#one 2014 ISSN 2203-4536 (PRINT)ISSN 2203 -4544 (DIGITAL)

AUS $19.95US $18.50

EDITORIAL Developing Principles for

Optimal Human Experiences

REFLECTION Design for Emotions

METHODS Balancing Creativity and

Science, Designing Social Events

RESEARCH Interpretive and Informal

Learning Design For Museums

PRACTICE Play Mountain, Engaging Classrooms

TECHNOLOGY Travel Apps

ENTERTAINMENT Humanizing Experiences,

Designing White Night

Congratulations on the first edition of XD Magazine.

Thank you for helping to develop an international voice for the practice of experience design.

We look forward to being part of the conversation.

Foolproof is an experience design agency with offices in the UK and Singapore.

foolproof.co.uk @foolproof_ux

Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Editorial - Developing Principles for Designing Optimal Experiences . . . . . 3

Lavalleé - Design For Emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Khan - The Entropii XD Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Bowe & Silvers - First Steps in XD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Leaper - Learning By Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Forrest & Roberts - Interpretive Design: Think, Do, Feel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Tavakkoli - Working Hard At Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Stowe - Designing Engaging Learning Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Wood - Enhance Your Travel Experiences Using Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Miller - Humanizing it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Wood - Designing the ‘White Night’ Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Experience Design Book Excerpt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

San FranciscoNew YorkLondon

www.method.cominquiries@method.comjobs@method.com

15 years of designing integrated brand, product, and service experiences.

We are a collaborative design studio approaching design from the needs of the customer, putting them at the heart of the problems we solve and the opportunities we create.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

MethodA4_1e Print.pdf 2 3/3/14 5:01 PM

FOUNDING EDITOR AND DIRECTOR -

FAYE MILLER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER (LAYOUT) -

BROOKE MCDONALD

MARKETING OFFICER -

WILLIAM WELLS

GRAPHIC DESIGNER (LOGO) -

LÖIC GEBERT

WRITER/RESEARCHER - MAEVE WOOD

COVER ART - DERLAINE

(Inspired by Robot Unicorn Attacks) For more Derlaine artwork

please visit: http://derlaine.com

2

Experience Design is the field and practice of designing optimal experiences for people. The experiences of people are researched using a variety of methods to inform human-

centered design of technologies, products, services, systems or environments. This article outlines six types of experience design, which have been developed from my recent

PhD research into experiences of using information to learn and my participants were practitioners from a range of industries and fields (scientists, social scientists and creative

arts) turned academic researchers. These types of Experience Design can be applied across both hands-on and conceptual projects.

Faye Miller

>> User Experience Design is the design of optimal and engaging experiences for people who use (or potentially use) a product, service or system. This refers specifically to the design of technologically supported experiences of information including texts (multimedia), tools (hardware and software), humans (service and virtual representations), digital cultures and environments (interfaces and visuals), including the social media learning space. In this study, social media was used primarily for seeking and attracting expansion opportunities. While half of the participants in this study were active users of social media for these purposes, the other half had either no experience with, or interest in social media or had used social media but had not found it conducive to their work preferences and goals. This implies that networking for productive career development encompasses online social media, but goes beyond it and needs to be facilitated in ways that suit individual preferences.

>> Human Experience Design is the facilitation of optimal experiences for humans, which is broader than ‘users’ who are only engaging with what is being designed. Human Experience encompasses experiences of the everyday lives of people, not necessarily including experiences with a product or technology. It also focuses on developing a more personalised experience that is a ‘natural fit’ for the person using the resource or system. This study argues that designing for human experiences is a stronger design principle than User Experience. By understanding holistic human experiences in each of the spaces identified in this study, we can begin to view the interconnectivity between offline and online experiences.

>> Learner Experience Design is the design of optimal experiences for people who have learning and/or development as their main goal, or who have a need to learn a particular area or skill. In this study, with its informed learning focus, learner experience design refers to designing and integrating pedagogical concepts into each of the key learning spaces (programs, courses, events, community, personal life and social media). Three other types of experience design which complement these main areas emerged from the findings of this study, including memorable, collaborator and multisensory.

USER MEMORY

COLLABORATOR

MULTISENSORY

HUMAN

LEARNER

EXPERIENCE DESIGN

>> Memorable Experience Design is the design of optimal experiences of memories through knowledge creation and use. Findings indicate that memorable or ‘sticky’ experiences that have a strong impact on people translate into knowledge resources of all types. Designing spaces for memorable experiences greatly enhances the likelihood of retaining knowledge for future use for learning.

>> Collaborator Experience Design is the design of optimal experiences through collaboration between two or more people. Shared experiences feature largely in in this study, and the idea of collaborator experience needs to be highlighted as a unique type of experience. In this study, interactions and resources are working to facilitate mutually supportive relationships and in this view, it is the relationships themselves that inform learning as separate learning contexts to the individual working independently. Thus, the collaboration as an informing entity, as opposed to a single ‘user’ or ‘human’ as an informing entity, needs to be considered during design.

>> Multisensory Experience Design is the design of optimal experiences by receiving information through multiple human senses. Design which allows people to participate in an experience through use of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell and taste, has a potential impact on learning and development. This is particularly relevant for spaces such as events (conferences or informal meetings) but can potentially apply to all spaces where networking occurs.

DEVELOPING DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR OPTIMAL

EXPERIENCES

3 4

I was on a much needed three day retreat to Brussels when I made the turn from Web Strategist / User Experience Expert to Experience Designer. I stayed at the Bloom Hotel, a place where every room is decorated with a unique and gigantic fresco. My days were filled with walks in the city and stopping at cafés or restaurants to enjoy the latest best-selling saga.

I was at a point in my career where I didn’t have much motivation to carry on being a web expert. I would spend all of my energy helping users that I rarely met face to face, leaving me feeling lonely and disconnected. I spent endless days protecting them from a horde of technical glitches and marketing professionals in order to just keep the website simple. It wasn’t that this vocation was bad, but it wasn’t providing any new challenges.

As I was walking through the city, I realized that I was looking for something. Perhaps every time I walk in a city, no matter which city, no matter which country, I am always looking for the same thing.My blog had a specific section just for this. The one containing

D E S I G N F O R E M O T I O N SPATRICIA GALLOT-LAVALLÉE

the most posts, actually. As I was walking through Brussels, I was looking for shops, restaurants, activities... with a look, a concept... an experience.

Lush, the fancy soap company wasn’t satisfying for me any longer; I had seen them in New York, London and Paris. I guess I’m always looking for the same thing whether I am in Helsinki, Stockholm, Montreal, Porto, or Barcelona. I’m looking for places with a signature experience.

When I discovered the Mr. Potato-Head-all-you-can-fit-in-the-box-challenge in New York, I was satisfied. The concept is as follows: no matter how many pieces of the Mr. Potato Head collection (ears, hats, shoes, bag...) you manage to put in the box, as long as it closes, you pay

a flat rate of $18. When I discovered that a youth hostel in Stockholm had rooms on a riverboat, I was satisfied.

As I was walking in the streets of Brussels, thinking about my great book, my great hotel room, this great little café by the Parliament; I was thinking that there should be more great books that you don’t want to put down, more great restaurants that people are willing to queue to get into, more hotels where you are just delighted to open your hotel room’s door.

And this is what was missing from my profession. I was working hard on taking away elements of negative emotions: frustration, anger, misunderstanding, and complexity, instead of doing what the entertainment companies

do: generate positive emotions... on purpose. I would spend all my energy making websites easy to use, instead of making them delightful to use.

That was it. I finally got it. I wanted to become an Experience Designer, a designer whose purpose was to generate positive emotions. I wanted more of those great products on Earth. I wanted to make our everyday lives more fun, delightful, even –dare I say– fulfilling.

Once I was back in Paris, I decided that I needed to increase my technical skills. Throughout the last ten years, my hobby has been personal

development: I had acquired some knowledge about the ‘flow’ as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the languages of love... but I needed more. I’m a technical gal; I need data, I need patterns, I need analysis.

The question lingered: What is it that creates positive emotions within people? Checking out the psychology curriculum in several universities made me pass on that option. I didn’t want to have my brain focused on diseases and pathologies. As I couldn’t find a university curriculum that would teach me and certify me as an expert on

what creates positive emotions with people, I decided to write a book. From my previous experience writing a book, I had realized that it was a great way to simultaneously collect information, get interviews, reflect on topics from a distance as well as provide focus.

Back then and even now, most of my clients not only ask for intuitive websites but they also want Facebook fans. They want ‘likes’ on their posts. So I decided to investigate what it is that create fans. Three years forward, I have published four books that describe what creates fans. It has been a wonderful journey.

5 6

So when I work with my clients, I know that we need to find a unique mix ofputting things together for their customers.

Companies that have fans usually do things differently: they have habits, specific HR guidelines and training. They are organized differently.

On 30% of my projects I manage to work on my own, for example when I design a course for a school, I can work within the constraints the university gives me. When I work on the menu of a restaurant, I use a traditional customer/supplier interaction. When I ask the client “which emotion are you looking for?” they might say “I want them to say ‘Oh that’s nice’ and from that I can mostly work on my own. I don’t need to tap into their creativity, I hardly have to ask them to change the way they work.

But those are small projects; on bigger projects, to create longer lasting experiences I prefer the team to be much more involved.

