The Elements of User Experience

📖 Why Read This Book?

The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett breaks UX down into five layers—strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface—making it easy to see how everything connects. It’s a must-read for anyone in UX, whether you’re just starting or deep in the field. If you want to design better experiences, start here.

👉🏻 Key Takeaways

• UX is more than just usability or visual design. It's a layered process from abstract strategy to concrete interface.
• The five planes (Strategy, Scope, Structure, Skeleton, Surface) represent increasing levels of specificity in the user experience.
• Decisions on lower planes affect everything above them; poor strategy leads to poor interfaces.
• Good UX design requires balancing both the user’s needs and the business goals from the beginning.
• The user experience is the result of all elements working together not any one layer alone.
• Bonus: The five planes are what’s needed for a good user experience. They are not what’s “owned” by UX.

‍💬 Favorite Quotes

“…something funny happens when people have trouble using complicated pieces of technology: they blame themselves.“

“Features and functions always matter, but user experience has a far greater effect on customer loyalty.”

“Understand what problem you’re trying to solve. … Understand the consequences of your solution to the problem.”

“…you have to be careful to balance your objectives and the needs of your users.”

“The more clearly you can describe what you want the more narrowly and effectively you can formulate the questions you ask to ensure that you get the right information.”