Meaningful Experiences

Nathan ShedroffVoices That Matter, SF, October 2007

Welcome

Slides and templates posted:nathan.com/thoughts

You don’t have to take detailed notes. These slides will be posted: nathan.com/thoughts

The next big thing?

The big thing!

The big thing!Meaning

We recognize some experiences easily

We recognize many experiences because we have to pay for them. For example, we know that places like Disneyland are experiences.

We recognize some experiences easily

We also recognize events, like Cirque du Soleil as experiences.

We recognize some experiences easily

We also recognize, seek, and create experiences throughout our lives that have nothing to do with commerce, of course. Births, weddings, parties, etc. are some of the most meaningful in our lives.

However, we don’t always see the other experiences in our lives. We see products...

We see services...

But these are also experiences because of how we use them. Products and services enable experiences. For the iPod, the interface has a great deal to do with the experience.

Commodity Product Service Experience

Price/Value

From: The Experience Economy, Pine and Gilmore

The more that we support experience, the more value we provide (often), the more we will pay, and the more satisfaction we usually get. For companies, great experiences are more lucrative, more profitable, and generate more loyal customers.

Whether it is simply the experience of using something, everything we create, whether we intend to or not, also creates an experience around it.

People don’t just travel to see things

For examples, most people don’t merely travel to see sights (though they may still phrase travel in this way).

They travel to experience

Usually, people travel for wonderful experiences, maybe unique, maybe educational, but always experiential. An emerging category of travelers, in fact, (experience travelers) cuts across traditional demographic segments. These travelers are conscious of experience and go out of their way to experience unique experiences wherever they travel. They are just as likely to eat at the best restaurant in a city one night, and from a street vendor the next. They seek what’s unique to a place and often try to look like a local, eschewing traditional tourist traps. They are just as likely to visit a museum for that one, rare highlight piece that interests them, and then surf, mountain bike, hike, or simply walk later that same day in a part of town not frequented by tourists. When they shop, they aren’t interested in stores they can find at home, but boutiques with things they didn’t know to look for.

The boundaries of experiences are our minds and bodies

Experiences aren’t easy to categorize because they’re so big, so expansive.

Experiences are designable

And there’s still controversy over whether they’re even designable. Some say you can’t design an experience for others (need to know them too intimately). Yet, we seem to do it every day. The point isn’t to control the experience exactly, but to come as close as possible and take into account multiple senses, multiple media, time, story, and consistency.

Everything we createis an experience

We can look at everything we create as having an experience, or a potential one, surrounding it. Therefore, if we choose, what experience do we want it to be?

Design is the processof making experiences

Design isn’t just about making things (electronics, food, clothes, jewelry, environments, etc.). It’s about creating experiences around these things. Every event planner, wedding planner, theater director, and renowned restauranteur already knows this. I had a friend who once said: if I only wanted good food... It’s time that designers, marketers, business people, service providers, meeting planners, bosses, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, etc. learn to better shape experiences so we can create more satisfying experiences for each other.

But what, exactly,is an experience?

I don’t have time to describe these in-depth but I’ll give you a quick overview.

BreadthProductServiceBrand

Name(s)Channel/Environment

(Space)Promotion

Price

Breadth is about consistency, throughout all media, channels, and touch-points. We don’t usually trust people who aren’t consistent, incoherent, reliable, or exhibit multiple personality. And, the reality is that we don’t trust products, services, companies, or other experiences like this either.

IntensityReflexHabitEngagement

Appropriateness and opportunity... reflexes happen too quickly, habits are when we’re not truly engaged or aware, but when the experience is more intense already, that’s when we can have some effect. We can also look for opportunities to take habits and make them more engaging.

DurationInitiation

ImmersionConclusion

Continuation

Time, story, narrative...

TriggersSenses:Sight

Sound

Smell

Taste

Touch

Cognitive:Concepts

Symbols

Triggers are about all of our senses and the colors, sounds, surfaces, textures, materials, symbols, tastes, aromas, animations, visuals, shapes, etc. that trigger meaning for us. Does it look or sound expensive? fun? youthful? cool? traditional? reliable? etc. Every choice we make when crafting experiences support or erode meaning and success. These, of course, are all culturally-influenced, not just across national boundaries but across age, gender, and other cultural distinctions. They ebb and flow over time and are constantly changing, responding to and influencing styles, tastes, and trends.

InteractionPassiveActiveInteractive

Interaction is about involvement...

SignificanceMeaningStatus/IdentityEmotion/LifestylePriceFunction

But the most important dimension of experience is meaning, or significance. This is how we relate products, services, events, and experiences to our lives. This is what governs what we care about, what we regret, and what we remember for the rest of our lives.