As I said before, an experience is something that feels unique. For example in a hotel, it can come from:

» the look of the building

» the style of the interior

» the furniture

» the view

» the swimming pool and the other facilities

» the size of the towels

» the way the chocolate is laid down on your pillow

» the look housekeeping gives you when you enter your room, from what the

» breakfast buffet is made of

» the generosity you feel while negotiating check-in and check-out time

» the freebees

» the way the lights turn on as you walk in your room

» the wording of the security, interdiction and welcome messages

» the price of the video on demand services

» the key ring or the sound the access card makes when it finally works

» the way the toilet paper is folded.

… the possibilities are endless.

When it comes to creating a unique experience that will stick to the product with time and not just be an idea in a PowerPoint, I believe it is best to co-create, to work with housekeeping and ask them what they could do. When working with the Chef, I show them examples of what creates positives emotions with people, and ask them what they could do that would follow the same pattern, yet be different at the same time.

I call it collaborative innovation. We work in groups where employees in charge of different sections of the organization work. I call them Brain Trust Groups. We meet every three weeks, I show them examples, ask my questions and give themtime to think about it. On the third meeting we start creating prototypes that we try to test with real users as soon as possible. We learn from our tests, listen to the comments and adapt.

Some evolutions are cheap and easy to maintain. Others are costly and require time. That’s okay. It is a continuing process. As an Experience Designer, I always try to see if there is a way to work around points of frictions, problems, things that are usually costly and turn them into something that would be the source of ‘Woahhh!’. I also try to discover their natural brand DNA, what is already great about them, about the location, and see if we can boost it.

Some experiences are meant to stay fixed and never change. I’m thinking of the restaurant The Entrecôte in Paris. Every day at 11:30 am you can see the growing queue of customers waiting for the restaurant to open. They are famous for serving the best Entrecôte. They only have one dish, waiters don’t even ask for what you want. They will only ask you if you like it rare, medium or well-cooked. Those don’t need to renew themselves, others do. For example, the W Hotels has a culture of change among its employees. On their bill envelope, they make the following promise: “Every time, a new experience” and they do.

My studies have led me to understand that when someone likes something they will want more of it… well what they really want is more of the same kind of surprise. So when I work with clients, we establish a renewal calendar. That is particularly important for jokes on menus and ways dishes are served.

POSITIVE EMOTIONS

gratitudehopeeuphoriaempathy

An experience is a moment in time where a

participant gets to feel a lot

of different emotions.

The emotions are triggered by tangible,

concrete objects or actions presented

in a manner that one has never seen before.

An experience is usually the source of learning.

An experience is somehow unique.

My research allows me, when working with a group, to present them with questions and guidelines that will lead to more positive emotions. My research gives me a methodology that leads to positive emotions. Of course a lot of publicists, marketers and designers know what creates positive emotions with people, but I believe that most

desirehappiness pride joy

of them have more of an intuitive approach around this concept, than an approach based on the application of a methodology.

What is my practice as Experience Designer? To me, the term Experience holds several notions. Here is my definition of EXPERIENCE.

7 8

Of course a large part of my practice revolves around simple user testing, qualitative surveys and providing quantified data. I’m the kind of gal who puts emotions in Excel spreadsheets! Those studies are usually the source of recommendations. One of my clients who edits a website that has 11 million unique visitors a year, told me that the 200 employee organization had all the ideas, but that my approach on emotions helped them prioritize on what needed to be done.

That’s how far I’ve come since my Brussels epiphany. I’ve published four books, given three conferences and had a baby. The way I teach has been completely metamorphosized by my research. When it comes to developing new business, I struggle to talk to the right people. I think French people struggle to understand the word Experience, but it turns out they misunderstand the word Design as well. To them, a designer is a graphic designer, not someone who engineers concepts.

So I keep calm and carry on, gather data, conduct interviews, publish my books,

increase my knowledge, improve my methodology as often as I can and wait for my next great project to happen. I’ve already worked on a project for Chanel, marketing cosmetics internationally, so I’m hopeful that the right people and the right projects will come.

My husband laughs every time someone asks me what I do at a dinner party. Iused to spend a lot of time explaining it all. Now I just say: “I’m a consultant”. Itwas much more efficient to tell people “I’m a web specialist”, people knew which box to put me in.

The other day, I was talking to a lawyer and she told me: “you’re in marketing”. And it bugged me. To me Experience Design is much more than just exposing the product to the market; it is about designing a product or a service that will trigger emotions and as a consequence word of mouth. It is about finding the competitive edge and implementing it. That being said, I’m glad though, I have heard other people refer to me as “Miss Specialist in Emotions”. It’s a good viral message.

Patricia Gallot-Lavallée is an Interaction Designer specializing in Designing for Emotions . She participates in the conception of products, services and communication strategies in order to help brands provoke “positive” emotions in their audience . She publishes her research on emotional design in series of books . Her first series is called J’adooore ‘six ingredients that create fans’ . Patricia is also a mobilized teacher at the Institute of Internet and Multimedia . She has a twelve year background in user experience and web strategy . She lives in hectic Paris with her ever-so-cute family .

CONTACT: KENAZART, EXPERIENCE DESIGNERSPARIS, FRANCEPATRICIA@EXPERIENCEDESIGNERS.NETPUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE AT WWW.EXPERIENCEDESIGNERS.NET/LITTLEBOOKSHOP/SHE BLOGS IN FRENCH AT WWW.EXPERIENCEDESIGNERS.NET/BLOGSHE’S PRETTY NICE, YOU CAN CONTACT HER.

9 10

ENTROPII’S EXPERIENCE DESIGN FRAMEWORK

What I’d like to share is the framework I’ve unwittingly developed for XD over the last 15 years in various

flavors of the design profession I have tasted.There can be little doubt that XD is the hat everybody wants to be able to wear – but you have to earn it. From the breadth of the skills required, to the depth of knowledge needed. Indeed the rise of the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) to the traditional executive C-Suite shows that the experience is very much on the agenda in the boardroom of even the biggest businesses. I believe for Experience Design to transcend from emerging industry to established profession, we need a framework that is true to the spirit of the ideology itself – open, flexible and of course, holistic. We need systems that unlike other workflow lifecycles don’t become restrictions or rulebooks; rather a practical tool to help guide those working with the concepts of XD. What we need is a way to maintain the balance.Now there is an interesting thought: Balance. In order to have balance, we must compromise. And good design is

often about finding the right compromise. I can see now why XD has gotten so many different types of designer excited - I’m one of them! It feels like design is finally going back to its roots, having earned the respect of consumers and corporates alike to be seen for more than just making things pretty. Design and designers now have the right and the platform to be taken seriously and be valued. My own personal approach to finding balance in design is to use both creativity and science as principles. I find it incredibly helpful to use proven techniques from the sciences to give strength or guidance to a creative idea, or indeed taking scientific ideas and applying them creatively. For my Experience Design Framework, I took the same approach. Initially, my modeling continuously resulted in multiple points and overlapping processes; much like the traditional workflow diagrams I’ve been trying to break free from. I found myself starting to think that Experience Design might actually be more restrictive

ENTROPII’S EXPERIENCE DESIGN FRAMEWORK

Defining Experience Design (XD) is something I’ll leave to others, because for me I love the idea of it changing and evolving. Pinning it down seems somewhat against the idea itself.

by Hammad Khan

11 12

than I’d been hoping for, until I decided to stop defining cornerstones and boundaries and started to think about how designers actually work. But with so many design frameworks out there, can we even cope with another? And if so, where do we even begin to start on something as wide in scope as XD? Is UCD no longer relevant, just because there is a new acronym in town? If Experience Design is an emerging field, surely it needs something new? Perhaps a new methodology, a new lifecycle or a new framework? As is often the case when faced with dilemmas and conflict, we can learn from the past. Following some research on the sciences behind my own processes (and many years of refining it on projects), I settled on a framework based on an eight-point star.The significance of the eight-point star is often attributed to astronomy, where it is used to measure both time (Solstice & Equinoxes) and space (North, East, South West). However, it is also seen in Asian culture, representing the eight immortals of Chinese legend as well as the eight paths of Buddah. It is also widely used in Arabic and Islamic communication as the basis of geometric design. Wherever you look, its meaning ultimately represents balance and equilibrium, so I found it to be more than fitting as the key symbol for a framework for XD. I won’t go through the full framework in this article, but one of the detail views can be seen here. The general concept is users remaining in the center, the next layer

being the way they experience things, connected to attributes that influence them and then framed by the areas of XD and the key tools used. As I mentioned before, I think it is essential that any framework for XD should be a practical tool and not just an over simplified workflow that becomes passé. To this end, there are a number of different ways in which the framework can be used. Some of the most simple and useful are:

triangulationWe can use triangles to help extract smaller, simpler focuses out of the main framework. If you pick out any two adjacent Experience Cornerstones (CX, SX, UX, BX), you’ll see that by closing them into a triangle picks out a working technique. More than likely, this is the area you need to focus on more in order to create better balance, if the two cornerstones you picked out are your main concern. This works across all for sides, as the variant diagram below illustrates. Triangulation can also be used to pick out smaller focus areas around a main concept; be it an XD cornerstone, or a technique from the value diamond.In working practice triangulation can help to map connections across multiple experiences, highlighting disconnects and areas to improve.

13

flat PackedIn flat packed view, the framework inverts. It can be thought of as an open box – quite literally intended to help think outside of one. The center frame of experience acronyms (brand, service, user, brand) is flanked on all sides by the iterative stages of UCD. These in turn are connected using key tools that facilitate the experiences and the outer terms being the eventual output.

framework adaptability There are many more ways in which the framework can be used as a toolkit. For example, using ‘polar opposites’ in the star as another way to focus on balance and find your ‘True North’. There are also simplified and detailed views that help to understand, use and communicate the framework in whatever way is best suited to the audience – be it an aspiring experience designer, an expert consultant or a client/stakeholder.

a call to actionI have to say that I am very excited and proud to release the framework in the first edition of Experience Design magazine. I hope that along with the designers, analysts, developers, producers and account managers my team and I train using the framework, other XD’s out there will join us in using it. Let us know how you get on and feedback to us via Twitter @entropiiXD.

