Library
Books I've read, am reading, or want to read.
Beyond anthropomorphism: a spectrum of interface metaphors for LLMs
Proposes a spectrum of interface metaphors for LLMs beyond the default anthropomorphic framing. Different metaphors (tool, oracle, collaborator, environment) carry different implications for user expectations and design.
Beyond the illusion: pragmatic cues in conversation
Asks whether conversational agents should mimic human pragmatic cues or deploy them purposefully. Mimicry creates false impressions of understanding; purposeful use could be honest and useful.
Grounding gaps in language model generations
LLMs produce fewer grounding acts than humans and tend to presume common ground rather than actively establishing it, exposing a structural gap between human and machine conversation.
Grounding in communication
The foundational framework for how conversational participants establish mutual understanding. Introduces common ground and the grounding process as the basis of successful communication.
Interpretative interfaces
A CHI workshop paper proposing tangible interaction metaphors as alternatives to the chat paradigm. Physical and spatial interaction models offer richer interpretative possibilities than conversational turn-taking.
Interacting with thoughtful AI
Proposes a paradigm where AI functions as a continuously thinking entity rather than a passive responder, enabling proactive collaboration through surfacing intermediate thoughts, full-duplex processing, and shared cognitive workspaces.
Managing your documentation projects
The foundational guide to managing technical documentation as a professional discipline. Covers project planning, team management, and quality processes for documentation departments.
Plans and situated actions
Argues that machines designed around planning models miss the inherently situated nature of human communication. Actions emerge from context and interaction, not from pre-formed plans.
Pragmatics beyond humans
Pragmatic meaning relies on communicative situatedness: knowing who you are, what you want, and what the other party understands. LLMs lack this situatedness, making their pragmatic outputs structurally different from human communication.
The bewitching AI: the illusion of communication with LLMs
A Wittgensteinian analysis showing LLMs lack the constancy and commitment required for genuine dialogue. The appearance of conversation is an illusion built on pattern completion, not communicative intent.
Thought as a substrate in human-AI interaction
Proposes treating thought itself as the primary substrate for human-AI interaction. Rather than organizing interfaces around conversational turn-taking, design should be built around cognitive processes: attention, intention, reflection.
Tools for thought
Synthesises findings from 34 papers on how generative AI expands automation while simultaneously creating risks and opportunities for human cognition. Covers memory, creativity, and critical thinking as the three main domains affected.
Toward metaphor-fluid conversation design for VUIs
VUIs should not commit to a single metaphor but dynamically shift their framing based on context: sometimes assistant, sometimes tool, sometimes ambient presence.
The Overstory
Nine Americans whose lives are shaped by trees, weaving into a novel about the human relationship with the natural world.
1Q84
Two parallel narratives in an alternate 1984 Tokyo slowly converge, drawing a young woman and a novelist into a world with two moons and a hidden religious cult
1Q84 To read 
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A young huntress is taken to a dangerous immortal realm after killing a wolf in the woods, in a dark fantasy retelling with romance at its centre
A Court of Thorns and Roses To read 
A Room of One's Own
Woolf's extended essay on women and fiction, arguing that creative freedom requires material independence: a room, and money enough to think in it
A Room of One's Own To read Bacteria to AI
Traces a continuum of cognition from single-celled organisms to artificial intelligence, challenging the idea that thinking is uniquely human
Battlefield Yorkshire
A guide to the major battles fought across Yorkshire from the Viking age to the Civil War, combining military history with landscape and location
Battlefield Yorkshire To read 
Carrie's War
A British classic about a girl evacuated to Wales during WWII, whose friendship with a local boy leads to an act of guilt she carries into adulthood
Carrie's War To read 
DallerGut Dream Department
A charming Korean novel set in a mysterious shop that sells dreams, following a new employee as she discovers the stories behind the dreams people need most
DallerGut Dream Department To read De eilanden van goed en kwaad
Een reisverhaal langs de plaatsen die bepalend waren voor de Nederlandse koloniale geschiedenis, op zoek naar hoe dat verleden nog zichtbaar is
Designing the Mind
Applies principles from psychology and philosophy to help people deliberately redesign their own cognitive habits and emotional patterns
Designing the Mind To read 
Earth Emotions
Coins new words for our emotional relationship with place and the natural world, from solastalgia to topophilia, arguing we need richer language for what we stand to lose
Earth Emotions To read 
Going Postal
A con man is forced to resurrect Ankh-Morpork's postal service and finds himself going up against the clacks network in a story about the power of words and stories to move people
Going Postal Read 
Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris
Een literaire roman over het leven van een Surinaamse familie door meerdere generaties, waarin kolonialisme, verlies en identiteit samenkomen
Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris To read Hoe duur was de suiker
Een historische roman over het leven van een rijke plantagevrouw en een tot slaaf gemaakte vrouw in 18e-eeuws Suriname, geschreven vanuit beide perspectieven
Hostage at the Table
Uses hostage negotiation as a framework for understanding conflict and leadership, arguing that the key skill is creating and maintaining personal bonds under pressure
Hostage at the Table To read 
How We Became Posthuman
Traces how the concept of information came to be seen as separable from its material substrate, and what that shift means for how we understand human identity
How We Became Posthuman To read 
Inferno
Robert Langdon wakes in Florence with no memory and is immediately drawn into a race across Europe to stop a plot inspired by Dante's vision of hell
Inferno To read 
Kies toch niet steeds de kant van de macht
Een politiek essay over de neiging van burgers, journalisten en instituties om de kant van de machthebbers te kiezen in plaats van die van de kwetsbaren
Kies toch niet steeds de kant van de macht To read 
Krekel
Een prentenboek voor oudere kinderen over een krekel die zingt als er niemand luistert, als een ode aan stille creativiteit en het durven zijn wie je bent
Krekel To read 
Last and First Men
A sweeping speculative history of humanity over two billion years and eighteen successive human species, written as if narrated from the distant future
Last and First Men To read Min of meer opmerkelijke gebeurtenissen...
