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VGTU
Faculty of mechanics
Design of experience
Written by Benas Rimša PIVm-3
VILNIUS 2004
First of all I would like to define what the experience design is.
According American institute of graphic art (AIGA) experience design should
be formulated or defined like this:
• A different approach to design that has wider boundaries than
traditional design and that strives for creating experiences beyond
just products or services
• The view of a product or service from the entire lifecycle with a
customer, from before they perceive the need to when they discard it
• Creating a relationship with individuals, not targeting a mass market
• Concerned with invoking and creating an environment that connects on
an emotional or value level to the customer
• Built upon both traditional design disciplines in the creation of
products, services, as well as environments in a variety of
disciplines[2].
Elements of Experience Design
While everything is, technically, an experience of some sort, there is
something special to many experiences that make them worth discussing. In
particular, the elements that contribute to superior experiences are
knowable and reproducible, which makes them designable. The concept to
grasp is that all experiences are important and that we can learn from them
whether they are traditional, physical, offline experiences or whether they
are digital, online, or other technological experiences. In fact, we know a
great deal about experiences and their creation through these other,
established disciplines that can-and must-be used to develop new solutions.
These aren’t always obvious and, surely, they aren’t fool-proof, but it’s
important to realize that great experiences can be deliberate and based
upon some principles that have been proven.
Designing the Total Experience
It’s not necessary for every experience to address all possible
criteria, but it is important to build an experience that is well-rounded
and successful for the majority of its audience or participants. Experience
Design isn’t so much a discipline as it is an approach that is applicable
to many disciplines. For sure, however, it isn’t something that happens
accidentally, and absolutely requires not only thought but work.
Experiences are one of the most valuable memories we have and one of
the things most people spend the most amount of time and money on.
Successful experiences are valuable both financially and emotionally and
the more we learn about how to create them (whether through approach,
process, understanding, or specific criteria), the better the experiences
we can create and the more enriching our lives can become [1].
Framework
One of the most important ways to define an experience is to search
its boundaries. While many experiences are ongoing, sometimes even
indefinitely, most have edges that define their start, middle, and end.
Much like a story (a special and important type of experience), these
boundaries help us differentiate meaning, pacing, and completion. Whether
it is due to attention span, energy, or emotion, most people cannot
continue an experience indefinitely; they will grow tired, confused, or
distracted if an experience, however consistent, doesn’t conclude.
At the very least, think of an experience as requiring an attraction,
an engagement, and a conclusion. The attraction is necessary to initiate
the experience, though this need not be synonymous with distraction. An
attraction can be cognitive, visual, auditory, or it can signal any of our
senses. For example, the attraction to fill-out your taxes is based on need
and not a flashy introduction. However, there still needs to be cues as to
where and how to begin the experience.
The engagement is the experience itself. It needs to be sufficiently
different than the surrounding environment of the experience to hold the
attention of the experiences as well as cognitively important or relevant
enough for someone to continue the experience.
The conclusion can come in many ways, but it must provide some sort of
resolution, whether through meaning or story or context or activity to make
an otherwise enjoyable experience satisfactory. Often an experience that is
engaging has no real end, leaving participants dissatisfied or even
confused about the experience, emotions, or ideas, they just felt.
Most technological experiences-including digital and, especially, online
experiences-have paled in comparison to real-world experiences and they
have been relatively unsuccessful as a result. What these solutions require
is developers that understand what makes a good experience first, and then
to translate these principles, as well as possible, into the desired medium