This book comes from a collective from USydney. I consulted the 2018 release and I believe there’s a newer version available.
What caught my attention first is the departure from common verbs or actions used to describe the design process (e.g. the whole Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test used by design thinking). They opted for a higher level Think, Make, Break separation of the design activities based on the overall design intent at play in the process of creating or improving something. This is much more of a personal opinion but I tend to prefer simpler conceptual model of the design process over complex ones . My way of conceptualizing design is only two steps – something like Obverse and Change.
This book is neatly presented both in its visual design and the content structure.
It starts off with a quick introduction of how they approach design, which is basically a repeated loop of design thinking, design making and design breaking.
Then, they go on listing all 60 methods in alphabetical order. This choice is logic when you look at it from organizing a book but a little a
The p
1. Basic information
- What’s the full title and author?
- When was it published?
- What’s the genre (e.g., Service Design, UX, Strategy, Design Thinking, etc.)?
2. Purpose and audience
- What problem is this book trying to solve?
- Who is the book intended for (students, professionals, executives, beginners, experts)?
3. Core content
- What are the main ideas or frameworks the book presents?
- Are there any memorable metaphors, models, or case studies?
4. Practical value
- What parts are directly applicable to design practice?
- Did it change how you think or work? How?
- Are there specific tools, methods, or exercises you could reuse?
5. Style and readability
- How accessible is the writing?
- Is it more inspirational, practical, technical, or academic?
6. Strengths and weaknesses
- What does the book do particularly well?
- Where does it fall short (e.g., outdated examples, too vague, too dense)?
7. Comparison and positioning
- How does it compare to other books on the same topic?
- If someone liked Book X, would they also like this one?
8. Personal impact
- What’s one idea from the book you think you’ll remember 5 years from now?
- Would you recommend it — and to who (and who shouldn’t read it)?