# Experience design books

> A reading list on experience design: Garrett's Elements of User Experience, Dewey's Art as Experience, Csikszentmihalyi on flow.

- Page: https://www.elasticspace.com/2003/02/experience-design/
- Author: Timo Arnall (https://www.elasticspace.com/)
- Section: Notes (https://www.elasticspace.com/notes/)
- Published: 2003-02-17
- Updated: 2026-07-05
- Tags: Adaptive Design, Books, Experience Design
- Site map for agents: https://www.elasticspace.com/llms.txt

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This is one of a series of reading lists I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design, building out a personal canon from books I was buying, borrowing from libraries, or lending to students. The lists are grouped by topic. This one is on experience design itself, the books that were building the vocabulary for the field at the time.

Jesse James Garrett’s The Elements of User Experience is still the clearest practitioner’s framework. Dewey’s Art as Experience from the 1930s is the philosophical foundation; the chapter called ‘What is an experience’ is worth reading on its own. Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow is the psychological counterpart. James Cousins’s British Rail Design, out of print, is a fascinating case study of integrated experience design across every touchpoint of a service, from seat-fabric to signage.

The Amazon links below are what I had at the time, most will be dead now, but the ISBNs will find you a copy.

### The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web

Jesse James Garrett. This small book succinctly and professionally explains the entire user-experience field. Every page has some insight to offer; from user-centred strategy to visual branding and graphics. For more information see [jjg.net](https://web.archive.org/web/20030606161000/http://www.jjg.net:80/).
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712026/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712026/elasticspace-20)

### Art as Experience

John Dewey. A classic book written in the 1930s. Read the chapter ‘What is an experience’ for the most astute and intelligent discussion of what makes our world of experience.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399500251/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399500251/elasticspace-20)

### Experience and Nature

John Dewey.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486204715/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486204715/elasticspace-20)

### Experience Design

Nathan Shedroff. Diverse and interesting examples of design being used to shape our experiences. A very poorly designed book.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710783/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710783/elasticspace-20)

### Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060920432/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060920432/elasticspace-20)

### A Natural History of the Senses

Diane Ackerman.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857994035/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679735666/elasticspace-20)

### The Shape of Content

Ben Shahn.
[amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674805704/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674805704/elasticspace-20)

### British Rail Design

James Cousins. Out of print. A fascinating overview of the complete British Rail user-experience, from the fabric for the seat covers, to carriage design, to signage and pedestrian density in stations.
[Danish Design Centre](https://web.archive.org/web/20030605150512/http://www.ddc.dk:80/UK/publications/boeger/off/off.html) / [UK booksearch](https://web.archive.org/web/20030612115941/http://beaverbooksearch.co.uk:80/).