There’s no i in experience design
Monday kicked off my winter night class on Experience Design at Central St. Martins. Asymetric haircuts, country headwear, the diverse and arty greeted me for a 10 stretch of academia. I even took a pencil to sketch with whilst looking into the mid distance.
Experience design is just that and far from just that. Dozens of man-years have been spent crafting a definition that still struggles with the difference between art and design, let alone the requirement we have to trap, cagoule and force down the edges of what it is to be experiential or to provide experience. The wooliness of the subject is refreshing and helping get my head out of the structured, problem/solution world that billable work often requires (especially on a Monday!).
From 5 senses, to 360 degree immersive sessions it’s clearly going to be an awesome 10 weeks.
My reading list is whizzing past Hegel, Marx, through terms as diverse as relational aesthetics and dystopian community. It’s been a while since I read something (Harvard biz review tends to pride itself on accessibility!) that had me rubbernecking to google this regularly. Blindingly good stuff, even this early session got me thinking like mad on a stack of plans/briefs/trickies I have in front of me.
In a world where ‘Brand is…’ is cumbersome and ‘brand does’ becomes more central to our planning model - experiential planning is pretty sexy for me. It channel planning with lipstick on, spinning on a table, air thick with perfume.
With HBR continuing to kick sand in the face of goods providers with yet another article on the worth of the experience economy. Joining the greying of the boundaries between sponsorship, co-branding, commissioned design, corporate installation etc. And Josephs Pine conforming that customer value has run away from all the commodities and goods, towards tailored services or authentic experiences. It it the time to try and consider how we offer these experiences, planned, proactive and of course with an audience insight bang in the centre.
With crossed fingers, in a dark, endless cold room . I am hoping that experience design and the time spent with the talent at CSM contributes a component to me working on a structured approach to behavioural change achieved along a considered, multichannel, richer journey.
In the meantime – a rather nice Nokia experience, corporate installation, co-branded event, light show or Son et lumière (your choice).
Around 2,000 teenagers and young adults in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every year. These vulnerable patients often feel isolated, bitter, confused and afraid as they struggle to come to terms with and overcome a life-threatening disease.
Scoop.it, a tool that lets one and all hunt, gather and distribute content from around the Web launched publicly today after a year in an invite-only beta.





