Thread by @nathanshedroff

Oh God, not this again. We're gonna go backwards in this, too?

1/ Yes, you can design experiences. We do it every day. We've always done it. So have screenwriters & directors & game designers & storytellers & Walt Disney, himself.

Ever been to a concert, play, or film? Designed

https://twitter.com/IrithWilliams/status/1060846007791976448

2/ Are the experiences fool-proof, perfect, or exact? No

Can they be exactly as we intend? No

For everyone? No

Can they be close-enough to resonate or be successful? Absolutely.

3/ All experiences are simply a shift in "state of mind." If we can understand someone's SoM, we can design a way to shift it.

Can we understand it completely, with no questions? No

Can we understand everyone's? No

Can we get close enough to shift SoM successfully? Constantly

4/ The better we know someone, the more effectively we can shift SoM--err create experiences for them. This why you can throw a party for your friend that draws a meaningful laugh or tear--that they'll remember for ever--and why a film can thrill a crowd of 1000s or draw a tear.

5/ Do we know the elements of SoM? Yes: Emotions, Memories, Mental Models, Perceptual Bias, & Behavioral Responses. We can reliably design for each element, from the personal to the general (or from the custom to the general).

6/ Psychology teaches us about Emotions. Read @PaulEkman (and others).
Design Research teaches us about Behavioral Responses (Triggers).
Steve Diller and I teach about Mental Models (Core Meanings). Read Blin Spot rosenfeldmedia.com/books/blind-sp…

7/ Is there a model for Experience? Yes: Breadth, Duration, Intensity, Interaction, Triggers, & Value. All are designable elements. Read Experience Design 1.1 nathan.com/experience-des…

8/ We have models for evoking Meaning (read: Making Meaning)

Models for missing Value (Blind Spot)

In short, everything we need to design meaningful experiences (should we care enough to do so). amazon.com/Making-Meaning…

9/ Every designed anything is an opportunity for a better experience.

Every company is in the experience business (and those that don't think so just create terrible experiences)—looking at you Comcast (and so, so many more).

10/ Experiences are the only context for creating a relationship. So, you can't have a relationship with anything or anyone without an experience present.

Better experiences > better relationships.

Which means, every company (and person) is in the relationship business, too.

11/ No Experience? > No Relationship.

No Relationship? > No Value gets exchanged (neither quantitative NOR qualitative value).

12/ And there are 5 kinds of Value: Functional, Financial, Emotional, Identity, and Meaningful (not just the 1st two, "price and performance/features,," as business schools teach you). The other 3 are what every entrepreneur & investor are trying to create (without realizing it).

13/ And we've been doing all of this, without the models for as long as we've been a species. Now, however, we can do it reliably and deliberately, not just accidentally or intuitively.

There's no need to go backward and put your heads in the sand.

14/ There's nothing mysterious about great design but when it comes together, it can still be magical.

"Can't create experiences for others"? Prove it.

Because I've seen the proof of the opposite.

Now, someone please wake me up when it's 2018 again and not 20 years ago when this "debate" was being waged (and probably not for the first time).

👊🎤