Enjoy.

Hammad Khan is founder and CEO of Entropii: An Experience Design Consultancy based in London and Dubai. He has spent the last 15 years working on User Centred Design with global brand leaders and agencies such as WPP, Publicis, Havas, Edelman, SapientNitro, TMSW, Seren, EMC and many more.He remains hands-on with user research, service design, brand engagement and customer experience. When not working on project strategy with clients, he can be found speaking, writing and leading training courses on all aspects of XD. You can find him on Twitter @dadii.

15 16

BY MEGAN BOWE AND AARON E. SILVERS, MAKINGBETTER

A gathering is designed with the participants in mind -- oriented towards both individual and collective outcomes and with faith that their individual and collective contribution will manifest in ways that achieve the goal of the gathering .

Raison d’EtraA designer must answer the questions of “Why is this experience needed?” as well as “Who is this experience for?”

Whether the gathering is a trade show, an unconference, a hackathon, workshop, school classroom, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), webinar, team meeting, town hall, debate, concert, sports game

-- there’s a greater purpose that people gather around, and the vehicle chosen to achieve that shapes the participation . For example, a lecture hall implies that participants will be listening and consuming information . In a lecture hall, the expectation for an outcome is likely to be explicitly driven from the top-down . Regardless of their intrinsic motivations, the designer assumes the participants

are a passive audience and he is shaping this experience .

Contrast this with a large open space, which implies that participation will be active and likely physical . In an open space, the outcome is likely to emerge from the collective activities and individual contribution to the effort . The designer here also has assumptions

1817

TABLE 1 : EXAMPLES OF VALUE PROPOSITIONSabout how her participants will engage . To her, the participants are actively shaping this experience .Determining the vehicle for an experience can be done by drafting a value proposition for the gathering . Value propositions consider who the gathering is designed for as well as the reason why the gathering is needed, and focus on outcomes .

Framing Outcomes as Value PropositionsOne can consider this an important fill-in-the-blank exercise:

• For (who the gathering is for)

• Who (why the experience is needed)

• We deliver (what form the gathering will take)

• That (how one knows the goal will be met by the gathering)

• With (what the gathering is called)

In Table 1, the goal is worded in each example such that feedback loops can later be identified to provide evidence, even measurement, of success . With a bigger goal defined, one can plan logistics around what kind of space is needed to gather, whether it is online, co-located, synchronous, asynchronous or some blend of approaches .

At this point, a designer has only begun to define the experience by framing its context in terms of desired outcomes and establishing a context for the experience . To design the actual experience, it requires a good deal of research on the participants .

Participant ResearchEach interaction a designer has with participants implies a purpose, so interacting with participants -- even to learn more about them -- must also be designed .

Each participant has his or her own goals . Their participation stimulates that of others; each participant will be influenced by the others . There may be friction when one’s goals are very different and, conversely, when they are too similar . There will be cohesion when there’s mutual benefit realized . How people group together can’t be dictated, but certain collaborations can be encouraged . How well one prepares for matchmaking depends on how well one knows the participants, inventorying the capabilities of the participants and identifying what can be explored in the gaps .

As a designer, one must spend time with participants prior to the gathering to gain not only information about their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges but also to develop one’s empathy for the participants . The smaller and more intimate the gathering, the more valuable personal, one-on-one interaction is in eliciting needed information from participants to design well for them . Many implicit participant goals can only be recognized through repeated, interpersonal communication . Drawing them into the process by getting to know them consequently orients and encourages stronger participation .

Personal motivation is a key factor in the likelihood that the goal for the gathering will be achieved . Considering the context for the gathering, if it is something mandated, such as an “all hands meeting” in a company, the participation is likely something very different from an extracurricular activity where one is intrinsically motivated to participate on their own accord .

Merely the BeginningIn this article, only the very first steps into Experience Design are presented . Experience Design is as much about planning as it is about practice, in-the-moment . While the participant experience may follow a program that builds activities and introduces challenges to surface constructal flows, the facilitator-as-designer must not only design with these flows of activity and engagement as they emerge, the facilitator must be readied with the means to remove obstacles to participation as well as to introduce new dynamics to renew energy, or encourage redirection, toward the greater goal .

Up to All of Us (an unconference)

Up to All of Us (an unconference) For master practitioners in fields of design, technology and learning who can’t find the professional development they seek in other venues we deliver an unconference that encourages valuable feedback

leading to personal action beyond the event with Up to All of Us .

Learning Registry PlugFest (a hackathon)

Learning Registry PlugFest (a hackathon) For educational technology developers working on software projects for K-12 education who want experience and

consultation developing with the Federal Learning Registry architecture we deliver a hackathon led by the US Department of Education that makes architects and experts of the Federal Learning Registry available to work with individuals and

teams on their projects with the Learning Registry PlugFest .

xAPI-Design (a MOOC)

xAPI-Design (a MOOC) For designers, developers and project managers who want to experiment with innovative learning technology (the Experience API, or “xAPI”) but require technical support to achieve their goals we deliver a massively open online course that provides an opportunity to learn by collaborating on self-de-termined projects in cross-functional, distributed teams consisting of technical

experts with xAPI-Design .

Introduction to Information Architecture (a workshop)

For website stakeholders who need to curate and re-organize the information on their website and inside the company so that the information is aligned in a sustainable, manageable way we deliver a workshop that informs, models and

provides opportunity to practice necessary activities and principles of information architecture with Introduction to Information Architecture .

Megan Bowe As a Partner in MakingBetter, Megan’s applies her skills to map business goals to the curiosity, empathy and self-reliance of the people who work within organizations . Through research, content strategy, information architecture, and system design she helps each find a way to support adaptive, targeted on-the-job performance improvement . This has her increasingly in-demand as a product and design strategist . Megan co-created the “Up to All of Us” community and annual gathering, designing group experiences to scale to individual goals . This is expertise that is now applied to practitioners and participants among the Experience API community with Connections: xAPI . Megan can be contacted on megan@makingbetter .us

Aaron SilversAs a Partner in MakingBetter, Aaron is highly sought for consulting on how to organize and lead efforts that integrate emerging technology and push towards organizational change . Aaron co-created the “Up to All of Us” community and annual gathering with Megan Bowe in 2011 . Up to All of Us catalyzed a new community-of-practice that reconsidered design, workflow, tools and practice . He continues to encourage the development of more effective design practices and better tools through partnership for the Experience API community with Connections: xAPI . Aaron can be contacted on aaron@makingbetter .us

2019

21 22

EXPERIENCE DESIGN FOR INFORMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

NICOLE LEAPER

AFFECT/EMOTIONExperience designers are keenly aware of the influences that emotional response (the conscious experience of affect) has on human experiences. Don Norman believes that ““positive emotions are critical to learning, curiosity, and creative thought”. Both positive and negative affect are important, for different reasons. According to Norman, a negative affective response “focuses the mind, leading to better concentration,” which is good for dangerous, high-pressure situations while “positive affect broadens the thought processes, making us more easily distracted” which is useful for creative problem-solving and low-pressure situations.

However, designing for affect and emotion can be challenging. Although recent attention has been given to the idea of experience design as a kind of theater where the participant plays a pre-orchestrated role, emotional experiences are

more valuable when they are open-ended. Tom Hennes reminds us that “pre-defining the outcome of experience is the goal of marketing; it is not the open-ended enrichment and pleasure that museums, at their best, can provide”.

Design question: Are we creating open-ended, emotionally rich experiences?

COGNITIONAffect and cognition work together to help humans process information. John Dewey’s concept of inquiry begins with a sense of unease or an intellectual conflict and includes “steps” in an inquiry cycle, which is different for every learner.

Museums need to find ways to design exhibitions that begin with direct experience and lead to inquiry. The role of the exhibition designer is to create a cognitive map but not to predetermine the way. This can occur through

experiences of observation, experimentation, problem solving, and pattern recognition. In fact, Hennes suggests that “exhibits built around problematic situations may provide impetus for visitors to explore content in a way that is most meaningful to them because they take an active role in determining the purpose and the nature of the activity.”

Design question: Are we designing direct experiences that lead to both immediate and further inquiry?

CONTEXTThe context of a learning experience or interaction is critical to understanding its influences and outcome. Social contexts are important too, because experiences and interactions are influenced by social relationships.

The way designers frame an experience or learning outcome matters. Having a task (where

user is in goal mode) makes users evaluate an experience based on task fulfillment (“Did I get it right?”). An absence of tasks (action mode) makes users evaluate a product (or experience) separately from learning or mental effort (“Did I have fun?”).

It can be challenging to relate museum learning back to “real” life, but it is critical that learning environments like schools and museums test their activities to see how learning relates to the world outside a specialized setting.

Design questions: Are we taking physical, mental, and social contexts into consideration? Are we presenting the experience in a way that leads to learning outside the museum context?

ENGAGEMENTEngagement is a loosely-defined concept, which is problematic in terms of design and evaluation. Often exhibit design is driven by existing content rather than by shaping it around engaging experiences. Van Moer, De Mette, and Elias note that is unproductive because “information-based exhibits often create reactions without personal engagement and develop experiences not meaningful enough to capture visitors’ attention and open up to further growth.”