Een roman over een vrouw die terugblikt op de min of meer opmerkelijke gebeurtenissen in haar leven, met een nuchter-humoristische toon
Nouveau Fuck
A Dutch poetry collection that plays with language, profanity, and urban experience in short, sharp poems
Reasons to Stay Alive
Matt Haig's memoir about his experience of severe depression and anxiety in his twenties and the slow, non-linear process of finding his way back
Reasons to Stay Alive To read 
Semiotics: The Basics
An accessible introduction to semiotics, explaining how signs, codes, and meaning-making work across language, images, and culture
Semiotics: The Basics To read 
Shaking Hands With Death
Pratchett's 2010 Richard Dimbleby Lecture on assisted dying, delivered after his Alzheimer's diagnosis, arguing for the right to choose the manner of one's death
Shaking Hands With Death Read Terry Pratchett (biography)
A biography tracing Terry Pratchett's life from his early journalism and first novels to his rise as one of Britain's best-selling authors
The Art of Co-design
A practical guide to co-design as a methodology, covering how to involve users and stakeholders as genuine creative partners rather than just research subjects
The Big Con
Argues that the consulting industry has hollowed out public institutions and corporate strategy, replacing genuine expertise with expensive performative advice
The Big Con To read 
The Bowery Boys
The companion book to the popular podcast, covering the history of New York City neighbourhood by neighbourhood with the same gritty curiosity as the show
The Bowery Boys To read 
The Bowery
A detailed history of one of New York City's most storied streets, from its origins as a colonial road to its decades as the capital of cheap entertainment and vice
The Bowery To read 
The Complete Robot
Thirty-one stories spanning Asimov's entire robot series, from the earliest positronic experiments to the philosophical implications of machine minds
The Complete Robot To read 
The Invention of Wings
Alternating between a white abolitionist and the enslaved woman gifted to her as a child, tracing both women's quests for freedom in antebellum Charleston
The Invention of Wings To read 
The Shepherd's Crown
Pratchett's final novel, in which Tiffany Aching takes on the gravest responsibility yet while the forces of Fairyland gather, suffused with the quiet wisdom of a life's work
The Shepherd's Crown Read 
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner
A collection of early Pratchett short stories written before Discworld, showing the comic imagination and playful weirdness that would define his later work
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner To read 
Unthought
Argues that cognition extends beyond conscious human thought into technical systems and biological processes, challenging assumptions about where thinking actually happens
Unthought To read Typography Beyond Borders
A visual survey of typography across cultures and scripts, exploring how letterforms carry meaning beyond the Latin alphabet
Witte onschuld
Examines how the Netherlands maintains a self-image of tolerance and innocence while reproducing racial inequality, tracing the roots of Dutch white identity
Wat is je overkomen?
