Badass: Making Users Awesome
- Downloads：8229
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-22 09:54:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Kathy Sierra
- ISBN：1491919019
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Imagine you’re in a game with one objective: a bestselling product or service。 The rules？ No marketing budget， no PR stunts， and it must be sustainably successful。 No short-term fads。
This is not a game of chance。 It is a game of skill and strategy。
And it begins with a single question: given competing products of equal pricing， promotion， and perceived quality， why does one outsell the others？
The answer doesn’t live in the sustainably successful products or services。 The answer lives in those who use them。
Our goal is to craft a strategy for creating successful users。 And that strategy is full of surprising， counter-intuitive， and astonishingly simple techniques that don’t depend on a massive marketing or development budget。 Techniques typically overlooked by even the most well-funded， well-staffed product teams。
Every role is a key player in this game。 Product development， engineering， marketing， user experience， support—everyone on the team。 Even if that team is a start-up of one。 Armed with a surprisingly overlooked science and a unique POV， we can can reduce the role of luck。 We can build sustainably successful products and services that rely not on unethical persuasive marketing tricks but on helping our users have deeper， richer experiences。 Not just in the moments while they’re using our product but， more importantly， in the moments when they aren’t。
This is not a game of chance。 It is a game of skill and strategy。
And it begins with a single question: given competing products of equal pricing， promotion， and perceived quality， why does one outsell the others？
The answer doesn’t live in the sustainably successful products or services。 The answer lives in those who use them。
Our goal is to craft a strategy for creating successful users。 And that strategy is full of surprising， counter-intuitive， and astonishingly simple techniques that don’t depend on a massive marketing or development budget。 Techniques typically overlooked by even the most well-funded， well-staffed product teams。
Every role is a key player in this game。 Product development， engineering， marketing， user experience， support—everyone on the team。 Even if that team is a start-up of one。 Armed with a surprisingly overlooked science and a unique POV， we can can reduce the role of luck。 We can build sustainably successful products and services that rely not on unethical persuasive marketing tricks but on helping our users have deeper， richer experiences。 Not just in the moments while they’re using our product but， more importantly， in the moments when they aren’t。
Reviews
anonymousreader
，
to-read
Maria Schmitt
，
A very fast read but included many many good ideas and ways to reframe your thinking to be more effective。 A good book to give to your boss to get some concepts across。
Timothy White
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This is a fantastic book that any trainer， instructional designer， marketer， or consumer researcher should own。 Less of a book and more of a slide deck put to page， this is an easy and very impactful read。 Sierra uses the techniques described within the book to make a huge impact and has forever reshaped the way I think about the role of user experience， and more specifically， user exposure to learning。 The only gripe I have is a weird 3-page advertisement for a timing device in the middle， that This is a fantastic book that any trainer， instructional designer， marketer， or consumer researcher should own。 Less of a book and more of a slide deck put to page， this is an easy and very impactful read。 Sierra uses the techniques described within the book to make a huge impact and has forever reshaped the way I think about the role of user experience， and more specifically， user exposure to learning。 The only gripe I have is a weird 3-page advertisement for a timing device in the middle， that doesn't hurt the message， but does shift focus in a strange way。 I borrowed this book from the library and when I was only half way through， I ordered it to own， knowing that this will be a resource that I will revisit again and again throughout my career。 。。。more
Stefanni Brasil
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Thanks， Kathy for writing this book。 I learned a lot， and I'm more than ever committed to make my readers become badass。 Thanks， Kathy for writing this book。 I learned a lot， and I'm more than ever committed to make my readers become badass。 。。。more
Sam
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Best book on product （and customer success） I’ve read so far。 Nothing else is even close。
Kamran Ayub
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Good products help their users become better at something larger than just the product itself。 I hadn't thought of it that way。 At some level， a lot of the book is things we kinda know but maybe haven't thought of explicitly。Prompted me to reflect more on my apps and users， so that was good。 Found exercises helpful。 Wished there were many more prompts/exercises。 Wished there were many more concrete examples of apps/products that did things right。 Wish there were more contexts discussed than just Good products help their users become better at something larger than just the product itself。 I hadn't thought of it that way。 At some level， a lot of the book is things we kinda know but maybe haven't thought of explicitly。Prompted me to reflect more on my apps and users， so that was good。 Found exercises helpful。 Wished there were many more prompts/exercises。 Wished there were many more concrete examples of apps/products that did things right。 Wish there were more contexts discussed than just photography。 For $8 used it was a good buy。 Borrow or read it at the store 👍 。。。more
Aaron McAdam
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This book has some high-level ideas that don’t really get fleshed out too well。 It keeps telling you the answer is coming or will be covered later and never quite gets there。 There is a good focus on being customer-centred which is a plus。 I bought a couple of books the author references—I’m hoping to find more detail in those。
