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Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design [Paperback]

William Lidwell , Kritina Holden , Jill Butler
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)

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Book Description

January 1, 2010 1592535879 978-1592535873 Second Edition, Revised and Updated

Whether a marketing campaign or a museum exhibit, a video game or a complex control system, the design we see is the culmination of many concepts and practices brought together from a variety of disciplines. Because no one can be an expert on everything, designers have always had to scramble to find the information and know-how required to make a design work—until now.

Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary encyclopedia of design. Richly illustrated and easy to navigate, it pairs clear explanations of every design concept with visual examples of the concepts applied in practice. From the "80/20” rule to chunking, from baby-face bias to Occam's razor, and from self-similarity to storytelling, every major design concept is defined and illustrated for readers to expand their knowledge.

This landmark reference will become the standard for designers, engineers, architects, and students who seek to broaden and improve their design expertise.


Frequently Bought Together

Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design + Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions + 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People (Voices That Matter)
Price for all three: $66.50

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Lidwell is a partner and chief research and development officer at the Applied Management Sciences Institute. He writes, speaks, and consults on topics of design and engineering and is the author of multiple books including the best-selling design book Universal Principles of Design, which has been translated into 16 languages. He lives in Houston, TX.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Rockport Publishers; Second Edition, Revised and Updated edition (January 1, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1592535879
  • ISBN-13: 978-1592535873
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.8 x 10 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Will writes, speaks, and consults on matters of design and engineering psychology. He is particularly interested in cross-disciplinary design and the means by which organizations achieve and institutionalize innovation. He is a Stuff Creator in residence at Stuff Creators Design Studio and a Lecturer of Industrial Design at the University of Houston. Follow Will on Twitter at www.twitter.com/williamlidwell.

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
(46)
4.7 out of 5 stars
Very readable, interesting, and well designed book. Danny  |  16 reviewers made a similar statement
It is a book you might browse through over time. Dr. Dave  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Inspiration for Discussion February 15, 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
We used this as a group study book at work to help our software design skills. This book it packed with useful and interesting topics. The only difficulty for what we are using it for is we need to make the connection between the concepts and how it applies to software. This is a great mental exercise but does take significantly more brain power than if the application to software were laid out directly in the book. There is an immense amount of content in this book and I think we will be exploring many of the topics in more depth in future discussions.

On a non work side my wife wants to pick this up and read because of the interesting application it has to every day life and advertising. Overall a very interesting and insightful book.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A UX colleague of mine initially recommended this book to me, and I started leafing through it. And when I looked up again, I had read half of the 125 snippets that make up this book...

This is the strength of this book - instead of taking one theory and squeezing 300 pages out of it (as so many other design and UX books do), it deliberately dedicates exactly 2 pages for each theory. The left side of this bigger-than-A4 book is dedicated towards theory, with very handy references of where one can find out more about the theory, while the right side has good visual examples of how this theory maps out in the real world.

For a seasoned professional, many of the theories will be well-known, but I was still surprised by the often clever cross-referencing to other pieces of research that made me think anew about the theory. Also, the authors made a fantastic effort in boiling down often very wordy theories into a few very concise paragraphs.

I also really liked the mix of theories: there is a lot of design, a lot of psychology, evolutionary biology, Gestalt and other research on perception, motivators, and many other things... this is a strength of this book because everybody who reads it will find something new from a related discipline, and the book makes it obvious why this is still relevant.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, also because it's easy to just pick it up, read a couple of theories and put it back down. I recommend it very much for people who always wondered what some of the names of the theories were that they were using on a daily basis, but also for students of design and UX who want to "cheat" and get really handy quick explanations of complicated subject matters without having to fight their way through the often tedious books of these areas.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for Any Designer November 2, 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm a college student majoring in interactive media and I bought this book for independent study. My degree courses often deal with specific aspects or applications of design, but I wanted to gain a better understanding of general design principles. I am happy to report that this book is rich with design information that can be utilized by all species of designers!

Each topic is given two pages - one page is more text-heavy and the other has visuals that demonstrate or exemplify the design principle at hand. Despite the seemingly brief dedication to each principle, the book is dense, efficient, and favors minimalism so although you may be able to scan over a principle in seconds, you need to take the time and study the information being presented in order to soak all of it in. Lidwell does a fantastic job at providing a survey of some of the most pertinent design principles. I foresee referencing this book throughout the rest of university studies and beyond.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
Anybody serious about design in general should read this book. It will have you thinking about aspect of your design you may never have thought of.
Published 1 month ago by jordan rich
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, informative and worth keeping
Lidwell has written an excellent book that is one of those books that I bought for a college course but I will keep it forever as a reference guide. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jeffrey Stanton
4.0 out of 5 stars Even little things about designing covered
Things that might be taken for granted as a designer point view are well covered in this book.
Strongly recommended for designers.
Published 1 month ago by kamran
5.0 out of 5 stars A design bible for all design fields
All fields of design can learn from this book - object and digital. Highly recommended to any current or aspiring designer.
Published 2 months ago by rdoelmackaway
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful tool
I got this book just to have. I like to keep my knowledge of design up to speed as I am a producer and director, this book is a must for anyone working in the industry
Published 3 months ago by Devin Hujdic
5.0 out of 5 stars Seems obvious, but these are things that often get overlooked.
As a former graphic / ux designer for hire, I wish all my clients could have read this book before they came to me. Read more
Published 3 months ago by E. Mclean Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional.
This is one of my favorite books of the last few years.
I buy around 1000 books a year, so that is saying a lot. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Gary E. Hoover
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best design books I have found.
I'm teaching a beginning design course, and this is the best textbook I have found so far. Concise, beautiful, and up to date.
Published 4 months ago by Tyler Cochran
4.0 out of 5 stars Well laid out and very thoughtful
Great book to help remind a person of design choices. Well put together and decent examples. Wish they would update a couple of items, but it is a must have for a reference source... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Tredici
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
The book is amazing. I learned a lot of new things about design and how humans understand things. I recommend it.
Published 4 months ago by Aleksandar Karamfilov
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