A conversation between Oprah Winfrey and trauma specialist Bruce Perry on how adverse childhood experiences shape who we become, and how healing is possible
Alone together
Argues that always-on connectivity has made us more isolated, as we substitute the managed interactions of social media and robots for the messiness of real relationships
Alone together Read 
Ambiguity in natural language
A linguistic analysis of the types and sources of ambiguity in natural language, examining how multiple meanings arise from syntax, semantics, and context
Ambiguity in natural language Read 
Artificial Intelligence: A guide for thinking humans
A balanced and rigorous tour of what AI can and cannot do, cutting through both hype and panic to explain where the field actually stands
Artificial Intelligence: A guide for thinking humans To read 
Because Internet
Explores how the internet has transformed English, from emoji and capitalization choices to the way different generations learned to communicate online
Because Internet Read Chatbot marketing mastery
Practical guide to using chatbots as a marketing channel, covering lead generation, customer journeys, and campaign automation
Building for everyone
A guide to inclusive product design from Google's perspective, showing how centering underrepresented users produces better products for everyone
Building for everyone Read 
Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student
A comprehensive textbook of classical rhetoric covering argument, arrangement, and style, with analysis of both ancient and modern examples
Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student Read 
Content strategy at work
Uses real-world case studies to show how messaging architecture and brand voice decisions drive content strategy, from discovery through execution
Content strategy at work Read Conversational AI
Covers the technical and design sides of building conversational AI systems, useful for keeping understanding of the field current
Conversational UX design
Research-grounded framework for designing conversational interfaces, covering dialogue structure, turn-taking, context management, and the social dynamics of human-computer conversation
Conversational UX design Read Conversations with things
Practical guide to designing voice, chatbot, and multimodal interfaces, with a strong focus on the craft of writing dialogue and handling the unexpected
Consciousness and Robot Sentience
Explores whether machines could be conscious using an associative neural model, proposing a hardware-based architecture for robot sentience
Consciousness and Robot Sentience Read The Definitive Guide to Conversational AI with Dialogflow
Hands-on technical guide to building conversational agents with Google's Dialogflow, from intents and entities to fulfilment and deployment
Designing Across Senses
A framework for designing multimodal experiences that work across sight, sound, and touch, with practical guidance for accessibility and cross-sensory interaction
Designing Across Senses Read 
Designing Connected Content
Introduces content modelling as a discipline, showing how to structure content so it can be reused, combined, and delivered across channels
Designing Connected Content Read 
Designing Voice User Interfaces
The practical standard for VUI design: persona, dialogue flows, error handling, and the specific challenges of designing for voice from a Google engineer
Designing Voice User Interfaces Read 
Developing enterprise chatbots
Technical and academic treatment of building enterprise-grade chatbots, covering NLP pipelines, knowledge representation, and reasoning over dialogue
Developing enterprise chatbots Read 
Discourse, consciousness and time
Investigates how language reflects the workings of consciousness, particularly how speakers manage the flow of information across spoken and written discourse
Discourse, consciousness and time To read 
e-Learning and the Science of Instruction
Evidence-based guidelines for designing online instruction, drawing on multimedia learning research to explain what works, what doesn't, and why
e-Learning and the Science of Instruction Read 
Gamestorming
A collection of over 80 workshop games drawn from innovative organisations, designed to unlock creativity, generate ideas, and move groups toward decisions
Gamestorming Read 
Entitled
A philosophical analysis of male entitlement, examining how men are socially conditioned to expect attention, care, and deference from women as a matter of right
Entitled Read 
Hello world
Examines the algorithms shaping medicine, crime, art, and justice, asking when it makes sense to hand decisions to machines and when it doesn't
Hello world Read Hey Cyba: The inner workings of a virtual personal assistant
Behind-the-scenes look at how virtual personal assistants are built, covering the architecture and design decisions that make them feel responsive and useful
How people learn
Synthesises decades of learning science research to explain how people acquire, organise, and transfer knowledge, with implications for teaching and instructional design
How people learn Read 
How to talk to robots
A practical guide for women and non-technical audiences to understand and shape the AI industry, rather than be shaped by it
How to talk to robots Read 
Human factors and voice interaction systems
Applies human factors research to voice interface design, covering cognitive load, error rates, and the ergonomics of spoken interaction
Human factors and voice interaction systems Read 
I, robot
Nine linked stories tracing the development of robots from simple servants to beings that outthink humanity, anchored by the Three Laws of Robotics
I, robot Read I'd blush if I could
UNESCO report examining how the default female voices and submissive personas of AI assistants reinforce harmful gender stereotypes at global scale
Inclusive Design for a Digital World
Covers the principles and practice of accessible digital design, making the case that removing barriers for disabled users improves experience for everyone
Inclusive Design for a Digital World Read 
Instructional story design
A practical framework for using narrative in instructional design, showing how to build scenarios that engage learners and transfer to real-world performance
