Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered Products and Services

Few UX books match the breadth and depth of Kim Goodwin’s Designing for the Digital Age. It’s an ambitious work that reads like both a textbook and a mentor’s guide, meticulously walking readers through every phase of professional design practice. Goodwin combines rigorous methodology with storytelling and case studies that reveal the nuance of working with real clients and complex systems. Her approach to personas, scenarios, and workflows has become industry standard, and her advocacy for human-centered design has influenced thousands of teams worldwide. What distinguishes this book from others is its mature balance between process and principle — showing that great design isn’t just creativity but disciplined empathy and structured inquiry. Even seasoned professionals return to it as a reference for leading teams, aligning design with business goals, and defending user needs in high-stakes environments.

Kim Goodwin is a veteran UX strategist and design leader with decades of experience leading design and research at Cooper. She’s an influential voice in human-centered design education, consulting globally for organizations looking to mature their design capabilities.