What is an Experience?

Exhilarating excitement, an increased heart rate and nervous anticipation were some of the feelings I was experiencing as I paddled during my first ever river rafting adventure. Going river rafting, while on a camping trip to the Smoky Mountains, was one of the most magical and memorable experiences I have ever had in my life.

Harry Nilsson once said, “experiences are springboards to the imagination.”

Life is a series of unforgettable and distinctive experiences that stand out in our memories. An experience is an event where one undergoes various emotions that leave long-term impressions in one’s mind, either through participation or observation of the event. It is a combination of actions and reactions, thoughts and feelings, emotions and senses.

Every time I have shared this experience of mine with someone, it has been a storytelling activity. Talking about the people involved in making the experience what it was, the environment and conditions in which it took place, the range of emotions felt, the start and end of the journey, and, the before and after of the event. The most emotionally powerful points of the experience and the end of that experience are highly responsible for how and why I remember that day. All of this combined forms an experience.

A Cornell study concludes that people value experiences more than materialistic possessions. Why is that? The simple explanation would be that experiences are unique to each individual. No two experiences can be the same or be compared.

Experiences are also not just about fun and happiness. They also serve as teaching aids. If there was ever a barometer to evaluate our personal development in real-time, it would be our reaction and the meaning we assign to our experiences.

Therefore, the next question that arises is, can we design experiences?

Gill Wildman says, “designing experiences is about creating opportunities.”

Instead of focussing on the process, methods, or tools, this description focuses on the paradigmatic shift of what design might mean in an experience economy. This gives us a broader understanding of the capabilities of design, beyond the designing of an interface or physical product, and into a realm of potential where human behaviour can flourish. Opportunities can be created to connect, to imagine, to communicate, to learn, to delight. The focus of designing an experience would then not be about the things we make but rather about the mediation of these things and how they shape our experiences (Hassenzahl, 2010).

Gauri Bhatt

Sources:

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/03/study-shows-experiences-are-better-possessions

https://mindandsoul.space/home/2019/10/2/what-is-an-experience-ordinary-vs-the-extraordinary