Sue Allen of the Exploratorium in San Francisco discusses Csikszentmihalyi’s idea that ideal learning in a museum is “driven

by curiosity and interest then sustained by a flow state”. Flow can be defined as being “fully involved with mind and body in an intrinsically motivated activity.” A key to creating flow is matching challenge to skills, along with well-defined goals and rules.

Design questions: Are we igniting a spark of curiosity and creating an experience that can be sustained by a flow state?

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNINGExperiential learning is the concept that humans create meaning from lived experience, an idea with roots in constructivist theory, hermeneutic philosophy and social semiotics. Successful learning experiences are participatory rather than passive; exploration, physical manipulation, and experimentation are key. Integrated learning theory sees learning as a “spiral” of experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting in active response to a learning situation. Challenging the learner is important; problematic experiences (where learners identify something they don’t understand or that doesn’t make sense) can lead to inquiry.

Designers can harness problematic experiences that initiate resolution of cognitive conflict in order to encourage learning. Gooding-Brown’s “disruptive model” is based on problematic experience where multiple (and even conflicting) viewpoints are presented. This

suggests the participants create their own meaning through a resolution of conflicting opinions.

Design questions: Are we creating participatory experiences? Are we including multiple viewpoints that allow the learner to create their own meaning?

INTERACTIVITYHennes defines exhibits as “environments in which complex interactions occur among visitors, objects, environment, and meaning”. Interactivity has a social component as well; shareability and fluidity of sharing can promote interaction. Designers can design entry and access to encourage interaction; shared interactions cause a visual draw to access points, creating a “honeypot effect” that encourages use.

Design question: Are we harnessing interactions (both designed and serendipitous) to create learning?

NARRATIVENarratives are the stories that create meaning from experiences. According to Lake-Hammond and Waite, “a strong narrative enables the visitor to discover the exhibition’s complete meaning, rather than viewing it as a series of separate entities. Narrative structure does not need to be explicit or complex. In fact, a subtle narrative tends to be more successful, allowing audiences access to the exhibition message

What is experience design for learning? Information experiences are changing and require a deeper understanding of human psychology and behavior in order to meet the needs of

learners. When a design team is challenged to create a learning experience for an informal, interactive environment like a museum, what factors are important for a successful learning experience? A look at current literature in educational and design psychology, information design, human-computer interaction, and museum studies provides a set of factors that museum educators, exhibit designers, information designers, and interaction designers should consider when designing informal learning experiences in interactive environments like museums. Nine important areas for the design team to consider include affect, cognition, context, engagement, experiential learning, interactivity, narrative, self concepts, and usability. Design questions are offered for each area.

23 24

without distracting them with excess information.”

Design question: Are we employing subtle narrative that facilitates holistic understanding?

SELF CONCEPTS Designed experiences are inherently tied to the self, since, according to K. Anne Renninger “identity, like interest, develops through interactions…both interest and identity develop in relation to available experiences and to how learners perceive, understand, and represent these experiences”.

A participatory and inclusive approach is important for museums because, according to George Hein, “museums should grow out of life experiences and be used to reflect back on life”. In order to create personal meaning, “museum experiences, even active ones, still need to be associated with richer, authentic life experiences”.

Design question: How do our learners see themselves and this experience? Are we creating experiences that allow for interest and identity to develop in tandem?

USABILITYAccording to Allen, user-centered design can be described as an approach that promotes “the creation of objects that, by virtue of their physical forms and location invite certain kinds of use and not others,” including the notion

of “affordances” or interactions where intended use is natural and apparent. Alonso-Ríos et al found six areas that pertain to usability: knowability, operability, efficiency, robustness, safety, and subjective satisfaction.

Usability is critical to museum experiences because a decline in interest and involvement known as museum fatigue can set in after about 30 minutes. Allen’s work at the Exploratorium in San Francisco shows that apprehension and usability “reduce the ever-present cognitive load on visitors, freeing them to focus on those aspects of the environment that are rewarding to them and worthy of their attention”. Context is a hugely important factor to determine what “usability” means in a given situation; usability depends on context of use.

Design question: Are we using affordances to suggest natural use and alleviate museum fatigue?

CONCLUSIONAffect, cognition, context, engagement, experiential learning, interactivity, narrative, self concepts, and usability are interconnected and influence each other to produce learning experiences. Understanding these factors and using the design questions provided to evaluate and prompt during the design process can help design stakeholders create rewarding, open-ended experiences

for informal learning environments.-------

Nicole Leaper is an experience design lover based in Oregon, United States.

Working as a design researcher/strategist, and senior communication designer, she is intrigued by the emotional experiences created when humans interact with information. She holds an interdisciplinary Master of Science degree from the University of Oregon in information theory, information design, and business strategy, with a personal focus on user experience design for arts and learning environments. More about her projects and contact details can be found at

Photos are by Masaki Koizumi.

'Knitted Wonder Space II' ; an example of AirPocke design at Hakone Open Air Museum developed by Japanese artist Toshiko Horiuchi-MacAdam, based in Canada. The amazing knitted playground is about 15m by 9m, weighs about 1000kg (one ton) and was produced entirely by hand.

http://www.knitjapan.co.uk/features/c_zone/horiuchi/profile.htm

I N T E R PR E T I V E D E S I G Nth ink fee l do

Museums, heritage sites, national parks, zoos and aquariums all have something in common: they are places where leisure and learning overlap. As well as promising a fun day out, these ‘informal learning settings’ are places where you can find out more about nature and conservation, be moved by a work of art, or discover the inner workings of some steam-era machinery.

REGAN FORREST & TONI ROBERTS

25 26

What we mean by “experience”‘Experience’ can be a slippery term, so it’s probably worth us taking a moment to defi ne what we mean by it in this context. Experience can be seen as the accumulation of knowledge and actions over a long period, or in the case of a visit to a museum, as a bounded chunk of time from entry to exit. Experience can be considered a product that is designed, marketed and sold. This is the type of ‘experience’ that is implicit in Pine and Gilmore’s Experience Economy. But experience is also a process – our subjective and immediate response to a situation, setting or event. Any number of people can be exposed to the same experience ‘product’, but each one of those people will have their own individual experience ‘process’ as a consequence. Designers can aim to provoke or encourage certain kinds of experience processes, but the fi nal outcome will be shaped by individual factors that extend well beyond the direct control of the designer.

We are both interpretation design practitioners, each researching the impact of design on the visitor experience from different angles. Toni examines the role of designers, their aims and methods in designing for visitor experiences. Regan investigates how visitors describe their experiences in different types of exhibition environments, and the implications this may have for design.

Despite our different approaches, we have each independently produced the same diagram to communicate our ideas about experience.

This is perhaps not surprising as we have probably read some of the same literature from design, psychology and museums, much which draws on Dewey’s ideas about learning through experience. But it also resonates with our practice as interpretation designers. We’d like to unpack what we mean by ‘experience’, explain the value of this model and share some of the fi ndings from our research.

Over the past 50 years these cultural institutions have become more focused on the ‘visitor experience’. They seek to attract new audiences and increase repeat visitation by providing innovative, educational and often interactive interpretation of their collections and sites.

Individual influences on experience. Each visitor brings their own back-story to their museum experience: prior knowledge and interest in the subject matter; expectations based on previous visits or what they’ve heard about the museum in advance; plans for how the visit fi ts into the rest of their day. These factors set the scene for the visit and infl uence what takes place during it. There are also the particular circumstances of each visit: who visitors are with, if the museum’s crowded or quiet, whether the visitor is feeling tired or distracted for any reason. Some of these are things designers can accommodate (e.g. blockbuster exhibits will be designed to manage large crowds), but others are particular to each visit.

Designers may use empathy and research to anticipate how visitors might engage with their environment, but once implemented, the impact of the design is beyond the designers’ control. Visitors bring a wealth of prior experiences, interests, motivations and individual characteristics to their visit; through interaction with the designed environment that they co-produce their unique experience. ‘Experience’ is something internal and unique, which designers do not create, but rather design for by providing offerings that they anticipate will be used in certain ways with certain likely effects.

What happens after the experience? What things will stick in the visitor’s mind – next week, next year, next decade? The experience process continues into the future, as new experiences re-shape the memory of their experience over time:

UX design, although primarily focused on digital environments, has a lot in common with interpretation design in this way.

Museums’ increased emphasis on experience has come from within and without: both museums and their visitors have changed their expectations in light of philosophical, social, technological and market developments. Museums no longer see their visitors as passive, ‘empty vessels’ to be fi lled with their knowledge. Collections are less seen as ends in themselves and more as a springboard for visitor engagement. Museum staff are more willing to accommodate pluralist voices and multiple interpretations. In parallel to this shift, people have become more active consumers. Just as social media has infl uenced people’s expectation to interact with retail companies and to participate in the broadcast media and politics, so the public expects greater engagement and interaction with the museum environment. The economic climate has also changed the museum’s role and museums are expected to generate more of their own income. Cultural institutions seek to maximise revenue through unique retail products, appealing food and beverage areas and programs such as zoo ‘sleep outs’, music events and ‘behind the scenes’ tours. The boundaries between exhibits, the visitor environment and retail services have blurred, merging into the all-encompassing ‘visitor experience’.

Interpretation Design is integral to shaping the visitor experience. Encompassing many aspects of exhibition design such as storytelling and visitor pathways, it also extends beyond object display to design of discovery trails, artworks, themed play areas, sensory aspects such as soundscapes and interactive elements such as games, puzzles and multimedia. Designers seek to cater to a wide range of audience types in terms of age, interest, learning styles and mode of activity. From the casual visitor to the serious studier, the playful and the refl ective, social groups and solitary visitors, interpretation design aims to augment their experience in some way.

