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

Review is for both the Kindle and hardcover versions of this book. An easy to use, high level reference of various design principles. A good reference for students, designers, user interface experts or anyone involved in creating, maintaining or managing a product. The language is concise, the principles are presented in an easy to understand manner. Each principle is summed up at the highest level in the subtitle with a more detailed description in the body. A list of related principles is included and in some instances visual aids. Footnotes are at the bottom of each section. The hardcover is an attractive book with the blue spine being a glossy finish and the white part being matt. The paper is a medium weight with a nice feel and a matt finish. The Kindle version faithfully follows the book but has the added benefit that e-books have such as search, contents viewable alongside page views, bookmarks, highlights, links, notes etc. which of course makes it much more effective as a reference. I generally use the Kindle version more often on my laptop where the reader is in color and there is greater viewing space for graphics. When reading it on the Kindle Paperwhite the experience is still enjoyable but not to the same level. Pros: - Covers a wide range of design principles - Information is presented in an effective way - Text is concise and clearly written - Related principles are presented for further study - Graphics are informative and directly demonstrate the principle - Hardcover is attractive and has a nice feel to it Cons: - For the hardcover there could be a quicker way to look up principles. The contents do a good job however something like tabs might help for quicker reference without having to return to the contents page - For the Kindle version, the graphics and illustrations often fall well below the text and so lose some of the effectiveness they have in the hardcover edition where they are easily viewed alongside the text.

A real gem. This book has a very useful structure, almost like an encyclopedia - it takes you to major principles of design in few words per principle, explains them, gives examples, and cites some basic references. I think almost anyone will find something they did not know in there, or something that did at least make them think. This is not a textbook, nor a true professional encyclopedia, but a high level exposition of stuff that works. For what it's worth it obviously takes cues from Christopher Alexander's "A pattern language", by the goal and by the way it is organized. It is less coherent within the realm of design than "A pattern language" is within the realm of architecture - it does not completely form a body of ideas consistent within themselves. But this is simply because the principles covered are of various types and apply across disciplines (say, psychological, physical, etc...). I saw this book in a coffee shop (of all places) and had to buy one for myself almost right away.

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. There are so many parts of life to which this book applies. And so many new and different ideas for the design of anything -- museum exhibits, stores, factories, products, websites, and on and on. I cannot imagine anyone in a leadership position in any field who would not benefit from studying this great book. It is also incredibly well organized, easy on the eye and the brain. But stop on each of the 100+ ideas and think about it for at least a day; how it applies to whatever your own goals are. Remember that Apple's huge success is not based on science and hardcore technology so much as human factors and design -- the kinds of things you will learn in this book.

I have the Kindle ebook version of this book. It looks great on my iPad mini Kindle app, but is so-so on my Windows PC Kindle software. I hear the print version is written with diagrams on opposing pages, with each topic on two pages. But I find most of the topics are explained in text with minimal graphics. I don't think this book would help the novice or practitioner as much as an educator like me. It is all about theory and concepts of user-interface design. I find each topic to be clearly explained. Unfortunately, you have to know the name of the topic to find it...each topic is explained in alphabetical order. For me, this is a good reference book. A book on design patterns would be more appropriate for a practicing UX designer.

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.

This book is fantastic...It is designer's intuition put into words. Whether it is colors, aesthetic, convergence, defensible space, constancy, chunking, rule of thirds, the list goes on... as a designer, I know intuitively part of what is detailed in this book, but I do not necessarily have all the data backing it up or know all the reasons why I design the way I do. This book explained it to me in a concise manner...one topic per fold (description on the first page,visualization on the second). Even better it allows me to explain these very concepts to my clients or vendors. As a professional in the exhibit world I find this book extremely educational and no doubt it will be a wealth of information for a student of design. I give it 5 stars indeed. fw

I've bought a few copies of this book over the years as gifts for people interested in all kinds of design. The book is great for amateurs and students of design - to pros who could use a step back from their own thoughts - to anyone who just wants to know more how design works with the human mind. One of the best things that makes this accessible to anyone is that instead of long chapters - the book takes 100(in the original) principles and gives them each 2 pages. Which also makes it a great coffee table book / conversation starter. Covers principles behind the Volkswagon bug and Coca Cola bottle - the math and the psychological why - which will make you start to look at things all around you differently. I also saw the author speak at HOW in Atlanta several years back - it's all really interesting stuff.

This book is good for beginners and perhaps it was because of my own negligence, but I was very disappointed by the depth of each topic. A single page filled with 20% content and you are done with the topic. It's basically a set of flashcards that teaches you just the terms and what they mean. Not how, why or what situations you need to keep a topic in mind for. If you're a professional looking for insight from another professional that goes into depth; Stay away. You won't be happy. If you are just learning about the fundamentals of design, then grab it and it will be a great piece of knowledge to keep beside you while you learn for the first few months. But, rest assured once you are beyond the very simple stages of design this book will collect dust on your shelf. Overall. Good book. Not bad and not great. But worth twenty bucks...

Um livro extremamente informativo. Cada princípio do design é explicado a cada duas páginas, ou seja, você pode ir lendo aos poucos tranquilamente. Torna-se fácil para consultas posteriores também.

Aún no lo he leído, pero se ve impresionante y hermoso. Lo único es que el libro no llego taaaan bien como me gustaría. El empaque era una bolsa que sí, traía las bubujitas, pero no protegió lo suficiente. Aún así creo que el contenido es lo importante

This book was exactly what I was looking for. It's basically what I'd expect to learn from a design principles course all jammed into a book with quick and interesting examples. The content beyond the pictures and headings is a bit dry, but it doesn't matter. The headings and photos are all that you need. Plus, the index and table contents are organized in a way that can guide you to the most important principles to know depending on your goals/career. It makes navigating the book way easier. I highly recommend this book for any product designers.

Very good 👍

It's a must for any designer. I unfortunately didn't have all that range of learning about design in different industries at my design school. There were some principles I did learn, but some I definitely didn't and it's a book to reach out to sometimes :)