Olivia Law
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Read this for work， pretty interesting but very simple。 I feel like I could have come up with this information myself （though， I didn't so kudos to the writer）！Bought the book because people raved about it at a conference - really easy to follow and a great way to change your mindset around UX。 Read this for work， pretty interesting but very simple。 I feel like I could have come up with this information myself （though， I didn't so kudos to the writer）！Bought the book because people raved about it at a conference - really easy to follow and a great way to change your mindset around UX。 。。。more
adeline
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A great reading telling you why every product needs to be customer-centric。 Cause people don't care how great your product is; they only care if the product can add value to themselves。 A great reading telling you why every product needs to be customer-centric。 Cause people don't care how great your product is; they only care if the product can add value to themselves。 。。。more
Simon Vandereecken
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A must read for anyone building a product。 It will help you on how to build your product to work for your user and not the other way around。 Minus one star because it could have been shorter in term of pages as there’s a hell lot of white space and feels like a presentation most of the time （so pricy for the content）。
Andi
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Really quite a great book for anyone in product management， UX， design， engineering - basically anyone who problem solves and builds anything made to be used by people。 I'm fairly sure Kathy Sierra used the principles in this book to write it because I absolute feel more capable and badass in my ability to think about customer problems and to think about them in the right way that enables *them* rather than me or anything I'm trying to do。The book is really easy to read even though it touches on Really quite a great book for anyone in product management， UX， design， engineering - basically anyone who problem solves and builds anything made to be used by people。 I'm fairly sure Kathy Sierra used the principles in this book to write it because I absolute feel more capable and badass in my ability to think about customer problems and to think about them in the right way that enables *them* rather than me or anything I'm trying to do。The book is really easy to read even though it touches on a few fairly complex and deep topics （which she recommends further books on）。 There were a couple of bits and bobs that I didn't quite fully agree with or saw as more niche points but the overall philosophy and "formula" Kathy puts forward is great and something I will come back to again and again I'm sure。 。。。more
Gökhan Kantar
，
Awesome！ I think since we readers have scarce cognitive resources the writer probably wants us not to waste them， so that she published the book in this way （maybe）。 There given enough basic stories to let us create our own badass user base for our products。 The book gives key points very well as far as I observed， the rest is upon us with more reading and practice。。
Ajay Solanky
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A mildly interesting Medium post tortured into a 280 page picture book。To its credit， this is probably the most entertaining way to deliver its extremely dry subject matter。 Also， viewing a product as a skill-building exercise is quite an interesting paradigm， albeit a bit of a forced metaphor。
Kevin Yuan
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Just a long presentation without clear structure。 The concept is a bit dated， and JTBD seems to be a better structured framework than this。
Mikhail
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How to bring the users of your product from complete beginner to badass without losing them in the middle。 The book looks and feels like a powerpoint presentation but one crafted with love。 Super easy read， it's full of insights that can be directly applied to a product you are working on。 How to organize user journey， how to practice efficiently， how to focus on user's competency， not product features。 Brilliant。 How to bring the users of your product from complete beginner to badass without losing them in the middle。 The book looks and feels like a powerpoint presentation but one crafted with love。 Super easy read， it's full of insights that can be directly applied to a product you are working on。 How to organize user journey， how to practice efficiently， how to focus on user's competency， not product features。 Brilliant。 。。。more
tinythunder
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A must-read for anyone in UX/UI。 I have zero regrets about purchasing this for my library， despite the fact that’s it’s an expensive book for what it is （slide presentation in book form）。 Read slowly and stick with it; 1/3-1/2 of the way in you’ll get it。
Thomas Ziegelbecker
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Mind shifting and a must read for Product people！ While the ones who are interested in self development and who love ted talks probably will already know a few of the things mentioned。。。 the way things are related to each other in the book is simply awesome and entertaining！ But be aware that after reading this you will not just know what badass users mean you will also end up with another 10+ books on your reading list :p。 Long story short „care about your users and help them becoming an expert Mind shifting and a must read for Product people！ While the ones who are interested in self development and who love ted talks probably will already know a few of the things mentioned。。。 the way things are related to each other in the book is simply awesome and entertaining！ But be aware that after reading this you will not just know what badass users mean you will also end up with another 10+ books on your reading list :p。 Long story short „care about your users and help them becoming an expert in their field and with their problems“。 。。。more
Nadia
，
This is not a bad book; it makes a lot of good points。 Worth a read if you can get past the awful gimmicky style。