THINKFEEL DO

The Role of the Interpretation DesignerToni developed the ‘think-feel-do’ diagram to help communicate the role of the interpretation designer. Through her research Toni has found that one of the key aims of designers is to communicate the ‘essence’ of a subject or place, using objects, activities, analogy, art and story to provoke visitor responses. In this way, they aim to engage visitors through cognitive, sensory and physical modes. Some argue that there is another spiritual or transcendent aspect, but this can be understood as an effect rather than a mode by which designers engage visitors.

Designers see their work as integral to the important work of shaping visitor experiences, so engagement early in a project and communication with other key contributors such as architects, curators and writers is essential. Too many times, however, this isn’t what ends up happening; designers are appointed late in a project with limited connection to other contributors, reducing them to just producing the ‘icing on the cake’. This relegation of design to the margins represents a missed opportunity: designers have a holistic vision, with the capacity to integrate the physical, conceptual and sensory aspects into a meaningful whole.

Interpretation designers play a mediatory role between the interests of the client or content specialists and the audience. Given the audience’s absence from the process, designers often act as the audience advocate,

frequently requesting more consideration of pacing and embedded rather than explicit content to minimise visitor fatigue and information overload. Unfortunately, many organisations do not research their audience’s needs and interests thoroughly so designers are working with a lack of useful information and too many assumptions. Co-design and ‘design thinking’ approaches that involve end users in the design process could be applied (and sometimes are), but there are limitations to how well large-scale complex environments can be effectively modelled to gain useful formative feedback.

Meeting Visitor NeedsRegan examines experience from a visitor perspective – in particular visitors’ responses to the designed environment. With the exception of school fi eld trips and the odd reluctant family member being dragged along, people choose to go to museums. Why? There is a whole body of research dedicated to unpacking this very question, however, in a crude sense it can be boiled down to the fact that people decide to go to museums because they anticipate the visit will meet some kind of need. In a psychological sense, our needs can be classifi ed as cognitive (feeding the intellect), affective (nurturing the emotions) or behavioural (relating to our actions). We have an intrinsic desire to think things, feel things and do things. These are not isolated processes: we are seldom pure reason; pure emotion; pure action. The interesting bits are where they all overlap. How we feel about something will be infl uenced by what we think of it: the end of a relationship can be a disaster or a relief, depending on who ended it. Similarly, we all have physical and cultural comfort zones that infl uence where we choose to socialise and how we spend our leisure time. Furthermore, embodied cognition research is reducing the barrier between the body and the brain: our bodies are more than just a vehicle for our minds. Museums and national parks, being places that we physically go to and move through, offer a fundamentally different character of experience than something we read about or see on TV.

Some years ago, many museologists were struggling with what they perceived to be

27 28

a tension between the museum’s historic role of public ‘education’, and pressures to be more populist, less stuffy and more ‘entertaining’. You still hear echoes of this debate from time to time, with traditionalists periodically accusing museums of ‘selling out’ or ‘dumbing down’. But from the visitor’s perspective, this distinction between education and entertainment is largely a false dichotomy. As far as many museum visitors are concerned, learning is fun. And learning is something that we do with our hearts and our bodies as well as our minds. Psychology backs up the idea of ‘serious fun’– Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of ‘fl ow’ encapsulates the pleasure and satisfaction we get from being challenged, as long as the level of challenge is appropriate to our level of skill. Too little challenge and we’re easily bored. Too much challenge leads to anxiety. It’s a fi ne balance, and another good reason to understand more about where audiences are at as part of the design process.

How is ‘think-feel-do’ useful or significant? Each of us came to the think-feel-do diagram independently: Toni from the point of view of designing for different modes of visitor engagement, Regan as a way of conceptualising the range of psychological infl uences at play from a visitor perspective. We think the model offers designers a way to plan and balance elements in line with audience needs and interests. It reduces the focus on the form of design (graphics, multimedia, text etc), instead emphasising qualities of the visitor experience. It also provides a way of anticipating visitor needs – emotional, conceptual and physical – and integrating them into the physical and conceptual journey of the visitor experience. This helps designers create experiences that intuitively ‘make sense’ and make the visitor feel at ease, reducing the cognitive load that can be caused by visual clutter and excessive signage. Think-feel-do offers an organising principle that helps designers match interpretation design elements with the needs and interests of visitors.

There is a cross-over of impacts across the spheres as the modes of engagement: physical engagement can lead to cognitive understandings, cognitive engagement can lead to emotional effects and sensory engagement can lead to behaviour change. Design can infl uence these cross-overs: effective infographics can increase the emotional power of facts and fi gures (for example comparing the number of sharks that kill humans each year and the number of sharks killed by humans); parallel play can help children to understand the incredible span of a cheetah’s stride; and illustration of the links between palm oil consumption and destruction of orang-utan habitat can lead to visitors changing their buying behaviour.

There are areas of overlap in the think-feel-do model and possibly a ‘sweet spot’ right in the middle. But there is no best way – it’s all about designing a range of offerings to suit differing visitor motivations and subjects, shaping exceptional and memorable experiences.

Regan Forrest is a visitor experience researcher and consultant who specialises in museums and other informal learning settings. Over the past 15 years she has worked on exhibition projects in the UK, Australia, North America and the Middle East. She is currently completing a PhD through the University of Queensland on the relationship between museum exhibition environments and visitor experiences. Regan can be contacted by email regan@reganforrest.com.

Dr. Toni Roberts is a consultant and researcher specialising in the design of interpretive environments. Toni’s PhD thesis examines interpretation design

practice, investigating the role of designers in shaping visitor experiences in zoos and museums. Her research articulates practitioner knowledge and proposes models that support strategic design, seeking to strengthen the relationship between theory and practice and encourage critique of design outcomes. Toni lectures in the Master of Communication Design program at RMIT University Melbourne and runs the collaborative design practice Hatchling Studio. Toni can be contacted by email toni.roberts@rmit.edu.au and her website is http://www.hatchlingstudio.com.au

BEFORE:prior experience, knowledge of

the subject, interest, reasons for visiting, psycological character-

istics, learning style

DURING:who they are visiting with, how much time they have, crowds,

preparedness, weather, physical and mental fatigue

AFTER:experiences and learning that

reinforce or counter the experience, recounting the story

alters memory of it

29 30

We are told to leave childhood play behind as we enter into the role of becoming adults. It is often portrayed as a frivolous waste of time, to be replaced by being serious and becoming hard workers. We grow up to think of playing as unproductive. But it just as essential for adults to play as it is for children.

Words by Pigalle TavakkoliImages by Mike Massaro and Play Mountain Place

“Children smile 400 times a day on average . . .adults 15 times . Children laugh 150 times a day . . .adults 6 times a day . Children play between 4-6 hours a day . . .adults only 20 minutes a day” - Robert Holden, Ph .D ., Director of The Happiness Project and Success Intelligence .

Since childhood I have always enjoyed playing, from delving into my imagination and occupying myself for hours on end, to exploring the world around me in the games I played with friends . I have since carried the sense of vitality that play brings into my working life . I design event experiences for adults to explore educational content within playful formats and interactions . I use play as a tool to bond audiences

through laughter . Once they become relaxed and feel united, they interact with one another in an open exchange of ideas . A transformation occurs as they lower their barriers and connect back to being in a child like state . By removing the pressure to produce a tangible outcome, audiences discover untapped parts of themselves and are surprised by actually learning a great deal .

So what exactly is play? Scott G . Eberle, Ph .D, vice president for play studies at The Strong, the National Museum of Play, New York, USA, defines it as “a process, not a thing”, that begins with anticipation and “in between you find surprise, pleasure, understanding” . Dr . Stuart Brown, psychiatrist, clinical researcher and founder of The National

31 32

Institute for Play, California, USA, also describes play as “purposeless, fun and pleasurable”, with the focus on the actual experience and not the accomplishment of a goal . It is this uninhibited joy, which comes from playing just for the sake of it, that provides the key to unlocking the benefits of play . For playing is not just a distraction from learning, it is learning . It is when playing on their own and with each other that children are able to test their physical skills, express their creativity, take initiative, explore managing emotions, develop social skills and increase their problem solving abilities .

On a visit to the humanistic alternative school Play Mountain Place, Los Angeles, USA, I was impressed by their experiential approach to children’s education . Founded in 1949 by the late child development specialist Phyllis

Fleishman, Play Mountain places children at the centre of their learning process, encouraging them to express their emotions, create strong bonds of friendship, and gain self-confidence through unconditional positive acceptance . Phyllis was influenced by the humanistic works of the psychologist Carl Rogers, as well as the educator A .S . Neill . As a contemporary of Phyllis, A .S . Neill founded Summerhill School, Suffolk, UK, which is run as a democratic community, with the schooling devised to fit around the child rather than the other way around .

A key aspect of the Play Mountain curriculum is its focus on addressing children’s social and emotional development as well as their intellectual growth . Rewards, punishments, coercion or grades are not used as incentives, as the school follows the

understanding that children have an inherent desire to learn, and for this to be facilitated rather than forced . Phyllis Fleishman, Carl Rogers and A .S . Neill all believed in what Carl called “experiential learning” . Through the act of playing and doing, rather than being told, children are encouraged to think for themselves and engage in true learning . Play Mountain cultivates education as a process, not a product . Through their methods, they have found that children become self-motivated if they are permitted to direct their own studies, and their subsequent joy of learning then increases their interest to learn further, as a virtuous circle that feeds itself .

