For me this book is more in the fairly technical genre, it is the sort of book that I would have read when I was involved in marketing. Having said that, I think these methods can also be utilized in many other areas of development. I found this book interesting, for me at my time of life - a good book to dip into. For others in various fields - very relevant to business processes.

"Universal Methods of Design" is a user-friendly reference for design techniques and tools. I could easily see keeping a copy of this book on my desk for planning new projects.

From page one I was drawn to the minimalist yet informative entries about a vast number of research and decision-making design methods.

Each entry contains an outline of how to conduct the method, original research usage, and further reading.
This book is an essential resource for anyone who conducts any type of data collection, whether that be from customers and clients to feedback from peers and team members. It provides simple and informative explanations and outlines while avoiding buzz words that other management books may overuse.

I can't wait to buy this book in physical form. It will be a resource that I will use throughout my whole career. I know that I will use it to develop feedback forms from library patrons, for team brainstorming of new programs, and many more feedback and data-driven decisions.

This book stays true to the title offering 125 ways to design better.
This isn't a book on usability at least in the way it is often talked about (at least in the software centric books I've read). It doesn't go into depth on product related things like affordances but talks more about design techniques like user surveying. This is slightly confusing as there are books with similar covers that go the other route.

This book is good for those in environments where people work together designing solutions. In other words, many of these techniques aren't so useful if you are the only one interested in using them.

The techniques are well cited/researched and are often paired with useful illustrations.
Each method is covered in a few pages, but is usually clearly understood despite the brevity.

I never say I'm a graphic designer -- it's just my background and I like organizing information. I'm definitely not an artist or a scientist, and this book made it quite obvious to me that I barely scratch the surface of design. While intimidating, this book is amazing and easy to digest in pieces (for me). It's a resource book I will use repeatedly until the information finally sticks. It also illustrates just how much science there is in design -- and how design surrounds all of us. The book breaks down the five phases of design are described and methods detailed out. There is a lot of information to digest and is fascinating to see just how complex human behavior is.

If you're interested in design and design methodology this is a fantastic resource. With 125 research methods, it's absolutely a comprehensive reference with short explanations and clear examples of each method to ensure you can see the application of each method. I really enjoyed my time with this book and as someone who works closely with the User Experience and User Experience Research teams, I feel like I understand some of the methodology so much more clearly now.

with gratitude to netgalley and quarto publishing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.