If you doubt this, come to my office where every little detail of a website is scrutinized. We’re not a big player in the web world. We don’t want to send our visitors screaming for the exit; we want them to come into our site and never leave. We are a black hole sucking you in. Spaghettification will begin soon…muahahahaha…..

For the last two months, we’ve been putting all our web properties under a microscope. We’ve checked every element to ensure it’s doing its job and not making it harder for our visitors to get around and read, read, read lots of stuff.

(I work for a trade magazine focused on Genetic Engineering and Biotech news; I’m their project manager for IT and the bane of certain individuals’ existence.)

Of course in doing this examination, we needed to know what the hell good user experience is. Thank God someone pulled together a list of resources aimed at explaining that. Wallow no more in ignorance! Dash over to Simon Pan’s The Only UX Reading List Ever to get the scoop.

If you need further reasons for why you should do this, Pan’s got several:

This recommended reading list is for anyone who wants to learn or deepen their knowledge in the disciplines of User Research, Usability, Information Architecture, User-Interface Design, Interaction Design, Content Strategy or Experience Strategy.

The list is broad and includes books that exemplify design thinking, processes, methods, principles and best practices. Many of the books on this list are over 20 years old and yet they are still relevant more than ever.

Who doesn’t need that? I surely do.