At Play Mountain children are treated with equal respect and without judgement . They participate in discussing, challenging and setting

their individual limits, and come to fully understand the consequences of their actions, and the responsibilities that come with them, through the actual experience of them . In this way, children develop their interpersonal skills and practise tools for resolving conflicts, increasing respect for themselves, one another and their environment . As a result, children learn more than the traditional curriculum of the “Three R’s”, they become empowered as adults to take part fully in the world around them, maintain an open and receptive approach, and ultimately gain a deep understanding and connection to themselves .

Play Mountain’s approach has since been backed up by extensive studies spanning a decade, carried out by Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education,

Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University, UK . His studies have demonstrated that children naturally learn as a self organising process, and that adult interventions in this process should be based around how to best facilitate and support this, rather than controlling and impeding this inherent desire to engage with the world .

As I bid farewell to Play Mountain I was left wondering, if children learn so much through play should we continue to play as adults? Might playing throughout our lives contribute towards us becoming happier and more fulfilled? And would this lead to thriving communities that enhance society as a whole?

Pigalle Tavakkoli is a Creative Producer and Course Tutor, Experience Design

at Central St Martins, University of the Arts, London UK . Her website is

Designing Transformative Experiences www .experienceevents .wordpress .com .

Mobile: +44 (0)7957 113 674Email: pigallemail@gmail .com

Twitter: www .twitter .com/PigalleInWonder

Instagram: www .instagram .com/PigalleInWonder

Contact details for Play Mountain Place:6063 Hargis St .

Los Angeles, CA 90034323 .870 .4381

playmountain .orgfacebook .com/PlayMountainPlace

33 34

designing engaging learning experiencesdesigning engaging learning experiences

CAMERON STOW

It is probably fair to say that we all have a view on what education should look like but what if this view is dated or does not fit the modern context? Should we ask everyone to refrain from actively engaging in meaningful discussions about what the key elements of good teaching are? The world has changed but has people’s view of education shifted with it? This article seeks to explore these points and provide some thought provoking questions about how to best teach the modern learner and improve their learning experiences .In this modern era teachers are often confronted with students that are disengaged or unwilling to learn the content being covered . I find that this is often caused by a lack of understanding due to poor literacy/numeracy skills, an

broad range of life experiences beyond the classroom environment and this is vitally important . Through my own experiences, students are often more engaged with a knowledgeable teacher who has the capacity to impart their knowledge in a way that a modern adolescent understands and can also assist them with creating contextual meaning from what is learnt . One such way of achieving this is by breaking down the message through the use of technological platforms that help simulate practical meaning to the theoretical content that is being covered in classes . Through the use of applied learning a teacher can simulate an experience and build understanding that leads to a more enriching learning experience .Through my experiences the use of technology has had varying levels of success on student performance in class . In some cases, technology has provided a platform to actively communicate with teachers outside of the traditional classroom boundaries and ensure that students can continue with tasks that encourage self-directed learning and promote the notion of creating meaning through their own interpretation of the material they study from . However, this is not always the case and at what point in time can an adolescent demonstrate a level of maturity in being able to

balance the differences between social collaboration with their broader subject learning?I have actively used a range of asynchronous and synchronous technologies in a bid to help further build my students understanding of what they are learning . I also believe that in order to adequately prepare students for learning in a post-secondary environment it is important that the students continue to expand their learning channels beyond the traditional walls of a classroom and embrace technology as a means to make curriculum delivery and comprehension more efficient because without these experiences taking place in the classroom, how else are students going to be able to adapt to a technologically savvy society that continues to thrive on the ubiquitous integration of technology in our daily lives?The overarching challenges faced within a secondary school environment often stem from whether or not the student possesses the ability to adapt to changing curriculum designs with maturity and a willingness to work on the learning processes without the presence of the classroom teacher . Having taught both students and teachers how to use technology effectively in classes has led to varying

levels of success . I still find myself outwitting students who seek to play computer games, identify proxies to circumvent the school’s network or engage in meaningless technology based tasks in a bid to avoid the topic being covered . The problem that I often experience with this is that many teachers have not yet developed the skills to intuitively manage student behaviour within online learning environments . The problem with technology is that it has rapidly evolved and been incorporated more broadly into the classroom environment and the teachers have struggled to keep up .Teachers still need to maintain a strong relationship with students within the traditional learning environment as this will likely permeate through to any technological support platforms that are being used in conjunction with student learning . It is also important that the learning environment contains students who actively engage as learners with each other . It is also worth noting that technology can help diversify the tasks set and provide learning opportunities for students who are performing at varying levels .As a school leader with responsibilities connected to student wellbeing and e-learning I have often seen the unpleasant sides of humanity and am frequently confronted with students who

through their learning . Not always an easy feat with so many modern day variables to balance .The art of educating can be further complicated by everyone having an opinion on how we should educate . If we were talking about the best way to improve our tax refund the matter would likely be left to an accountant but, with education, because we all have the ability to contextualise our own experiences with learning and how we experienced school we can relate our past experiences to current educational practices . However, these experiences may no longer be entirely relevant and dangers exist with comparing our experiences with that of the modern learner because the variables have shifted . How can we reflect on our own experiences and use this to guide us into a progressive future when the art of educating is constantly changing?Many views exist as to what constitutes a great teacher . For each individual teacher to engage every student, it may be near impossible to build the necessary connections between the teacher and the student, as each will have their own experiences, ambitions and personal aspirations . However, I tend to find that teachers who connect better with students are often those who have a

inability to contextualise what they are learning or problems within family units . While these issues may not be new, the impact of peer pressure through the use of social media is a concern and can have dire consequences on a student’s wellbeing or performance as a learner .The reasons for disengagement from students can vary and often be complicated . Many of the points above will intertwine with each other and cannot be fully understood or addressed until someone has taken the time to correct the student’s path and provided the appropriate support channels that are needed to overcome the barriers . The role of teachers is to navigate students to paths towards ultimate goals and support them through challenges faced while maintaining engagement

THE ART OF EDUCATING TODAY’S YOUTH CAN BE CHALLENGING YET, OFTEN A REWARDING EXPERIENCE . I REMEMBER BACK IN 1997 WHEN I COMMENCED MY VICTORIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION (VCE) IN AUSTRALIA, WE ONLY HAD A HANDFUL OF WEBSITES TO NAVIGATE, NO SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOME OF US (NOT ME) HAD WHAT ARE NOW REGARDED AS PRIMITIVE TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICES CALLED MOBILE PHONES .

35 36

life is online

sit before me internally screaming for help but fearful of what may emerge if he/she asks for it . In many cases the information relating to the wellbeing of a student will often emerge via a concerned friend or from the taunting of the school yard bullies that has inevitably been brought to the attention of a teacher . Often through the use of a social media platform students will pick away at each other for the sake of seeing or gaining a reaction . It is more often than not that the truth behind a student’s disengagement with school emerges from this and the process of re-engagement needs to begin .I have a passion to support and engage young people in their learning to achieve their ultimate goals . This passion has been the essence of my fast moving career from graduate teacher to Assistant Principal in five years . The playing field with the way that I teach has changed but, so it should . The challenges that lay before the modern day teacher requires them to continually adapt to emerging trends and modern ways of communication amongst today’s youth . Without doing this, wouldn’t we lose touch with who we are actually teaching? But on the flip side of this we must respect and observe electronic boundaries so as to maintain a professional standard .On one hand we need to respect this boundary however, on the other a teacher needs to be familiar with the learning environment that each student works within . On numerous occasions I have had students look on in disbelief

when I can demonstrate to them that I have an excellent understanding of various social media platforms in use and am able to articulate the impact each of them have on today’s youth . But not knowing how these platforms work, in my opinion, would be no different to a plumber having a ratchet and not knowing what to do with it . Knowing the tools of my trade and how to fix a situation requires a thorough understanding of each tool and how to use it . Otherwise, is the problem really fixed or perhaps given a Band-Aid effect?The clear ethical challenge to this question stems back to who is responsible for what . In many cases it is a parent’s responsibility to manage the social media behaviour of their teenagers . While the process of educating a student about the impact of negative online behaviour is a dual-responsibility, a teacher cannot police each student 24/7 . Boundaries must exist between a parent and teachers responsibilities but in many cases they are not always exercised . Is this due to the lack of understanding about technology on the parent’s behalf?The modern learner has few boundaries as technology provides a plethora of information at ones fingertips however, this does create a conundrum for teachers who actively seek to engage their students but, also aim to ensure that the process of learning to learn is maintained .Not all adolescents are technologically savvy and their use of technology may not necessarily be for educational

purposes . Today’s youth should be able to adapt and utilise technology in a multi-modal fashion but more often or not they struggle to maintain focus on one particular area of study for a sustained period of time . Perhaps they are being exposed to too much information at once and the use of technology needs to be more controlled?Today’s teachers need to be adaptive, intuitive and in-synch with the modern learner . They don’t necessarily need to be active Facebook users or have an abundance of friends on Snap Chat but they should be familiar with the way in which today’s youth are communicating and how they are doing it because without knowing this they won’t be able to connect with where their learners are at .

Cameron Stow is currently a Leading Teacher currently working in a Victorian government school in an outer suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Cameron has taught a broad range of students that come from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. He holds both an undergraduate degree in Commerce as well post-graduate qualifications in Education. Cameron is currently working towards a Doctor of Philosophy (Education) through Deakin University. His research interests revolve around the Cloud Computing and its impact on student learning as students transition from a secondary to tertiary learning environment.

