EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN

Nehal Verma Student M.Design (2012-14) NIFT, New Delhi 25th February, 2013

BACKGROUND STUDY The world of design is rapidly expanding its horizons and one of its most recent ventures is towards designing experience. Experience has always been the stepping stone towards learning for mankind. It has perpetually led us towards a conscious progression to development and an advanced future. A fairly new concept; it can be defined as an individual perception through direct involvement and participation. Psychologically, it is an experience that emerges from the integration of perception, action, motivation, and cognition into an inseparable, meaningful whole. Design is no longer limited to the product only, it also needs to surround the product and form an aura so as to make it a successful outcome. Experiential design is the practice of designing while the emphasis is laid on the quality of user experience to be provided. Experiential designers identify the gap between the user and the product or service to create new touch-points of experience to reach the desired goal. They measure designs with a substantial audience, and deal with a wide scale of user opinions on a daily basis. The experience could be physical or virtual or both. The landscape has been constantly changing- technology today plays a crucial role in creating and shaping meaningful and positive experiences. Its a story telling experience. Experience design can be applied to almost all arenas of design, vis--vis fashion, architecture, product, concept, interiors, or even presentation design, etc. The process can be summed as an amalgamation of concept, product and mood to deliver the ultimate experience. Here, the concept includes the idea, design and the story; the product bears presentation, colour and feel; the mood subsumes light, sound, ambience and the aura. In such a process, it is the experience which is sold to the consumer in lieu of the sole product or service. The key element of an experiential design is a framework of experiences that reckons at what people think in terms of ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations that are communicate via socio- cultural systems; their meanings and identities of action, and the influence of environment. It is based on the POSE model wherein P stands for problem that needs to be defined and framed, a key to interpreting consumer experience. O represents opportunities that need to be recognised to bring an understanding of experience with business goals. S constitutes inventing solutions for the problem identified and E stands for creating embodiments formulated through detailed design and form- giving. The traditional approach towards experiential designing comprises of- Finding a products unique value proposition; - Determining what emotional needs it connects to; and - Aligning all executions around these impressions. Today experience design is a key element in every discipline of design. The designer focuses on selling the product through an experience for a better response from the consumer. This phenomenon can be accredited to the constant increase in competition in the market. We have come to such a point that now, it is the entire experience provided to the consumer which forms the primal decision towards buying any products which are identical on the outside but its the

experience offered that differs. We have now commodified experience through all existing forms of media. There are majorly six types of experience designs: 1. User experience design: This involves the designing of engaging experiences for potential users of the product, service or system. 2. Human experience design: This encompasses experience designing for humans- a broader category of users. It includes experiences of daily life activities and not being just product centric. 3. Learner experience design: It is the designing of experiences for a niche user category, i.e., the learners or those looking towards development as a main goal. 4. Memory experience design: It is the designing for experiences of memories and knowledge creation and use. 5. Collaborator experience design - This type of experience design considers designing experiences of collaboration between two or more people. 6. Multisensory experience design - This involves designing for experiences and receiving information through multiple human senses. Experience design includes all contact points- business, technology and design. Experience need not depend solely on technology- it can be provided through environments and creating desirable ambiences. However, of late the boom in technology has been playing a major role in providing experiences to consumers. Experience is what surrounds us. We are living in the age of technology, so, technology surrounds us too. But the relationship between technology and experience is that experience uses technology to help people; not to make better technology. Technology is being used in creating artificial sound, lighting moods and creative interfaces to connect to the user at a more personal level. But, experience design is not just interface or interaction design. Interface and interaction constitute an important aspect of experience which forms the connection between humans and the product. A common confusion occurs between experience design and interface design. Interface is what users interact with while using digital products and mediums. Interface is a component of experience and experience itself. It is also not just a step in the process, it is the process. The whole process of interaction forms the larger experience; it needs to be integrated in every part of the design. Experience designing has now become a much sought after discipline of design due to its roots lying in a direct connect to a consumer. Their interaction with the surrounding of the main product has become equally important as compared to the product itself. The concept of the feel and the aura that surrounds any product, appealing more to a consumer has gained a greater significance within the market these days. Experience design is not just about or for the user, its for the business as well. Still the fundamental question remains- Can experience be designed? To answer it in simple terms, experiential designers provide input into designs that lead to a spectrum of experiences some known and maybe a few unknown, but not merely design all possible experiences. Ultimately, it is all about the experience that forms the driving force behind the consumer leading to the product.