Design for How People Think: Using Brain Science to Build Better Products

Whalen's book is a careful application of cognitive science to product design — attention, memory, decision-making, emotion — presented through frameworks that product teams can actually use. The book avoids the two common failure modes of "brain science for designers" writing: pop-neuroscience posturing on one side, unreadable technical literature on the other. For product direction it is a solid reference on the mental-model side of design, complementary to Lewis's Impulse on the behavioural side. Whalen is an experienced practitioner and the examples come from real product work. A useful, if not essential, addition to the shelf.