37 38

positive and creates an encouraging experience for the user and provides an alternative to the negativity or absence small local businesses suffer from online comments . This app is perfect for adventurous travellers who do not want to settle for exclusively visiting popular tourist attractions while on holiday . Localeur credibility is based on building strong local networks, as it takes a fellow Localeur to recommend you in order to become a Localeur . This app allows the user to feel they are experiencing the true culture and atmosphere a city has to offer .

LoungeBuddy is a free app that can make uncomfortable layovers easier . The global app understands that each airport lounge around the world has different access rules and features, therefore LoungeBuddy covers over 250 of the world’s busiest airports . The San Francisco based app launched for iPhone’s late 2013 and has now provided

information for over 1200 airport lounges . LoungeBuddy does not use social media or any form of personal identification connections, which makes the process quick and easy for the user . Co-Founder Brent Griffith says that LoungeBuddy provides users with an exclusive experience that no other app can offer as thoroughly to help you find your airport oasis . The app is designed for users comfort and the outcome of using the platform can enhance the often boring and uncomfortable experience of hanging around in airports .

The free popular Skyscanner app has been downloaded by 25 million individuals and has the ability to connect to other forms of social media to communicate with friends and family . This flexible and unbiased app allows users to search for flights through all the big websites, giving us multiple options via a single portal . Skyscanner provides us with a comprehensive interface by offering creative use of technology to search for flights worldwide . The Australian and New Zealand Marketing Manager, Dave

Boyte says the timeline, global price explorer and free text and voice search are just a few key innovations that makes this app stand out from others . Skyscanner makes it easy to search for the cheapest and most convenient flight options quickly, which is essential while travelling .

Finding last minute accommodation is easy with the HotelTonight app . It is perfect for travellers without exact plans, and we all know this is a reality at some point while travelling . Last minute reservations can be made at all times of the day and is also a platform of hotels to provide up to date information and bookings . HotelTonight differentiates from other booking apps by not providing information from just any establishment, but ones that the staff would recommend to friends . This assists in eliminating cheap and nasty places . HotelTonight is a must have app incase your plans change or fall through . You never know, some hotels hold specials for last minute bookings .

It is extremely rare to find a single app that can assist you with all your needs while travelling . All you really need is a folder with a handful of truly useful apps to keep available in your smartphone and it can change your whole travel experience .

WE ALL KNOW TRAVEL COMES IN THREE PARTS – DREAMING, PLANNING FOR IT AND ACTUALLY DOING IT. NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE EVERY ONE OF THESE THREE PARTS MORE FUN. TRAVEL APPS ARE CREATED TO ASSIST PEOPLE MAKE OUR LIVES THAT LITTLE BIT EASIER BY IMPROVING OUR EXPERIENCE IN SOME WAY. INSTANT ACCESS TO USEFUL INFORMATION CAN ENHANCE THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE OF THE TRIP. TRAVEL APPS CAN RANGE FROM HIGHLY INFORMATIVE TO EXTREMELY UNNECESSARY, AND IT IS CHALLENGING TO PICK OUT THE BEST. LUCKILY YOU WON’T GO BROKE FINDING OUT, AS ALL YOU NEED IS A SMARTPHONE AND A LARGE PORTION OF APPS ARE FREE. A FEW CAREFULLY CHOSEN TRAVEL APPS CAN MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY A BREEZE.

In the past hard copy guidebooks were the norm, however in order to stay competitive most travel publishers have also developed apps as alternative versions . Lonely Planet is a fantastic example as they converted many country/city hard copy books into apps that can be purchased cheaply . Importantly, many of these apps can be used offline for times when you don’t have Internet access . Although increasingly in the most surprising corners of the world it can be quite easy to find Wi-Fi at a local café . Some of the best travel apps don’t use any data, which is important to check before you jet off .

Some travel apps are useful in the planning stages . DuoLingo is a

language education app founded in Pennsylvania, USA . The best selling point for DuoLingo is that there is no other 100% free language education platform available for apps on smartphones . The program allows users to learn language skills ranging from basic key phrases for a short holiday, or advanced use for more complex understanding . ‘An independent study was conducted by the City University of New York (CUNY) last year, showing that 34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to 1 university semester of language education,’ said Gina Gotthilf, DuoLingo Head of Communications . The science-based app has a similar feel to a game, therefore enticing users to continue to revisit the program for entertainment .

EnhancE Your TravEl ExperiencEs Using apps

As the app is easily accessed on the go, you find waiting for public transport or queuing are the perfect times to use DuoLingo . Using this app before travelling can change the experience of your whole trip .

Often we prefer to avoid traditional crowded tourist hotspots and discover a more authentic experience . This is compatible with the Localeur app that provides reliable recommendations from locals in cities . Currently there are five major cities in America and as the app grows it will incorporate more cities around the globe . Joah Spearman, the Co-Founder and CEO of Localeur launched the app in January 2014 . Spearman says that the Localeur community is overwhelmingly

39 40

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM LOUIS THEROUX ABOUT COMMUNICATING

EXPERIENCE DESIGN RESEARCH

>> TEXT Faye Miller >> ARTWORK Jessie Mead, www.jessiemead.com

British documentary maker Louis Theroux’s new series LA Stories recently aired on BBC2. Theroux’s previous work will be familiar to global audiences with his series Weird Weekends, When Louis Met…, BBC2 Specials and Extreme Love. As a researcher of human experiences, I have long been intrigued by the range of social issues, personalities, unusual angles and world-views sensitively presented in these documentaries.While watching some of Theroux’s films recently, I began to notice some parallels between what good experience design researchers and journalists do and aim to communicate to the general public. These parallels are not always obvious to the general public, so I set out to try and identify the elements of communicating research that everyone can relate to as human beings. Humanizing controversial, stigmatized or poorly understood social issues, Louis has successfully reached and moved a global audience with his work through use of elements such as unusuality, humour, narrative and compassion. We need more of all of these qualities.

In 2012, Louis gave a class at the Docville film festival because he wanted to impart some wisdom from his journey as a film maker and writer. The audience was curious about Louis' unique style and what can we learn from it. Perhaps the two main elements that Louis adds to the mix are unusuality and humor.

Anyone familiar with Louis' previous work will recall countless 'weird and wonderful' moments. Perhaps this is what makes the series so memorable, as Louis discusses at Docville his 'openness to the unexpected' while making his films. Unusual angles of sometimes controversial subcultures and movements in the US, Britain and Asia provide a window into unique 'not what you expect' insight which can only be revealed through improvized and spontaneous situations.

Drawing upon influences such as American documentary maker Michael Moore, there is often an element of satire and irony in most of Louis' work and this is where the entertainment factor kicks in. Satire is used as a way of engaging an audience through humor. But behind the humor are some serious issues for example gambling and the hypnosis

business in Las Vegas and the treatment of 'dangerous' animals as pets.

Besides interviewing, observing participants and writing stories about them, what do good journalists and social researchers have in common? They both seek to uncover ‘the truth’. But finding ‘the truth’ has proved elusive. Everyone has their own truth, their own construction of life and their own world-view, as reflected in Louis' field notes in his book Call of the Weird:

“On the list of qualities necessary to humans

trying to make our way through life, truth scores fairly low. Why do people believe and do weird things? Because in the end, being alive is more important then telling the truth. We have evolved as living creatures to express ourselves, to be creative, to tell stories. We are instruments for feeling, faith, energy, emotion, significance, belief, but not really truth... We are all in a way fictional characters who write ourselves with our beliefs."This resonates with common experience design research methods like interviewing, observation, dialogue analysis, storytelling and field notes. In social research, the method of 'triangulation' is used to develop trustworthiness, meaning the researcher examines an issue from a variety of perspectives. The combination of verbal, written and visual storytelling aspects of a presentation brings issues to life. We can see how people live in their natural worlds through 'everday' dialogue in personal spaces such as their homes, workplaces and special sites.

The viewer-centred effect means Louis does not talk at the audience, as the audience becomes a participant riding along in the car rather than consumer of a story. As Louis often gets

personally involved such as presenting an infomercial, or being a rapper with comical effect, the viewer can live the experience vicariously through him and choose to agree or disagree with his personal views about the subject. There is no ‘authoritative’ stance. In his own interviews, Louis reveals his own personal limitations and vulnerabilities, so audiences can relate to him as a human being and build trust. In a 2012 'fireside chat' at the Mobile Engage UK conference, Louis describes himself as being "adrift in their worlds" and talks of the "reversal of power" where he as the interviewer is "at the mercy" of his participants.

The Extreme Love films about people living with dementia and autism show Louis at his most emotionally engaging and have helped inspire researchers and people affected by these conditions, while helping change public perceptions and develop new ways of dealing with them. The touching scenes involving Louis and Nancy Vaughan, a 90 year old woman living with dementia and cared for at home by her husband involved empathic dialogue. Through these scenes we also experience what is it like being a carer as Nancy's husband leaves Nancy for a short while to "look after Louis".

These elements of unusuality, humour, narrative and compassion help attract people, and there is a great need for all of these elements in communicating experience design research. If experience design researchers can humanize their work, there is potential that their findings could have even greater reach and impact on the world. The other message is for everyone to be aware of the value of experience design research in promoting understanding of different cultures and ways of being, social change to eliminate social stigma and promote inclusivity, and to reflect on fundamental human nature.

