Experience by Design

We are on the verge of a new year, and with a new year comes new ideas about how we need to make changes in our lives. While individual will often make New Year’s Resolutions about how to make a “new you”, what about organization? What resolutions can organizations make to change the way they have been doing things, and enter the new year with not only the best intentions, but the best outcomes? T...

When the world can feel more divided than ever - whether polarizing politics, climate change or economic uncertainty, ethnography reminds us to come back down to earth, and into the lives of people. Because the truth is, if we want to see systemic change, and address issues larger than ourselves, we actually have to start with everyday experience. And being willing to go against the grain, challen...

Meaning is a key element of designing experiences. At the same time, a major challenge is to understand how people construct and achieve meaning not just personally, but shared with others. How we create meaning through language has long been a philosophical question drawing sharp arguments around a fundamental feature of our lives.  Max Louwerse’s book “Keeping those Words in Mind: How Language C...

When looking at American culture, you can see how security minded it is. Home security systems. Car security systems. Gun ownership for protection. Locking your doors. It is a society that in many ways does not trust its own environment. At the same, we have in many ways given up pretending that we have digital privacy and security. News reports of security breaches, stolen passwords, hacking, and...

Perhaps one of the most immediate changes brought by the pandemic was the move to living online. It seemed like the world was going virtual, as people in business, education, organizing, and those trying to maintain social connection became boxes on screens. As we put more time into being online, we often found that there is a difference between being in person and being remote. Something is missi...

This past summer has brought greater attention to questions of racial and social justice, resulting from the George Floyd murder to other stories also depicting events that bring us back to an earlier time in American history. While this renewed focus is welcome to address issues that still need addressing, the topic of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are by no means new. So while not ne...

One might think that by 2021, companies would already have an understanding of how to digitally transform. Also, one might think that they would have a strategy in place to do so. The truth, however, is that many companies neither have an understanding nor a strategy of engaging customers through digital means. As a result, a staggering 84% of customers say their digital experiences do not live up...

We are living in the Age of Identity. Terms like fluidity and intersectionality speak to the moment of people exploring who they are across and within different contexts. People are free to choose from a wide variety of selves, each building on the other to create a range of self-expression. While this allows people to speak about who they see themselves as in multiple ways, it does create challen...

What does chips and salsa, Meowoulf, and Burning Man have in common? What they all share is they are part of what our guest calls the Experiential Palate. They involve trying to connect with a person’s experiential aptitude to take in and appreciate what is being created for them. If you have salsa that is too spicy, no matter how good it might taste that is going to be overpowered by how overwhel...

The experience of being a parent of a developmentally disabled, or neurologically atypical child, can be highly varied. Kids can have a range of functioning, challenges, abilities, and barriers. Regardless of our different experiences based on the unique situations we face, one thing is the same: all of us frequently need some form of help. This is where the folks from Jeb’s Game come in. Inspired...

Despite being summer, it is a fallacy that academics get summers off. Especially in a pandemic year, it can feel like the pressures and stresses of academic work have been compounded. Making the transition to remote teaching provided its own unique challenges. On top of that are all of the requirements of the academic life. Committee work. Advising students, Doing research. Writing papers. Dealing...

Our guest today Josh Linkner has had a pretty varied set of experiences that led to to writing his latest book, Big Little Breakthroughs. In fact, he describes himself as being a “strange mix of things.” From an early age he picked up guitar. That’s not necessarily notable, as lots of young kids pick up guitar. However, his interest led him to focus on jazz guitar, resulting in him even attending...

In the area of ethnomethodology and workplace studies, Jack’s work always served as a case study in how to apply academic research and industry impact. From his earlier days at the University of Oregon, to his move to the Institute for Research on Learning at Stanford, and then to the XEROX Palo Alto Research Center, and even today with the sustainable fisheries partnership, Jack has used ethnogra...

Dr. Jacqueline Copeland grew up in Philadelphia, which she describes as a city of neighborhoods. But, just because you have neighborhoods doesn’t mean that everyone is neighborly. From those early experiences of people watching and trying to understand the dynamics of Philly, she became interested in exploring new worlds and understanding different cultures. Anthropology and philanthropy then beca...

Oscar Barrera is a Business Anthropologist based out of Veracruz, Mexico who brings a global mindset to helping businesses turn hurdles into opportunities for positive change. He is an expert in innovation, change management, and strategy. In this episode in partnership with This Anthro Life and Experience by Design, podcast cohosts Adam Gamwell and Gary David dig into Oscar's story to learn the s...

Punk is more than songs; it is an ethos, as well as an aesthetic. The punk lifestyle and its music is all about attitude, and fighting against norms, traditional dogma, social injustice, and intolerance. It strives to move outside of how things have always been done, as well as being cautious of authority. The more society tells you that you should be doing something, the more likely you are to se...

The Experience by Design mothership is being boarded by pirates! On today’s episode, we welcome the Learning Pirate Lauren Waldman. Lauren long has been interested in education and learning, a passion that saw her take on the Head of Learning and Development in Canada for Tata Consulting Services, as well as being Training and Development Manager for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which seems like...

Designer and entrepreneur Paul Bulencea, who is the co-creator of the college of extraordinary experiences, visits the Experience by Design studios. Paul’s personal journey started with a Masters degree in recreation while in Salzburg. Blending gamification and experience design, Paul and his advisor created new ground in the space of tourism experiences in the book Gamification in Tourism. A chan...

Many companies want to use customer experience, but are they really embracing its essence?  Businesses often think it is about customers being happy in terms of ‘customer satisfaction.’  The point is really customer experience is about much more than satisfaction. To be a company that embraces customer experience is to embrace cultural change. We all know that change can be difficult, and it can b...

Medicine, like it seems everything else, is undergoing an experiential transformation. The movement toward redefining healthcare in terms of patient experiences is not necessarily new. While it might not ebe new, it still is evolving. Not only our understanding of patient experiences, but the broadening out of that into provider experiences as well. As we have turned our attention to frontline her...

Running a professional association ain’t easy. There are a lot of elements that go into creating and delivering a quality member experience. Living during a pandemic has only made that more challenging as conferences go online, member information needs change, and organizations try to find ways to provide meaningful experiences and value to their membership.  To help explore this issue, we welcome...

Pandemic life means for many of us that we have had to become audio-visual professionals. Along with all the stress of kids at home, COVID tests, and trips to the grocery store is the worry about what happens when technology goes wrong. And not just our computer systems, but what about binge watching Netflix and Hulu when your streaming no longer works. What about when technology rebels? Who is th...

The good news and bad news of a connected world is that we are more connected. In that lies the question of how we create and maintain meaningful connections that feel real. Given the ‘flame wars’, tribalism and trolling of Twitter and Facebook, it can be difficult to find threads of humanism in the digital age.  To explore these questions, we have on today’s show Ken Gordon, Principal Communicati...

As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change. Or as the song goes, The Times They are a’Changing. But if so much of life is change, why are we so bad at handling it? Why do people, and organizations resist change so much? And how can we not only implement change, but better manage and embrace it? To answer some of these questions, we talk with Sue Harvey of New Direction Strategy. If th...

Issues of racial equity, and institutionalized discrimination, have long been at the center of customer experience, and the right of people to be seen as customers. Today’s podcast is a recording of an event from the end of July on ‘Inspiring Racial Equity: How CX Professionals Can Guide Their Organizations to Tackle This Urgent Issue.” The event was a joint effort of the Boston and Atlanta chapte...