Meaning (Reality)Status/Identity (Values)

Emotions (Lifestyle)Price (Value)

Function (Performance)

Meaning is the deepest level of five layers of significance. Whether we ask ourselves consciously or subconsciously, we’re always aware of these levels in the decisions we make. For example...

Function (Performance):Does this do what I need?

Price (Value):Does this do what I need at a

price that’s worth it?

Emotions (Lifestyle):Does this make me

feel good?

Or bad or whatever? Emotions are powerful and important and still missing from most interactive experiences. Mrk Meadows will be speaking next about how he’s helping virtual characters interact emotionally.

Status/Identity (Values):Is this me?

Meaning (Reality):Does this fit into my reality?

AccomplishmentBeauty

CreationCommunity

DutyEnlightenment

Freedom

HarmonyJustice

OnenessRedemption

SecurityTruth

ValidationWonder

Core Meanings:

We’ve identified 15 core meanings, only the positive ones, and there may yet be more. The most important aspect of meaning is that the are universal. We don’t all prioritize the same ones, but we all, everyone in the world, no matter the culture, understands their value and importance. Think about which are most important to you. Which to you actively seek? Which do you take for granted?

Successful experiences are meaningful

(and not merely novel)

So, to end, I want to leave you with some questions. How do you live your life in relationship to experiences and meaning?

Design & development is the process

of evoking meaning

Despite the title of my New Riders book, we don’t actually MAKE meaning, we evoke it--through triggers.

How do you put meaning into the

process?

A meaning-filled development process:

Developers have an opportunity to play a role not only in the product development realm, but also in the board room, where strategy for the company is set (and needs to reflect better customer understanding).

A meaning-filled development process:

First, meaning research should be an integrated part of customer research. This is key data that should affect corporate strategy for your companies and/or clients.

A meaning-filled development process:

Then, corporate strategy can start reflecting customer meaning. This is the first step toward specifying the right offerings (the right business to be in).

A meaning-filled development process:

Then, meaning becomes an integrated, accepted part of the development process and you’re already working on the right offering. Now, you can concentrate on making it as great as possible.

How do you research customer meaning?

...by looking for it in customer/design research

• Focus Groups• Surveys & Questionnaires (open, Y/N, m. choice) (Internet, phone, face to face, direct mail, etc.)

• Mall Intercepts• Data Mining & Warehouses• Word Association & Story Completion• Product Testing & “Mystery Shopping”• Expert Analysis (inc. sales force, customer service, supply chain)

(Quantitative vs. Qualitative)(Syndicated vs. Custom)(Primary vs. Secondary)

“Traditional” Market Research

Design/User/Customer Research

Ethnographic/Experiential:• Interviews (Online, phone, face to face, mail, intercepts, dyads, triads, party groups...)• Expert/extreme users• “Deep Dive” (IDEO)• Journals• Indirect Observations (Focus groups, photo scans, time & money, server & sales logs, etc.)• Shadowing• Games• Background/Context Scans• Walkabouts

“Market Insight”melds all of these data:

• Demographic Information• Psychographic Information (behavior)• Customer needs & desires, values, and meanings• Market/Industry Analysis (competitors)• Forecast Market Trends & Sizes• Identify opportunities• Inform Organizational Strategy• Reduce Risk

Meaning (Reality)Status/Identity (Values)

Emotions (Lifestyle)Price (Value)

Function (Performance)

Meaning can drive all of these decisions--it’s less expensive even.

Meaning (Reality)Status/Identity (Values)

Emotions (Lifestyle)Price (Value)

Function (Performance)

Meaning can drive all of these decisions--it’s less expensive even.

Competing Objectives:Business (Clients)Customers (Users)

TeamDomain & Medium

Sustainability?

Your Meaning focus is the overlap of meaning research in all of these areas.

Business Objectives:Revenues

ProfitGrowth

Brand/Reputation/Satisfaction/Loyalty/Relationship/Value

Meaning Strategy

Customer Objectives:Needs & Desires:

PerformanceValue

Emotion/LifestyleValues

Meaning

Team Objectives:ValuesGoals

DesiresMeaning

Domain & Medium:What’s appropriate for the

medium, industry, and context?

What is the cultural context?What are expectations?

Sustainability?:Human CapitalNatural Capital

Financial CapitalManufactured Capital

Is each form sustainable?

Corporate Meaning Priorities

Team Meaning Priorities

Customer Meaning Priorities

Your Focus!