NANCY: (in response to the idea of being placed in an institution)

“Everyone’s a nut”

LOUIS:

“I know the feeling”

NANCY:

“Thank you, Sir”

HUMANIZING ITHUMANIZING IT

42

>>TEXT: Maeve Wood

The people of Melbourne, Australia need little encouragement to fill the city streets. From social movements such as Occupy Melbourne though to the enduringly popular Moomba parade, Melbournians are drawn to physically connect with their city centre. The much anticipated ‘White Night’ graced the streets of Melbourne on 22 February. Over 500,000 people filled the crowded streets of Melbourne for a night of art and culture. White Night and the streets of Melbourne melded together creating a sensual array of design experiences. The concept was first developed in Paris, France in 2002 and has since inspired many cities around the world. For one night Melbourne was turned into an illuminated spectacular from 7pm to 7am. Throughout the 12 hours, famous landmarks and city streets burst with cultural exhibitions and performances. The sensory nature of the outdoor installations and lighting projections created a sense of connection between the physical spaces and those roaming the streets. The alcohol free family friendly event provided accessibility across all age groups.

Organisers were delighted with attendance numbers. The popularity of White Night reflects the great relationship Melbournians have with the arts. Theatre, music, performance, exhibitions, food, festivals and exhibitions are the essence of Melbourne culture. Over one summer evening, White Night captured all those experiences in one event. White Night allowed the creative innovation that Melbourne has to offer to be showcased to thousands of individuals. Artistic Director Andrew Walsh believes the event invigorates the city centre to its full potential and allows the crowd to discover the undiscovered, ultimately giving the night back to the people. The target audience for Melbourne’s White Night is families, youths and everything in between. The organisers strive to provide something for everyone.

Highlights of the evening included French artist Pierre Ardouvin’s installation ‘Purple Rain’. People walked through the RMIT University courtyard with a clear umbrella as purple rain poured down. The physical experience was not only spectacular to watch but the soundtrack provided an eerie yet intriguing sound that Ardouvin describes as ‘piercing’. This event was extremely popular throughout the night with a steady line during the peak hours. Another popular highlight was the Wonderland projections on Flinders Street by the Electric Canvas group. The colourful projections were both playful and mesmerizing. People stood to watch well-known buildings light up in a new and fantastic experience. Many musical acts were showcased across the whole night

>>PHOTOGRAPHS: Fresh Photography Melbourne Australia http://www.freshphotography.com.au/white-night-melbourne/

DESIGNING THE WHITE NIGHT MELBOURNE EXPERIENCE

43 44

at Federation Square and stages set up throughout the closed off streets. A musical highlight was the local ten-piece instrumental funk/soul band Cactus Channel who performed to an appreciative crowd at a main stage next to the State Library of Victoria. Electric Canvas also provided a visual focus of the night, ‘Tattooed City’. The external walls of the National Gallery of Victoria provided a backdrop for giant projected images of tattooed people from Melbourne. The images provided a beautiful display of this under rated art form through remarkable design work on the building. Tattooed City was extremely popular due to Melbourne’s love of street art and decoration. Thousands of people stood to watch the protections of these people in minimal clothing turn to bare their tattoos in every

shape and form. The raw exposure was an exceptionally powerful experience to watch. Social media commentary was very active on the night. Many people commented on the long lines and crowded streets, which organisers have already promised to address for next year. Public transport was available all night but was limited in some areas. Police reported few arrests on the night for drunken and violent behavior. Walsh praised the joyful crowd dynamic of family and friends believing it left little tolerance for bad behavior. The long lines for venues and bars discouraged many people from extreme alcohol consumption. The event was an experiential feast of interactivity involving listening, looking, laughing, moving and eating. Experiences

Or consider the last time that you spoke with tech support or customer service about an issue you were having with a product or a service. Have you ever ended up not only learning that your problem was not a problem but also discovering more value in the product or service than you were expecting? The common experience is that there is a problem and, often, one without a quick solution.

Last, consider a product or service you have been using for the past few years.

What is the difference between your feelings as you use it now versus the your feelings during the first few encounters after you made the purchase?

What these examples have in common is an implicit component that is part of the process involved in buying a product or service. At some point in time, you built an expectation in your mind, based on some level of information provided to you and your understanding of what your needs were and how you intended to fulfill them. As

CONSIDERING EXPERIENCEAN EXCERPT FROM EXPERIENCE DESIGN: A FRAMEWORK FOR

INTEGRATING BRAND, EXPERIENCE, AND VALUE

Think about the experiences you have when buying and using products and services.

Many of the components of these experiences happen with out much thought. It’s

only when things depart from the expected that we necessarily take note. One of our

favorite examples here is what we call the “Oh . . . shit!” moment. This can happen when

buying something that you are not overly familiar with but that you will use to enable

some other activity or interest that is very important to you. The name arises from what

you say when you get home, open the package, and realize that you either (1) got the

wrong thing, (2) got the right thing but it’s incompatible with what you hoped to use it

with, or (3) still need an additional component to actually use what you just got.

the examples illustrate, in many situations, there can be a big gap between what you expected and what actually occurred. If you’re straightforward with yourself, it’s likely that you’ll accept some degree of responsibility for this gap (especially if your enthusiasm to acquire something got the better of your common sense to make sure you knew what you were getting into). But there are probably cases you remember in which you did your homework and still wound up with a gap, and the result was an unfavorable view of the business you dealt with, even if the company was not intentionally trying to deceive you or misrepresent its offer. Think about how likely you would be to engage with the business again.

The point of these examples is that in them, you are either operating without much awareness of the business behind the product or service because things are going well, or you are extremely aware of the business because things are not going well at all. Experiences that lead to higher engagement

are generally good for business. Experiences that don’t lead to higher levels of engagement are generally bad for business. One of the main problems is that this quality of experience (or lack thereof) is often a result of very primary decisions made about products, services, and communications during their planning and development. Often, design is asked to alleviate issues or create an acceptable presentation, but its impact is very shallow, sometimes only skin-deep. Sometimes this is because no one understands the implications of the decisions being made. Other times it’s because some aspects of the experience are considered inconsequential and not worth the cost to address. When trying to implement business objectives in a timely and cost-efficient way, it’s easy to forget how people actually behave and make assumptions about what people will do or how they will think, because given the information that we are looking at, our assumptions are logical and feel safe. This lack of consideration

were designed to connect interest areas around physical proximity pathways. Organisers encouraged people to create individualized routes of interest online before commencing the expedition. Culture, food and art were combined to connect to the people to provide a night like no other. All of these aspects together delivered an amazing evening that was extremely memorable for the guests. The differentiating layers give the event depth and meaning to the personal journey of the evening. Melbourne is the perfect environment for a large-scale event such as White Night. The grid-like city provides wide streets and footpaths which gives it an edge on other cities around the globe. Melbourne’s 2015 White Night preparations are already under way.

4645

for how people will react can be a problem for business.

In the real world, people tend to get beyond surface appearances pretty quickly— it’s only a matter of time. When we interact directly with products and services, we begin to understand how inaccurate our initial impressions may have been. We often find that what things look like is not directly connected to the way things work—or don’t work. In many cases, we also find that there are things that happen that we didn’t anticipate or that the relationship between how different parts work seems non-obvious, perhaps even random. If the approach to designing products, services, and experiences isn’t done correctly, the perception of value can erode quite rapidly. And if expectations were already set too high, even an adequate experience can seem less than adequate.

When people use a product or a service, they are interacting with all the positives and negatives, even if the latter are mere oversights. But they may quickly lead to negative

interpretations of the experience and get attributed to the business that provides them. In many cases the business has invested in and used brand as a means to communicate with customers. The positive or negative experiences can lead to an interpretation of the validity and integrity of the brand.

The role of experience is not just about understanding how people respond to intentional value but also about understanding how people respond to problems and issues that may have never been considered. But it can easily get worse. As we pointed out in earlier chapters, the focus of design by business is often on the pre-sales side of the customer experience, and what happens to a customer post-sales might not get the level of attention it deserves. Many companies ask too much of their customers and make them bounce between call centers, online forms, and FAQs. Customers see and hear different things at different times, lose track of what they’re supposed to do, and get stuck at different critical moments. Employees, even

when well trained and enthusiastic, are at a big disadvantage when faced with a customer who is already confused, frustrated, and in the midst of a bad experience. In a 2010 Forrester study, 90 percent of companies with annual revenues of $500 million or more thought it was either “critical” or “very important” that customer experience was in a company’s strategy. And 80 percent wanted to be able to differentiate their company with customer experience.

Remarkably, only 15 percent of respondents said that their companies do “very well” in maintaining a consistent user experience across all communications channels. And the challenges are growing as organizations address sales, service, and support options via a growing tangle of channels, including contact centers, websites, branch offices, agents in the field, mail and fax, e-mail, and mobile tools and apps. It’s easy to see how improved levels of service for all areas of the customer experience can help build stronger relationships, and

BY PATRICK NEWBERY AND KEVIN FARNHAM WILEY, 2013

47 48

experiencedesignthebook.com

The Future of Business + Design

Businesses thrive when they can engage customers. While many companies

understand that design is a powerful tool for engagement, they lack the vocabulary,

tools, and processes required to enable design to make a difference. Experience

Design provides a new way for business and design to collaborate by explaining

how to integrate brand, value, and customer experience to build engagement.

You’ll learn how to think about design as a system of interdependent processes and

outcomes, and work with design partners more efficiently to create better quality

experiences across the entire customer journey.

A reference tool for both business leaders and designers, Experience Design will

keep your team focused on what’s most important.

Available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNobles.com

“ ... Experience Design both brings about a new level of understanding and asserts the value of this rapidly evolving �eld.” — John Maeda

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

MethodA4_1e Print.pdf 1 3/3/14 5:01 PM