“Executives can no longer afford to formulate strategy without embracing user experience, and to the extent their offerings include web sites, software products, and interactive services, these leaders (or their successors) must understand the complex interplay between strategy, scope, structure, semantics, skeleton, and surface. They must become experience executives, in concept if not in name.” - Peter Morville

Read Peter’s article “User Experience Strategy” here.

“The principles of good human-to-computer interface design are simplicity, support, clarity, encouragement, satisfaction, accessibility, versatility, and personalization. While it’s essential to heed these, it’s also important to empathize with and inspire your audience so they feel you’re treating them less like a faceless user and more like a human being.” - Sharon Lee

Read Sharon’s article “Human-to-Human Design” or check out two other quotes from this article: “Your site can encapsulate your brand personality” and “Rich, sensory experiences immerse users and lead to joy and satisfaction.”

“Designers need to be more than ambassadors, they need to be fully functioning and fully aware members of strategic decision-making teams in a company.” - Nathan Shedroff

Read Kate Rutter’s interview with Nathan Shedroff for more thoughts on the role of design in business.
Edit: Fixed article URL - sorry about that

“Users want to construct their own experience by piecing together content from multiple sources, emphasizing their desires in the current moment. People arrive at a website with a goal in mind, and they are ruthless in pursuing their own interest and in rejecting whatever the site is trying to push.” - Jakob Nielsen

Read Jakob’s article “Writing Style for Print vs. Web” for his thoughts on how writing for the web requires a distinct content style.

“As the advocates for user experience I think it’s important that we’re advocating for everyone’s experience and perhaps doing a little bit more than just whispering the word ‘accessibility’ in a meeting early on and allowing it to be just as easily dismissed. And not just because of the potential legal implications, but because it’s our job.” - Leisa Reichelt

Read Leisa’s article “Are you giving accessibility the consideration it deserves in the user experience?” for her thoughts on why accessibility is part of your responsibility as a UX designer.

“All web apps are trying to suck. They are trying to be bloated. They are trying to be unstructured. They are trying to be confusing. You are the stopgap. You are the one who stands between order and chaos. You are the sniper who must pick off every distraction, unneeded feature, and extra word that doesn’t absolutely have to be there. You must be a killer. You must say no. You must anger those who disagree with you. That is the only way to make something great.” - Matt Linderman

Read Matt’s article “Ira Glass, entropy, and software development” on the 37signals blog “Signal vs. Noise”

“An experience designer must love and care about people and the world in which we all live. It’s his mission in the world to proudly spread love and happiness through his creations.” - Andrë Braz

Read Andrë’s “Experience Design Manifesto” here

“We don’t want to figure out what all those buttons do or why they are set up the way they are. We just want to get on with our lives and do our jobs well. When we make use of technology, we want to focus on achieving our goals, not on deciphering the technology. The design should be in the background of our attention.” - The Human Factor by Kim Vicente

Read The Human Factor for Kim’s take on “Revolutionizing the Way People Live with Technology.”

“By going deep into our customers’ lives and closely observing their behaviors, you can wow them when you address needs that they’d never be able to articulate. By immersing yourself in the customer’s wider world of emotion and culture, you can wow them by attuning the offering to practical needs and dimensions of delight that normally go unfulfilled.” - Subject to Change by Peter Merholz, Brandon Schauer, David Verba, and Todd Wilkens

Be sure to pick up Subject to Change by four members of Adaptive Path.  This book describes how businesses can use customer experiences to inform and shape the product development process.

“Usability and technical performance only get you on the playing field. What gives you the winning edge is persuasive, useful content….Let’s get serious about content, for it’s key to helping customers and differentiating our companies, our products, ourselves.” - Colleen Jones

Read Colleen’s article “Content Is More Than Copy” for her explanation of the importance of focusing on content in your designs.