Die besten 20 Bücher zu Design Thinking

Lean UX (2013) is a guide to applying lean principles to interactive design workspaces. These blinks explain the techniques of Lean UX and outline how you can best integrate them into your company’s design process. You’ll learn the importance of close collaboration and customer feedback, as well as how to constantly improve your designs.

• Anyone interested in how lean startup tactics apply to a design environment
• People who want to design successful user experience more efficiently
• Managers of design-based projects, or any professionals involved in one

In a world where data, numbers and statistics are treated like holy relics, Sensemaking (2017) powerfully advocates a return to humanities-based thinking. These blinks explain the process and principles of sensemaking, a way to make sense of the world through the interpretation of human culture. Being able to look beyond the immediate focus and understand the context surrounding the issues at hand is a critical tool for anyone looking to develop great, one-of-a-kind ideas.

• Devotees of the human sciences, philosophers, linguists and historians
• Students of STEM looking to expand their potential
• Business leaders and entrepreneurs

This is Service Design Thinking (2011) presents the core principles of service design. By providing tools and real-life examples, it’s a great introduction to this evolving and interdisciplinary approach to designing services. These blinks present the most salient information on the subject.

• Entrepreneurs and innovators
• Students and professionals of design
• Marketers and consultants

Better Together (2018) is an examination of how school networks are transforming students’ education experiences across the United States to make them college and career ready. It illuminates how networks provide new learning models, foster ongoing professional development, and facilitate personalized education to help each child reach their full potential.

• Educators establishing new schools with nontraditional learning models
• School leaders wanting to increase student engagement levels and performance
• District superintendents looking to innovate learning

ROI in Marketing (2020) lays out a framework for planning and running effective marketing initiatives that deliver good financial results. Using design thinking principles, ROI in Marketing breaks down how to create chains of impact in marketing campaigns and monitor their effectiveness to ensure positive returns on investment.

• Marketing professionals who want to up their game
• Executives looking for a financially viable marketing blueprint
• Students and teachers in the field of marketing

UX for Lean Startups (2013) provides an innovative, cost-effective approach to researching and designing products and services. Geared toward start-ups and companies that want to act like them, it shows that you can provide your customers with an excellent user experience while keeping your time and money expenditures as lean as possible.

• Entrepreneurs
• Product designers, managers, and engineers
• Start-up workers and founders

Radical Product Thinking (2021) lays out a step-by-step approach to developing game-changing products. Taking aim at the iteration-led approaches to product development that have become popular in recent years, it provides an inspiring, vision-driven alternative. 

• Product developers 
• Entrepreneurs 
• Change-makers

Continuous Discovery Habits (2021) explores how product managers and designers can keep making a positive impact on their customers’ lives. It explores an optimal decision-making process for product teams, so that they can continue to improve their offerings. 

• Product managers looking for a new way of working
• Entrepreneurs seeking a fresh perspective on creativity
• Product designers

Creative Acts for Curious People (2021) collects insights about creativity and design taught in the classrooms of Stanford’s renowned Hasso Plattner School of Design, also known as the d.school. In addition to essays about the mindset and skills required for creative action, it offers over 80 practical exercises used by instructors from dozens of fields including medicine, education, and nonprofit to help improve your ability to solve problems, whether personal or on a global scale.

• Anyone who wants to boost problem-solving skills
• Leaders seeking to improve teamwork
• Creative practitioners from any field

The Things We Make (2023) dispels the myth around some of the greatest and most ordinary inventions. It retells their making as a creative application of the engineering method, a principle that explains how people in ancient times built some of the marvels that still capture our imagination today.

• Anyone fascinated about how things of beauty and utility are made
• Engineering history buffs
• Curious minds trying to apply the engineering method to their own lives

The Design Thinking Workbook (2022) provides a guide and template for problem-solving in creative, innovative ways. Meadows and Parikh share foundational skills, tools, and techniques essential to effectively addressing challenges and increasing productivity in any field of work. Their advice will help practitioners of design thinking – from beginners to experts – upgrade their creativity and increase their effectiveness when pursuing goals.