Instructional story design Read 
Invisible Women
Documents the systemic gender data gap across medicine, urban planning, product design, and public policy, showing how treating men as the default puts women at risk
Invisible Women Read 
It's better to be a good machine than a bad person
A collection of philosophical essays on machine ethics, exploring what it means for artificial systems to behave well and what moral responsibilities they might carry
It's better to be a good machine than a bad person Read 
Language acquisition
A classic introduction to how children acquire their first language, covering the progression from babbling to grammar and the debate between nature and nurture
Language acquisition Read 
Machines like me
A literary novel set in an alternate 1980s where a man buys one of the first synthetic humans and finds the android's moral rigidity destabilising his relationship and his life
Machines like me To read Microcopy
A comprehensive reference and practical guide to writing the small, functional texts in digital interfaces: buttons, labels, error messages, and empty states
My Robot Gets Me: How Social Design Can Make New Products More Human
On the social design of robots and connected products: how to give them personality and presence without crossing into uncanny territory
My Robot Gets Me: How Social Design Can Make New Products More Human To read 
Natural language processing with Python
Hands-on introduction to NLP using Python and the NLTK library, covering text classification, parsing, semantics, and the linguistic concepts behind each technique
Natural language processing with Python Read 
Natural Language Processing with Python and spaCy
A practical introduction to natural language processing using the spaCy library, covering tokenisation, named entity recognition, dependency parsing, and text classification
Natural Language Processing with Python and spaCy Read Online invloed
A practical guide to online persuasion and behaviour design, showing how digital interfaces can ethically nudge users using psychological principles
Organising knowledge
Covers the theory and practice of knowledge organisation, including classification systems, indexing, thesauri, and the structures underlying information retrieval
Organising knowledge Read 
Rebooting AI
A sober critique of where current AI falls short of genuine intelligence, and a clear-eyed account of what it would actually take to build systems that understand the world
Rebooting AI Read Robots, zombies and us
Examines the philosophical problems of machine consciousness through questions about intelligence, zombies, and functionalism, offering a case that consciousness consists in performing functions
Sequence Organization in Interaction
Schegloff's foundational account of how turns are sequenced in conversation, covering adjacency pairs, pre-sequences, insertions, and the mechanisms that make dialogue coherent
Sequence Organization in Interaction Read 
Slant
Set in a near-future Earth transformed by nanotechnology and AI, following characters navigating a society that has more control over the mind than the will to use it wisely
Slant To read 
Speech and language processing
The standard graduate-level textbook for NLP and speech recognition, covering everything from phonetics to dialogue systems with both statistical and symbolic approaches
Speech and language processing Read 
Strategic Writing for UX
Shows how UX writing decisions connect to product strategy, with practical techniques for writing interface text that guides users and reflects brand voice
Strategic Writing for UX Read 
Studies in conversational UX design
A collection of IBM Research studies on real-world conversational UX, examining how people actually interact with dialogue systems in deployed contexts
Studies in conversational UX design Read 
Talk
Reveals the hidden structures of everyday conversation using conversation analysis, showing how small linguistic choices shape outcomes in negotiation, medicine, and everyday life
Talk Read Tech skills for conversation designers
Demystifies the technical side of conversation design for non-developers: NLU, intents, entities, and how to read and write the underlying logic
The accidental Taxonomist
A thorough guide to building and managing taxonomies and controlled vocabularies, aimed at information professionals who find themselves responsible for classification systems
The accidental Taxonomist Read 
The Design of Everyday Things
Foundational text on human-centred design, arguing that when objects are hard to use the fault lies with the design, not the user
The Design of Everyday Things Read 
The Inner Game of Tennis
A groundbreaking book on performance and self-interference, using tennis as a lens to explore how to get out of your own way and let the body do what it already knows
The Inner Game of Tennis Read 
The sense of style
A writing guide grounded in cognitive science and linguistics, explaining what makes prose clear and elegant and why so much professional writing fails on both counts
The sense of style Read The Smart wife
Analyses how smart home technologies are designed around a feminised, servile archetype and what that means for gender equality in domestic life
Thinking fast and slow
Kahneman's landmark account of the two systems that drive human thought, one fast and intuitive, the other slow and deliberate, and the cognitive biases that result
Thinking fast and slow Read Voice content and usability
Content strategy for the voice channel: how to write, structure, and test content that works when spoken rather than read
Voice user interface design
The earlier technical-academic standard for VUI design, covering speech recognition, dialogue management, and usability principles for voice systems
Voice user interface design Read 
Voicebot and Chatbot Design
Business-oriented guide to designing and deploying voice and chat bots, with a focus on use cases, personas, and getting from prototype to production
Voicebot and Chatbot Design Read 
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You
Uses funny AI-generated failures to explain how machine learning actually works, revealing what these systems can and cannot understand about the world
You Look Like a Thing and I Love You Read No books match the current filters.