The changing nature of experiences

My father is one of the silent generation. He grew up in a world governed by the aftermath of World War II, powdered eggs, rations and the troubled dreams of waking up in makeshift air raid shelters. He watched the hedonism of the swinging sixties from afar, frowned at punk and gave Margaret Thatcher a chance. An iPad was his first and last experience of the internet and today he is a man too content in his garden to give any thought to his soon coming eightieth birthday.

Ask my father about the experiences of his life and he will say, getting married, buying my first house and raising my children.

How things have changed.

Give a millenial a blank piece of paper and ask them to list their life experiences and you will find enough time to go grocery shopping for the ingredients for osso bucco, prepare the dish, cook it and by the time it’s ready they will still be writing.

Today everything is an experience and it’s not just down to an appropriation of the word. Today we view almost everything as an experience, we apply a deeper level of thought to the things we buy, to our jobs than ever before. HR professionals gush about the latest employee experience study; retailers define online & offline experiences for their customers; The role of UX is to make computer interfaces frictionless in order to provide better a experience for their users.

Too often we give millenials a hard time over their perceived sense of entitlement but if their equally strong sense of community, desire to acheive and collaborate, has lead them to view their lives as a long sequence of experiences, thinking carefully about what we previously considered banal and valuing experiences more than possessions then I think we’re in good hands as we head into an age where they will take their turn at the head of the table.

As my father would say, everything changes.