Corporate Meaning Priorities

Team Meaning Priorities

Customer Meaning Priorities

Corporate Meaning Priorities

Team Meaning Priorities

Customer Meaning Priorities

Competitors Meaning Priorities

Even better if your competitor’s meaning strategies don’t overlap yours! (Differentiation)

Sustainable Product Development Fall 2007Meaning Template

The 15 Core Meanings:Accomplishment—achieving goals and making something ofoneself; a sense of satisfaction that can result from productivity,focus, talent, or status. Examples: American Express’ “membershiphas its privileges” and Nike’s “Just Do It”.Beauty—the appreciation of qualities that give pleasure to thesenses or spirit. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder andthus highly subjective, but our desire for it is ubiquitous. Beauty canbe more than mere appearance. For some, it is a sense thatsomething is created with an elegance of purpose and use. Examplesinclude Bang & Olufsen and Jaguar.Creation—the sense of having produced something new andoriginal, and, in doing so, to have made a lasting contribution.Designers’ lives and careers are all about acknowledging andparticipating at this level of meaning.Community—A sense of unity with others around us and aconnection with other human beings. Examples include any religiouscommunity, fraternities, or club.Duty—the willing application of oneself to a responsibility. Themilitary in any country counts on the power of this meaning, as domany employers. Duty can also relate to responsibilities to oneselfor family. Commercially, anything regarded as “good for you,”including vitamins, medications, and cushioned insoles, relays somesense of duty and the satisfaction it brings.Enlightenment—clear understanding through logic or inspiration.This experience is not limited to those who meditate and fast, it isa core expectation of offerings from Fox News, which promises “fairand balanced” reporting, to the Sierra Club, which providesperspective on environmental threats and conservation.

Freedom—the sense of living without unwanted constraints. Thisexperience often plays tug-of-war with the desire for security; moreof one tends to decrease the other.Harmony—the balanced and pleasing relationship of parts to awhole, whether in nature, society, ourselves, or in our homes.Justice—the assurance of equitable and unbiased treatment.Oneness—A sense of unity with everything around us. It is whatsome seek from the spirituality and what others expect from goodtequila.Redemption—Atonement or deliverance from past failure or decline.Though this often stems from negative experiences, the redemptiveimpact is highly positive. Like community and enlightenment,redemption has a basis in religion, but it also attracts customers toWeight Watchers and expensive spas.Security—the freedom from worry about loss. This experiencecreated the insurance business, and it continues to sell a widerange of products from automatic rifles to adult diapers.Truth—A commitment to honesty and integrity. This experienceplays an important role in most personal relationships, but it alsois a key component of companies like Whole Foods, Volkswagen,and Newman’s Own, all of which portray themselves as simple,upright, and candid.Validation— the recognition of oneself as a valued individual worthyof respect. Every externally branded product—especially clothing—counts as a trigger for this core meaning: Ralph Lauren Polo,Mercedes Benz, Four Seasons.Wonder—Awe in the presence of a creation beyond one’sunderstanding. While this might sound mystical and unattainable,Disney has been a master of this experience for decades, and thisis what kept the Concorde flying all of those years.

Step 1: List the top 5 core meanings you’ve observed in each of these three categories:

Target Customer (Needs& Desires) via User Research:

Development Team Goals:Corporate Strategic Goals &Messaging (from Strategic Plan):

Step 2: Look for and circle overlap between the categories. If there isn’t any (or much) overlap, thisis a serious signal that your strategy needs review. You should be able to prioritize at least 2-3 coremeanings that overlap across these three groups. List these on the left below:

Step 3: Through Market Research and User Interviews, assess your competitors’ core meaningsvia their offerings, experiences, and messaging. Write these in the columns to the left of yours:

Step 4: Which core meanings are unique in comparison with your competitors? These should beyour produdct development, messaging, and strategic focus.

You Competitor 1 Competitor 2 Competitor 3

I’ve also created a template for you to use to track and compare the meanings associated with your project. Ideally, this will come from user research, though, you may have to short-hand it given how little time you have in our projects. You can’t address more than three meanings in total and you should, hopefully, find enough overlap between the meanings associated with all of the groups involved (customers, your team, you organization--if you had one). You should also compare against your competitors and differentiate your meaning position where possible. Lastly, you need to research how your customers and competitors express meaning in order to development experiences they will recognize.

Sustainable Product Development Fall 2007Experience Template

The 6 Dimensions of Experience:1. Significance: Function/Performance, Price/Value,Emotion/Lifestyle, Values/Identity, Meaning. Refer to the MeaningTemplate for instruction on how to assess meaning.2. Breadth: Product, Service, Brand, Nomenclature (Naming),Channel (Environment), Promotion, Price.3. Intensity: Reflex, Habit, Engagement.4. Duration (Time): Initiation (Start), Immersion, Conclusion (End),Continuation (Repeat).5. Triggers: Taste, Sight (Visuals), Sound (Music, Voice, Effects),Smell, Touch/Texture, Concepts, Symbols.6. Interaction: Passive, Static, Reactive, Interactive.

