Visitor Studies, 2014, 17(2), 222–224

Copyright C Visitor Studies Association

ISSN: 1064–5578 print / 1934-7715 online
DOI: 10.1080/10645578.2014.945354

Book Review

Martin, B., & Hanington, B. M. (2012). Universal Methods of Design:

100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and
Design Effective Solutions. Beverly, MA: Rockport. 207 pages. ISBN: 978-
1592537563 (hbk), USD $40.00.
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Reviewed by Kris Morrissey

University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

Who could resist opening a book with the subheading “100 Ways to Research Com-
plex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions”? Sounds
like one of those low-cost kitchen gadgets that can slice your vegetables, open your
mail, and frost your cupcakes. But the book makes good on its promise. It is not just a
book about methods but about techniques that “structure conversations that can help
us better understand and empathize with people, and as a result build more meaningful
products.”
The examples of products are largely drawn from the commercial world, yet the
techniques translate with just a little bit of imagination to the museum context. In
fact, many of the 100 techniques are familiar to museum researchers including case
studies, diary studies, interviews, shadowing (aka tracking), questionnaires, focus
groups, rapid iterative testing, and content analysis. And the familiar methods often
have a design twist or focus. For example, the section on observations focuses on a
holistic process of “attentive looking and systematic recording of the interactions be-
tween people, artifacts, [and] environments” with observations including both factual
behaviors observed and inferences speculating on motives or meaning to be verified
through interviews. Not surprising from a design field, many of the techniques fo-
cus on usability testing (think-aloud protocol and usability reports) or visualizing
processes and interactions (territory maps and storyboards), and a few involve more
immersive and full body techniques than some of us are accustomed to (bodystorming,
simulation exercises, and experience prototyping).
Many of the techniques were enticingly new to me. A few of my favorites, perhaps
because they sound a bit exotic and technical, are Kano analysis, KJ technique, Elito
method, and triading. The Kano analysis provides a framework to distinguish user
responses to attributes of a product or experience that are required, desired, exciters,
neutral, or anti-features. The KJ technique is a silent consensus building activity.
The Elito method helps teams bridge the “analysis-synthesis” gap between analyzing
research data and articulating design ideas and includes the construction of a logic line

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connecting observations, judgments, value, concept, and metaphor. Triading reminds

me of the Sesame Street song “One of these things is not like the others”; it is an
interviewing technique that uses three photos (in their example of Trader Joe’s, Whole
Foods Market, and Aldi Market) and asks iterations of the question “How do two of
these examples differ from the third?”
The content is only part of why I would be willing to hawk this book on late night
TV, despite a few minor limitations. The organization of the book is actually designed,
or perhaps I could borrow the word curated, in such a refreshing and insightful way
that the structure of the book guides, informs, and may reframe the ways you think
about evaluation or research. Start with the conciseness of the descriptions with 100
techniques presented in only 207 pages. The Table of Contents lists each technique
alphabetically with a visual coding system that correlates each method with one of the
five stages of design—planning, scoping and definition; exploration and synthesis of
design implications; concept generation and prototype iterations; evaluation, refine-
ment, and production; and launch and monitor. Each method is described in only two
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pages; the left page provides a concise description of the method and references to
seminal works (primarily from the design field and occasionally that of the authors)
and the right side includes images and case studies that illustrate the technique. Shad-
owing shows participating grocery shoppers being observed, photographed, and then
interviewed about their shopping behavior. Speed dating is illustrated with photos of a
study that investigated how teenagers interact with their digital and virtual possessions
and privacy.
A provocative infographic matrix characterizes each method on five research facets.
The behavioral/attitudinal facet characterizes the content; the qualitative/quantitative
describes the form in which data is collected; innovative/adapted/traditional describes
whether the method is original to design or adapted from other disciplines; the primary
purpose is framed as exploratory/generative/evaluative; and the role of the researcher
and participant is characterized as participatory/observation/self-reporting/expert/
review/design. For example, Focus Groups are characterized as attitudinal, qualitative,
traditional, exploratory, and self-reporting. Scenario Swim Lanes (with a storyboard
lane, user experience lane, business process lane, and systems lane) is characterized
as behavioral and attitudinal; qualitative, innovative, and adapted; generative, and
design.
It is not clear if the matrix is empirically derived (doubtful) and very little discussion
or description is devoted to it, but most likely it is a conceptual organizer rather
than a theoretical construct. Still, the matrix is worthy of attention from our field,
as a provocative effort to explore and articulate ways our methodologies all reside
within conceptual models framed by our assumptions and expectations and potentially
viewed through a number of lenses.
Although it might be tempting to evaluate the value of this book as a methods book
and to focus on the lack of theory or research, that would miss the intention of this
book. This is not about methods of research but methods of design. The conciseness
and the focus on design (and often design applied for commercial motivations) limits
the usefulness of the book as a handbook or a methodology resource and their phases
of design don’t quite align with the stages of a research study or the development
of most museum products. However, if you find the lens of design or visualization

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useful in your research, you will likely enjoy this book and the ideas may expand
your repertoire and your conversations. If you’re a designer of museum products or
experiences, you may find this book expands your capacity for user-centered design
work.
The authors start the book with a quotation from Mark Twain: “Supposing is good.
Finding out is better.” I’ll end this review with another quotation from Mark Twain
that I think fits the value of this book: “You can’t depend on your eyes when your
imagination is out of focus.”

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Kris Morrissey is Director of the Museology Graduate Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the
founding editor of Museums & Social Issues. Address correspondence to: Kris Morrissey, University of Washington,
PO Box 85203, Seattle, WA 98145. E-mail: morriss8@uw.edu.
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