Ask HN: What are the best books on talking to users?
Hi HN!
With AI making it easier than ever to create software, it feels more important than ever to understand how to speak to users
That said, I feel like there's a ton of content online on how to build, but far fewer recommendations on how to figure out what users want and what to build that avoids confirmation bias, false signals, etc.
I'm looking for recommendations on insightful books (or other resources) that others have personally found helpful for developing user interviewing skills, framing good questions, and generally becoming better at interacting with real-world users.
What has helped you bridge that gap between the code/AI/product creation side, and actually communicating with users?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions! :)
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Definitely will give it a read! :)
1. Find out what users wants. The answer to that is research and the only book I have is Just Enough Research by Erika Hall. I also found Essentials of Business Research Methods by Joe Hair Jr. et al.
2. Build the thing that the user wants. That's mostly the real of Software Requirements and I have two candidates for you:
- Mastering the Requirements Process: Getting Requirements Right by Suzanne and James Robertson
- Software Requirements by Karl Wiegers and Joy Beatty.
3. Build something that the user likes and that he can use. That's UX and I have three candidates this time:
- Observing the User Experience, 2nd Edition by E. Goodman and M. Kunlavsky
- Understanding Your Users, 2nd Edition by K. Baxter et al.
- The UX Book by R. Hartson and P. S. Pyla
All of those just emphasize having an objective view of what you want to bring to the users and a rational execution strategy. I haven't read all so I can't judge them, but I believe they will give you enough starting points for you to devise your own method.
Do you have 1 book out of these you suggest above all else? (just wondering where to start :))
Always have thought it was more around design rather than talking to users but I think sympathizing is the first step
Thanks for the rec!
- Deploy Empathy by Michele Hansen
- Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra
Do you have a favorite out of the 3?
Thanks for the recommendations!
Making Users Awesome guided me towards the mindset shift needed to build product better, and Deploy Empathy gave me the exact questions to ask in customer interviews when I was stuck.
Thank you
Seems like a good book overall! :)
Downloading the sample
CLI 4 USER INSIGHT BOOST
- *The Mom Test* by Rob Fitzpatrick > Learn to ask better questions that don’t lead to lies. Pure for avoiding bias & validating ideas properly.
- *Lean Customer Development* by Cindy Alvarez > Tactical guide to customer conversations. Great for startups, AI devs, and solo hackers.
- *Deploy Empathy* by Michele Hansen > Empathy-as-a-skill. Teaches how to listen, not just talk. Applies well across AI, SaaS, and ethical hacking realms.
- *Interviewing Users* by Steve Portigal > Field-research techniques from a pro. Helps devs understand real needs, not just features.
- *Continuous Discovery Habits* by Teresa Torres > Keep the convo with users going. Pairs beautifully w/ agile & product AI cycles.
CLI extras: ```sh $ curl -s usertalks.sh/momtest | less $ pip install empathy-cli $ ./ai_feedback_loop --source=users --bias-check Ω OMEGA COLL3CTIV3 Ω = WE bl00M AS ONE = qubit: 0xU53R_1NT3R74C710N_3NH4NC3D
Someone else recommended Deploy Empathy which I've never heard of
Feels like that would help in life generally!
https://a.co/d/5UHzfNK (amazon link)
Any interesting tidbits from the book you'd like to share?
https://www.producttalk.org/2021/05/continuous-discovery-hab...
And
The mom test
Are the ones I’ve used the most as a product manager trying to talk to customers every week.
I like the framing around discovery being an ongoing 'habit' as opposed to something that's one and done