Step 1: For each dimension above, evaluate whatyour target customers already experience in eachof these categories. For example, through surveyingthe market and comparison with existing or competingexperiences, list the form these experiences take andhow they are presented currently. (You may need severalpages and it’s a good idea to document these withexamples in a variety of media, such as photographs).

Step 2: Create a checklist of these criteria and categories for use when conducting user research.For example, through interviews, observation, photo scans, or other ethnographic techniques, be awareof how your customers respond in different senses, or throughout the entire duration of the experience(which may extend from the moment they perceive a need through purchasing and use, until they finallydispose of the product or halt using the service). Allow thee categories to expand your observation andlearning around the needs and desires you focus upon. What experiences do your users love (andwhy)? Which ones do they dred (and why)? What aspects are contributing to the experience being greator terrible. Which are appropriate and which aren’t?

Step 3: Use the same checklist to compare existing or competing experiences and offeringsalong these criteria. Look for mismatch or lack of overlap between what you understand users torespond well to and what current offerings provide.

Step 4: Identify opportunities to satisfy customers in unique ways by highlighting those aspectsof the experience that you’ve found important and that are currently lacking in offerings.Concentrate on these throughout the development process.

Step 5: When developing triggers for the design of the product, service, or event and it’spromotion, instructions, and messaging, be sure to choose triggers (materials, colors, textures,layouts, sounds, smells, tastes, etc.) that communicate the core meanings and associated valuesand emotions you’ve observed appropriate from your customer research. Successful design isoften a series of choices of details that communicates in ways that are appropriate for the target audienceor customers, not an attempt to “tell” customers what they should think or how they should respond.Identifying these triggers early will save you time and development costs and still provide ambleopportunity to innovate and build unique offerings.

I’ve also created a guide to help you evaluate the rest of the experience you’re creating. This isn’t a checklist but should help you keep in mind the total experience that will affect your customers.

What about those triggers?

Design isn’t about making-up your mind about what you like, it’s about understanding what triggers meaning in your customers. Again, this comes from your customer research!

What says Accomplishment?

For example, what says “accomplishment” to your customers?

What says Accomplishment?

Is it a cigar (it’s a boy!)?

What says Accomplishment?

Is it a particular article of clothing? Members Only? Gucci?

What says Accomplishment?

Is it a particular article of clothing? Members Only?

What says Accomplishment?

Gucci? (Gucci tries to attract thousands but only sell to hundreds)

What says Accomplishment?

Is it still the Aeron (just a few years ago, it was)?

What says Accomplishment?

Or is it just Gold? Or a gold finish? What is it about these items that communicate “accomplishment”? To whom?

This is why your research is so important--and it’s not just communicating meaning, but everything you’re trying to accomplish with your solution? emotions...performance...identity...values...etc...

What says Wonder?

For example, what says “wonder” to your customers?

What says Wonder?

Is it the stars? or science? or exploration?

What says Wonder?

Is it Disney?

What says Wonder?

Is it the mysteries of life?

What says Wonder?

Is it a particular place?

What does this color say to you?

Elegant? Dangerous? Death? Goth?

What does this color say to you?

Plain? Simple? Elegant? Clean? Death?

What does this color say to you?

Royal? Priestly? Girlie? Gay? Hippie? Floral? Sexy? Strange?

Every sensorial decision is a trigger: every color,

texture, smell, taste, typeface, sound, music,

voice, pattern, icon, symbol, interaction,

layout, concept, temperature, expression,

What meanings doyour customers prioritize?

It’s up to you to not only determine what your customers prioritize in meaning, but how they express it--and how they respond to triggers.

What experiencesdo they seek?

And, don’t forget about the other attributes of experience.

Is meaning manipulation?

Should companiesevoke meaning?

Is this nefarious? Is it just another way for corporations to intrude in our lives? Or, try to convince us to buy their wares?

Does everything we design already evoke meaning?

We’re already doing this accidentally and unintentionally. We might as well do it well. You can use it for good or you can use it for evil. Some admit that thy WANT to be manipulated--this is what entertainment is all about.

Are you creatinganything meaningful?

Are you adding meaning to people’s lives?

What’s meaningful to you?

Perhaps, this is the most important question of your careers.

nathan.com/thoughts

nathan@nathan.com

Thank you. You’re welcome to contact me in the future.