virginia Start
Let’s Stop Doing Research* – Erika Hall
Net Promoter Score Considered Harmful (and What UX Professionals Can Do About It) – Jared Spool
Too Sensitive – Sara Wachter-Boettcher
User Research Is Not Illegal, Uncle Sam – Erie Meyer
The World is Designed for Men – Kat Ely
Videos
8 Unbelievable Things You Never Knew About Tracking – Laura Kalbag
How Designers Destroyed the World – Mike Monteiro
How to Interview Users to Uncover Insights – Steve Portigal
Just Enough Research – Erika Hall
The Oppenheimer Moment – Alan Cooper
Scaling Service Design in Government – Lou Downe
The World-Wide Work. – Ethan Marcotte
Tools
Color.review (Accessible Color Picker) – Anton Robsarve
Color Oracle (Color Blindness Simulator) – Bernie Jenny
Colour Contrast Analyser (Color Contrast Checker) – Vispero
The Good Service Scale – Lou Downe
Gradient Generator – Learn UI Design
U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) – GSA
People to Follow
Per Axbom – Website/Blog | RSS | Mastodon | Bluesky
Cory Doctorow – Website/Blog | RSS | Mastodon
Lou Downe – Website | The School of Good Services | Bluesky
Cyd Harrell – Website | Bluesky
Sam Ladner – Website | Bluesky
Ethan Marcotte – Website | Blog | RSS | Mastodon | Bluesky
Pavel Samsonov – Website | Blog | Mastodon