• Leaders looking to improve their team’s problem-solving abilities
• Anyone interested in boosting individual and team productivity
• People looking to boost their creativity

Laws of UX (2020) is a handy guidebook for anyone interested in user experience, or UX – especially as it applies to web or app design. It lays out some of the fundamental rules that inform superior product design and shows how these rules are tied to human psychology. 

• Web designers and developers
• People curious about technology and human behavior
• Anyone who’d like to create a better website

The Poetry and Music of Science (2019) delves into the creative parallels between scientific inquiry and artistic expression. It explores how scientific pursuits, much like poetry and music, are deeply rooted in human creativity and storytelling, and how both domains are united in their quest to understand and interpret the world.

• Those wanting to know about the creative process behind discoveries
• Artists, musicians, writers interested in the parallels between their work and scientific breakthroughs
• Lifelong learners fascinated by topics like human creativity, innovation, and problem-solving

Liminal Thinking (2016) shows how you can create lasting change by understanding and reframing your beliefs. Drawing from interviews with experts in various fields, it offers six principles and nine practices to help you shape your reality and take control of your life.

• People looking to grow by challenging their limiting beliefs
• Leaders wanting to create change through new perspectives
• Problem solvers seeking fresh approaches to difficult situations

The Great Mental Models, Volume 4 (2024) explains how the worlds of economics and art shape our decisions and influence the outcomes of our lives. It dives into powerful mental frameworks that transform the way we think, act, and create. Whether you're a business leader, artist, or lifelong learner, this book will give you the tools to navigate complexity with clarity and purpose.

• Economics enthusiasts and students
• Artists and creatives
• Personal development and self-improvement fans

Deep Future (2025) argues that the tech industry has focused too narrowly on software and digital disruption while neglecting the fundamental physical industries that sustain human life: energy, manufacturing, food, and infrastructure. If we think bigger, we can enter an era of "Deep Tech," where advanced technologies will finally tackle these massive, previously ignored challenges that affect everyone on Earth. 

• Entrepreneurs who want to solve real problems instead of just launching apps
• Engineers who want to apply their technical skills to meaningful challenges
• Investors who want to identify paradigm-breaking opportunities

Playful (2025) argues that free, open-ended play is a mindset and daily practice that unlocks creativity, lowers stress, and strengthens connection. Drawing on psychology, design, and lived examples, it offers practical prompts and environments to help individuals and teams build playful habits at home and at work.

• Overworked team leaders seeking playful innovation methods
• Curious parents and educators building open-ended creativity
• Stressed people wanting lighter, more joyful routines

A Smarter Way to Learn HTML & CSS by Mark Myers is a comprehensive guide that takes a unique and interactive approach to teaching web development. Through a series of exercises and quizzes, the book helps readers build a solid foundation in HTML and CSS. With clear explanations and real-world examples, it's a great resource for beginners looking to learn these essential languages for creating websites.

• Individuals who want to learn the basics of building and designing websites

• Beginners with no prior experience in HTML and CSS

• Aspiring web developers looking to start their coding journey

Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson is a comprehensive guide that explores the importance of content in the digital world. It offers practical advice and strategies for creating and managing content that is valuable, relevant, and engaging for your target audience. Whether you are a marketer, designer, or business owner, this book will help you develop a solid content strategy to achieve your goals online.

• Professionals in marketing, communications, or content creation

• Business owners or entrepreneurs looking to improve their online presence

• Individuals interested in understanding the strategic approach to creating and managing digital content

Making Your Website Work by Gill Andrews is a practical guide that helps business owners and entrepreneurs optimize their websites for better results. With actionable tips and real-life examples, this book covers everything from website structure and design to content and user experience, empowering readers to create a website that truly works for their business.

• Entrepreneurs and business owners looking to optimize their website for better results

• Marketing professionals who want to improve their website's performance and conversion rates

• Web designers and developers who want to create websites that effectively communicate and convert