User Experience: Modern Skills of a Successful Software Developer. A User-Centered Approach to Expand Your Computer Programming Abilities Through UX, UI and Design Thinking (2 Books in 1)

See Your Product Through the User’s Eyes

Software can be powerful, fast, and feature-rich—yet still fail because it feels confusing or indifferent to the people using it. Steven Branson’s two-in-one guide tackles that gap directly. It brings together the practical skills of UX/UI design and the broader mindset of design thinking, giving developers and creators a clear route from a promising idea to an intuitive, user-friendly experience.

What’s Inside the Two Books 📘

This collection is deliberately structured as two complementary books in a single volume, so you can move from interface-level decisions to the larger context of customer and business needs.

Book 1: UX/UI Design

The first book introduces the core differences between UX and UI, then builds up the principles behind experience and interface design. You’ll explore how memory and cognitive affordances shape usability, why sketching and physical mockups can reveal problems early, and how user personas and ideation turn assumptions into more grounded design choices. It also examines process models such as the Wheel, helping you replace guesswork with a repeatable approach to design work.

Book 2: Design Thinking

The second book broadens the view. It walks through the five stages of design thinking—understand, define, ideate, prototype, and test—and connects them to research, business strategy, live customer experience, digital channels, service design, and the human side of organizational change. The result is a fuller picture of how good design supports everyday decisions and long-term success.

Key Areas You’ll Explore

• The difference between UX and UI—and why both matter
• Design principles grounded in human memory and perception
• Persona creation, ideation, sketching, and prototyping techniques
• Design guidelines and cognitive affordances for intuitive interfaces
• Process models that keep design work focused and collaborative
• The five stages of design thinking and their real-world application
• Customer experience strategy for physical and digital touchpoints
• Service delivery design and managing change in teams

A Practical Companion for Builders

Rather than treating design as an isolated step, Branson keeps the focus on how each method helps you understand users, make better decisions, and ship products that feel natural to use. The explanations are direct and organized around concepts you can apply, whether you’re improving an existing interface or starting a new product from scratch.

Who Will Find This Volume Useful

Software developers and engineers who want to strengthen their UX/UI perspective will find the two-book format especially useful. Design beginners, product managers, and small business owners involved in digital products can also use it as a structured introduction to user-centered design and design thinking. If you already know the basics, the combined coverage may still serve as a handy reference for brainstorming, usability reviews, and customer experience planning.

Make Your Work More Human-Centered

Great user experiences don’t happen by accident. They come from asking better questions, testing early ideas, and keeping real people at the center of the process. This book offers a clear, practical way to build those habits into your development work—so your products don’t just function well, but feel right to the people who use them.