Aries love predictions... Why Do I Need User Research To Design Good Products? (Know your UI, UX, CX

Jargon aside, User Experience Design has ballooned as a discipline in Design - so much so, it's not arguably not a 'thing', and is steadily becoming business as usual. Or is it?
If you're working for a company that just uses Google to define a market, or the guy next to your desk to evaluate a User Interface, then you should fire up that CV!

These 3 books give a taste of what a meaningful contribution of Human Factors looks like. By this we simply mean not assuming everyone looks, thinks, feels - of just IS - like us. We need to design for individuals sometimes (tailoring, prosthetics, etc.), but often it's for the mass market, so an intelligent compromise of the 'best fit for all' will be needed, and it'll be a tough call. So what to look for?

???? Designing Interactions and also ???? Designing Media by Bill Moggridge.
⏩ https://amzn.to/39rztnA and also ⏩ https://amzn.to/2w0Z8op
Bill Moggridge is one of the 'godfathers' of UI/UX Design, and this book (although dated now), gives great case studies of why the details matter - why the Palm didn't quite work, and the computer Mouse almost had 5 keys at one point in it's design journey. This and many more examples feel universal, and easy to laugh at - until you realise you just blundered into a modern day equivalent of the same gaff. Welcome to history in Design.
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???? Universal Methods of Design by Martin & Hanington.
⏩ https://amzn.to/2Syuhr1
Part of the 'Universal' Series (see earlier video). A great follow-on, with more specifics in methods and techniques. It shows not just why engaging with the user is important, but also expanding your idea of what the 'potential user' actually is....are you missing an opportunity or a threat here? A great primer, but also a good 'tune up' for those needed a re-fresh for a new project.
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???? 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People by Susan M. Weinschenk.
⏩ https://amzn.to/2OIcywd
A thin, but great read. Similar format to the Uni Methods, but with more of a crash course in the psychology of design methods and principles. When you are thinking 'why the heck did they do that - we never predicted that would happen!!' - this is exactly when you need to realise you have a gap in your understanding of human nature: What we say and think is VERY different to what we actually DO. Never has this been more acutely felt with Online, but still as relevant for physical product development, especially in devices in healthcare, AI and other emergent fields like Voice.
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Still reading?

User Interface - buttons, controls and visuals, etc.
User Experience - what it's like with said UI, and other aspects of the product/service, etc.
Consumer Experience - an update to UX, with perhaps an emphasis that the 'consumer' may well not just be the 'end point'. e.g. a Surgeon might seem the 'end user' of a product, but so too is the patient, but also the buyer for the hospital will likely have more say than the surgeon. So here it really is about multiple CX profiles and connections.

IQ - logical smarts.
EQ - emotional smarts.
CQ - creative smarts*
*Sounds pretentious, yes, but is increasingly becoming a gap where we need to discuss why brains don't get the job done always, and why even though we might want to 'trust our gut/heart' - this too can get messy. So where does creativity play a role in helping us interact with the world and make good choices about our lives. Stay tuned for CX popping up more, or perhaps a different name, but this gap is here.