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What is Total Experience Design?
Revolutionary ideas are typically accompanied by a powerful, even profound, experience for all involved. Take many examples, whether it be revolutionary products such as the iphone or entertainment such as Disney Land, the experiences delivered makes the difference and gives the concepts enough momentum to become unstoppable successes.
Many great ideas do not become unstoppable until the proper experience is delivered. The personal computer or the internet did not take off until the experience they gave was notably “good.” Nearly all ideas and businesses stagnate, no matter how good, until some aspects of the experience are improved.
The problem is that true and complete experience design is an after-thought, even an accident. Many may look at aspects of the total experience but that is not enough. To bring about revolutionary ideas and transform businesses, even entire industries, they must be accompanied by a laser focus on Total Experience Design (TXD). This isn’t a “software” thing or industry specific at all. TXD is end-to-end and reaches all the dark corners of an organization or team. Everyone is delivering some experience, usually by accident.
Total Experience Design can be clarified following these
10 points of TXD:
- Everyone delivers an experience, whether they know it or not
- Focusing on delivered experience will have more impact on a business than virtually any other possible focus
- Experience springs forth from the roots of the organization and the level of dedication to those “roots”
- Internal culture is the caretaker of the External Experience
- Experience Design affects all aspects of an organization from finance through philanthropy
- Transformation is the ultimate goal of experience design, not simply memorable experiences.
- Experience design elevates humanity, improving life, one experience at a time
- The Experience you deliver defines your identity, no other branding can overcome that.
- Experience Design communicates “meaning” to all stakeholders (customers, employees, shareholders, vendors, etc.)
- Lack of proper leadership kills experience development
By taking a focus on the Total Experience Design, businesses can more clearly and concisely make decisions regarding nearly every aspect of business from marketing campaigns to employee compensation and HR policies. The unifying experience helps organizations take the step from good to great. To understand TXD in action, it is simply a matter of viewing your business through the 6-sense lens. How is any aspect of your business experienced through:
- sight
- sound
- smell
- touch
- taste
- Emotion
The 6th sense, emotion, is one touched through proper use and combinations of the other senses. This lens allows us to identify the experience being delivered and to more easily explore the process needed to arrive at the desired experience.
Experience is influenced by nearly all aspects of the business. This experience ultimately will define the brand of your company. Every decision you make should be looked at regarding how it will affect the experience or brand.
What is meant by “TOTAL” experience design?
This is a key difference that is critical to proper TXD. It is “total” because the reality is that often more can be done to improve experience design not by focusing directly on customer experience but by improving and aligning other aspects of the business such as team culture, management, and clarity of purpose. Ultimately, the key is a strategic approach of building from the foundation up, allowing this solid foundation to support the more delicate touch points.
Get more on this by downloading the Total Experience Design Manifesto [coming soon]
