I’ve seen them all, read about them all…
BUTT, which one really is the best for quick,seeable results…
For the people who “want their butts to look firmer/smaller/better,” simply losing weight will do the trick…
The interested party is 5’2" > weight around 110 
I guess I should have stated “for most people…”
Here’s the deal: Most people who want their butts to look “better” really want their butts to look smaller. In this case, they need to lose fat. (A better diet and moderate exercise is the key to losing fat.) But there’s also the minority of folks who are actually happy with the size of their butt, and they desire a firmer butt. There are two ways to address this “problem”: 1) Lose even more fat, or 2) strengthen the Gluteus Maximus. And herein lies a problem: while both approaches will “firm” the butt, #1 will make it smaller and #2 will make it slightly larger. #2 can be accomplished via a number of exercises, e.g. squats.
For a hard butt, and Popeye like calves, I recommend in-line skating. Works for me. Wish it did as much for the abs.
<male speaking> Simple - gain a large amount of muscle mass in the gluts and thighs, while dropping body fat as much as possible. There was a girl at the prep school I went to who was 5’5" and 120 pounds or so, who did “nothing special” to keep her body in shape. In truth, she was doing 2 miles of hill sprints a day and 3 miles of jogging. Never saw anyone do that sort of thing without a sports teams’ guilt/encouragement.
For fatter people (most men and some women) losing weight makes much more difference. And, of course, it’s difficult to lose weight without significant movement…
Butts, butts, butts… the leaping and loving muscles. Best trained by complete effort every 1/3 second followed by relative rest for a similar time - there are two activities for that: sprinting (drag a tire or go up hills for resistance) and vigorous lovemaking.
My number one pick would be lunges. I always feel those in my glutes the next day. I also like straight-legged good mornings and back extensions performed with the bench very low on the hips so you’re engaging the hamstrings and glutes.
I also row and erg and I’ve never seen a rower with a flabby ass so that would be a good cardio choice. I’m not a personal trainer but I have been told on several occasions that I have an incredible ass and surely not all of the those guys were only trying to get into my pants… 
Squats.
Place your feet at shoulder length apart. Now with alternating hands, slap the ground, straighten up and repeat till you can’t do anymore. Most important keep your knees straight and do not let your knees pass the ends of your feet (this will prevent knee injuries). Also don’t bounce as you drop and rise. Do several sets a day and you should see improvement in your booty and upper thighs.
Sounds like an excercise that will work the lower back more than anything. I’m sure you must have the right form. Plus, many, maybe most, people can not touch the ground without bending the knees a bit. I am curious though.
The above link contains body images for medical purposes but not graphic nudity. It may not be work safe for people with very conservative employers (it wouldn’t be work safe in Saudi ) Sorry - I should have made this disclaimer before posting.
Use a weight machine that works the glutes through hip rotation via a roller that goes behind your upper leg, just above the knee; usually, such machines have a flat pad to lie on, a belt that straps around the waist, and handgrips for stability. I have found that doing one leg at a time is much preferable (move both legs, but force one to do all the work). The reason: if you do both legs at the same time, the weight involved will tire out your lower back muscles (which stabilize your torso) sooner than your glutes (isolating your lower back from your glutes is impossible). Yeah, one leg at a time means twice as many reps, but each rep will be easier on your lower back.
Art
Try the excercise and get back to me. You will feel it in the upper thighs.
Reread my post. When you slap the ground, you have to bend your knees. Well unless you got gorilla arms. I was just being very descriptive on the form because doing it wrong will hurt your knees. If you can’t touch the ground, just make the motions and go down as far as you can. With practice you should be able to hit the ground over time.
Maybe i wasn’t being descriptive enough. You bend at the knees, keeping your upper body perpendicular to the ground. Then touch the ground to your side.
squats Bend at the waist like you’re going to sit in a chair (the closer your butt is to the chair seat, the more intense the workout). Make sure that your knees don’t bend beyond your toes, and that you press your weight through your heels.
I don’t ever ever want my butt to be smaller (it is kind of big now), but I always want it to be rounder and higher.
After testing, it appears as though SQUATS is the winner. Lunges, a close second.
Can they be done everyday? Perhaps 3 or 4 times through out the day??
It depends on how you’re doing them. If you’ve got no weight, then it’s probably OK. If, like me, you squat heavy enough that you have trouble walking the next day, then that might not be so hot.
try starting with 12 reps every day, then add a set or two as you feel stronger.