Werther Azevedo
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Don’t let this book’s cheesy title fool you。 Kathy Sierra takes us on a journey through cognition and learning， using powerful arguments， scientific data and a quick n’ witty writing style， to make the case that our products should focus on making its users better （or badass， as she puts it） on a compelling context that’s meaningful to them。 Even though her method sounds more suitable to digital tools， the central argument of the book （or， as she puts it， her own compelling context） should be us Don’t let this book’s cheesy title fool you。 Kathy Sierra takes us on a journey through cognition and learning， using powerful arguments， scientific data and a quick n’ witty writing style， to make the case that our products should focus on making its users better （or badass， as she puts it） on a compelling context that’s meaningful to them。 Even though her method sounds more suitable to digital tools， the central argument of the book （or， as she puts it， her own compelling context） should be useful for anyone who’s building stuff for other people。 A nice philosophy overall， and a book that should be consulted every time one starts a new product from scratch。 。。。more
David
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Somewhere within the pages， there is likely a good idea， but the format didn’t work for me。
Ali Spittel
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I like the content of this book。 I love the idea of making learning paths for users。 The other content is valuable too。 I *hated* the format。 I would have preferred more stories and tangible use cases instead of pictures。 I also found it weirdly repetitive。
Eduardo Xavier
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None of the subjects she addresses are new and despite the negative reviews （some saying it is not a book）， I think the Kathy - known for head first series - did a nice job in discussing the consequences and results when we focus on our user taking into account their emotional side rather than functionality of our product。 That's so human！ :）Anyway， it is not quite a how-to book， despite the exercises contained in it - I think they provoke learning itself。 I don't think applying it on a daily ba None of the subjects she addresses are new and despite the negative reviews （some saying it is not a book）， I think the Kathy - known for head first series - did a nice job in discussing the consequences and results when we focus on our user taking into account their emotional side rather than functionality of our product。 That's so human！ :）Anyway， it is not quite a how-to book， despite the exercises contained in it - I think they provoke learning itself。 I don't think applying it on a daily basis is very easy， but the provocation to reduce is something interesting。 It shows that when we design， we have a tendency to think the same way， inferring and assuming that the user will behave in a way and it doesn't happen that way。Very good， excellent UX mindset。 For any audience。 。。。more
Frank Boucher
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Good book， great message。I not sure I'm a fan of type of writing with tons of images and text bubble but it get the job done。 Good book， great message。I not sure I'm a fan of type of writing with tons of images and text bubble but it get the job done。 。。。more
Megan
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I wanted to love this。 I heard such good things。 But it was so choppy and broken up， and every other darn work is italicized。 It’s so difficult to read。Furthermore， i feel like the author talks a lot without saying much， if that makes sense。 I didn’t get much from this。 Bummer。
Rosa Verity
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Easy to read with lots of diagrams。 Goes a bit off topic in the middle when going deep into how to become an expert。
Margaret Eldridge
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Does what it tells you to doKathy Sierra invites you to scrap your entire way of thinking about the user experience， your own brain， learning， and what motivates us， and makes you glad about it in the process。 If you've heard of flow or being in the zone， this is likely to happen while you are reading the book。 You'll finish it， look up， and realize hours have passed in mere moments。 The book itself walks its own walk， feeding you the concepts in digestible bits， using images to decrease the bra Does what it tells you to doKathy Sierra invites you to scrap your entire way of thinking about the user experience， your own brain， learning， and what motivates us， and makes you glad about it in the process。 If you've heard of flow or being in the zone， this is likely to happen while you are reading the book。 You'll finish it， look up， and realize hours have passed in mere moments。 The book itself walks its own walk， feeding you the concepts in digestible bits， using images to decrease the brain power it takes to follow。 The book draws you along in the learning experience， just like she suggests you do for your own end users。 And poof， just like that， you are a badass advocate。 。。。more
Christopher Hawkins
，
Fantastic value for the effort invested in reading it。 User-centered design， user empathy， whatever you want to call it， this book offers a perspective on product development that revolves around the user， and it's great。 Your typical "maker mentality" type will benefit greatly from the perspective presented in this book。 Fantastic value for the effort invested in reading it。 User-centered design， user empathy， whatever you want to call it， this book offers a perspective on product development that revolves around the user， and it's great。 Your typical "maker mentality" type will benefit greatly from the perspective presented in this book。 。。。more
Quan Tran
，
An awesome book not only how to build a better product but also how to working and develop yourself betterThe book is short and easy to readI have a lot of “a ha” moment while reading this book， thank you Kathy Sierra
James
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So awesome - a must read for anyone in tech。
Ivan Illich
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