Experience Design – it’s a kind of magic!
The more digital the world, the more important the personal spatial encounter with brands becomes. Be it at trade fairs, marketing events, corporate exhibitions, company foyers, visitor centers or work spaces: these are the places where brand engagement is created, promoted and renewed. Here, people encounter the brand and experience it directly – in different forms, dimensions and depths. These are protected spaces, and because of their spatiality they generate a higher level of commitment than other formats. But how to? In this article, we delve into five key findings regarding the creation of effective and successful experience design.
Establish trust, dialog, relationship – put the people first
The core element of effective face-to-face communication is the trust-building dialog between people. All considerations begin with the question of which (business) relationship to establish, maintain or fuel. We create spaces of trusting encounter for each relationship – spaces for perception, cognition and participation. Dialogic spaces of listening and empathy that foster an environment where all participants feel understood and valued. The user-centered focus in experience design emphasizes a deep understanding of the users – their goals, behaviors, and contexts ‒ through research and empathy. It involves designing interfaces, interactions, and workflows that resonate with users' expectations and needs. By prioritizing user insights throughout the design process, we create intuitive solutions that enhance usability, satisfaction, and ultimately, user loyalty and engagement with the product or service.
Turn storytelling into storydoing
Respecting the audience at all times creates meaningful engagement. And this means providing experiences and opportunities for all by weaving stories into the space, choosing the right tonality and multiple ways of accessing information. What counts is the story: no experience without rich and compelling narration. When space, storytelling and visitor journey become one, lasting and formative experiences are forged: analog and virtual spaces with intuitive orientation, for exploration, with a playful fun factor. Moments and encounters that will create a strong sense of community. As narration and storytelling simplify content and tempt to listen and open up, they also encourage to interact, allow people to add their own ideas and to become a part of the narration. This is where we turn storytelling into storydoing.
Peter Ludwig, Head of Strategy and Partner„Experience design enables a seamless connection between the physical and the digital space – each having the power to augment and strengthen the other.”
Blend the analog and digital space
By integrating interactive digital elements into physical environments, we create immersive experiences that engage customers on multiple sensory levels, fostering deeper connections between individuals and groups and enhancing overall brand engagement. This synergy allows for personalized content and real-time feedback. The blend of tangible and virtual interactions captivates audiences, driving emotional engagement and encouraging brand loyalty.
Make complex matters simple
Utilizing extended reality (XR) like AR or VR and AI for bespoke engagements, experience design is an effective method for clarifying complicated topics and transforming unremarkable subjects and objects into remarkable ones. By using innovative tech integration to augment sensory perception, we make the abstract tangible and unforgettable. This fusion of technology and creativity ensures a more engaging and educational interaction, and long-lasting impressions.
Johannes Milla, CEO and Creative Director„Expertly used technology creates magic, attention, individualisation, and shared experience and interaction. When technology becomes invisible, additional opportunities for poetry and concentration arise.”
Create magical, memorable moments!
Experience design crafts environments and interactions that resonate deeply with users, meticulously curating every touchpoint to evoke strong emotions and connections. Expertly used technology is not an attractor in itself, but is designed from a visitor perspective to offer an inclusive, low-threshold, low-barrier and sensory-rich access to the space. Multimedia should foster and encourage visitor engagement through elements that allow to explore the topics in depth and provide context for them. By integrating technology and digital media, making it an integral and therefore “invisible” part of the space, we create potentials for individual experiences and concentration, for poetry and playfulness, for shared interactions, for magic and surprises.