Christmas is coming and everyone is running around looking for gifts. Let me guess, you have that one absolute freak of a friend who is doing some weird User Experience design stuff and you have no idea what to get them? UX designers are a weird and wonderful bunch, and they have a very peculiar taste when it comes to gifts… But don’t worry, we’re here to help you out with our top 10 Christmas gifts for UX designers.
1. Userbrain Subscription
- Get it here: Userbrain
- Price: starting at $79.00/month
The creme de la creme of UX designer gifts. If you want a great site, you have to test it. Usability experts recommend testing as early and often as possible and to do many small tests rather than a few large studies.
With a subscripton, you receive credits monthly that can be used to conduct user tests. If the credits aren’t used in one month, they will just roll over to the next one without going to waste. We then send you your videos of people using and navigating your website on desktop and mobile devices while thinking aloud and answering your questions. With the input from potential customers/ users of your site problems and confusions that might have been missed can be fixed. All you have to do is carve out a few minutes each week to watch your videos and keep finding and fixing your site’s usability problems.
2. A book from ‘A book Apart’
- Get it here: A Book Apart
- Price: $25.00 – $100.00
A Book Apart publishes highly detailed and meticulously edited examinations of single topics. The books are brief enough (about 100 pages) to read them out in a few hours and topics cover HTML5, CSS3, content strategy, responsive web design, and more. My favorite ones include Just Enough Research by Erika Hall and The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane.
3. UX myth posters
- Get it here: Behance
- Price: free
The UX Myths project is a project of the Hungarian user experience designer Zoltán Gócza. Alessandro Giammaria created a poster dedicated to each of the top 32 myths included in the gallery of beliefs. The best thing: You can download it for free on Behance.
4. Website Stencil Kit
- Get it here: UI Stencils
- Price: $29.00
Brainstorm website and app ideas with ease using a Website Stencil Kit. Wireframe quickly and efficiently with the most commonly used iconography and interaction techniques.
5. How User Testing Actually Works in Practice, Book
- Get it here: Amazon
- Price: $12.99 – or free with Kindle Unlimited.
A short and sweet summary of everything important surrounding User Testing. The little over 100 pages offer insights, stories, and tips on how to use user testing to your advantage. This is a great present for the UX designer in your life. The 105 pages of pure UX ecstasy were written by Markus Pirker and Stefan Rössler, the founders of Userbrain and UX agency Simplease.
6. Website UX deck
- Get it here: UXKits
- Price: $19.00
Now you can brainstorm your website architecture – away from your computer and distractions. The deck includes 53 wireframe cards with common page names, plus a key to find them.
7. Jabra Solemate Mini Bluetooth Speaker
- Get it here: Amazon.com
- Price: $64.99
There isn’t anything as annoying as bad sound quality during presentations of your usability findings. I switched to the Jabra Solemate Speaker after one client presentation. There wasn’t a speaker in the meeting room, and I had to repeat every sentence said in the videos because the internal speaker of my MacBook was too quiet.
The Jabra speaker runs on batteries (Up to 8 hours), and you can get your sound in via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm Audio cable (hidden inside the “Sole” of the speaker.). No quiet usability videos anymore. 🙂
8. A Multi-device charging station
- Get it here: Amazon
- Price: $99
UX Designers know that designing for different device types and resolutions can be laborious. A multi-device charging station, such as the Alxum 120W 10 Port USB C Charging Station, allows you to charge, organize, and store your responsive development devices in one space and make all devices conveniently available.
9. Refold’s Portable Cardboard Standing Desk
- Get it here: Refold
- Price: $189
Made in New Zealand, the $189 version of the Refold Portable Standing Desk even has a waterproof top – while being made completely out of cardboard. Be sure to send us a selfie when freelancing on 5th avenue. 🙂
10. Gift a Udemy Course
- Get it here: Udemy
- Price: Free – $1,000
Udemy offers awesome online courses on UX and usability topics. Keep an open eye on Udemy deals – they often reduce a course to just $10-$15. My favorite UX Udemy courses so far have been How to carry out a usability expert review by David Travis and User research: Personas, scenarios and Task Analyses by Susan Weinschenk.
11. Columbo: The complete series
- Get it here: Amazon
- Price: $75
You could call Columbo the best UX researcher in the world. He’s always asking the right questions and will always find a solution by the end of an episode. That’s why UX designers should get a Columbo DVD box for Christmas to learn how to do user research. 🙂
12. The Wipebook
Non-permanent surfaces have shown to increase creativity because they allow for freedom, flexibility and the modification of ideas which isn’t possible on permanent surfaces. Whether you are doing homework with your kids, or trying to learn something new, the wipebook will also allow you to make mistakes which is critical in education.
- Get it here: Amazon
- Price: $29.99
Bonus: How to get your Christmas gifts for free
Sick of getting ugly sweaters, pajamas, or socks for Christmas? Buy your own presents this year. Start testing for Userbrain and earn $5 for every 5-15 minute test.
