Technology experience, defined

Nowadays, we don’t just use technology. We live with it and even depend on it. New technologies are continually being invented and older ones are being reinvented, resulting in an ever-changing transformation of user experience. At Craftworkz, we focus on creating human-centered experiences by developing prototypes by using the newest technologies. However, creating those experiences requires us to often reflect on our mission and even to reinvent ourselves. And that’s what we did going into 2021.

So, prototyping, huh?

2020 was a year of reflection. We took our time to think about what we do at Craftworkz and why we do what we do. Moreover, we thought about what kind of projects made us happy and proud and, most importantly, gave us energy to go above and beyond to make the project succeed.

In the past, we have always positioned ourselves as a prototyping company. Prototyping is a term that has a thousand definitions and raises different connotations. For some, it’s about proving that an idea could work. For others, the concept raises eyebrows. Basically, we realized the term confuses most people. After contemplating for a while, we came to the conclusion that the term prototyping doesn’t do us, and our way of working, justice.

Our team consists out of highly skilled experts who work hard to extend their knowledge every day. In addition, they are always pushing the boundaries of what is possible. As a result, they can make almost anything happen. Basically, if it doesn’t already exist today, they will make sure it does tomorrow.

Being able to involve other people into our work energizes us. More specifically, we love making our clients (and their clients!) experience something new. Honestly, this is what gets us out of bed in the morning. As a result of contemplating for a while, we’ve come up with the term technology experience. By writing this blog, we want to say goodbye to making “just prototypes”. So, we guess this is… Goodbye. 👋🏼

What is a technology experience?

A quick Google search indicates that a technology experience is “the extent of a user’s self-reported experience using technology”.

For us, a technology experience means more. It means you’re be able to touch, to feel, to undergo, to sense. To trust us and let us surprise you with today’s technology in a creative way. To be blown away. To be astonished. To be amazed. To look your friend in the eye and say: “wow, did you just see that?”. Essentially, to experience technology the way we know it.

Forever does not exist

A technology experience is not meant to last forever. It doesn’t have to be a big production application in need of support 24/7. It does not have to be able to cope with tens of thousands of users. In fact, we implement most of our technology experiences in creative campaigns. It has to work perfectly for a limited set of users for a limited set of time. Usually, we do recap the campaign in a short video. This way, the experience technically does last forever (find our favorite ones here), but you get the gist.

Innovation with technology

Technology experiences don’t necessarily have to contain the latest and hottest technology trends and stacks. The key of building a great technology experience is to master current technology trends and to be able to use this knowledge in a creative and refreshing way. Moreover, it implies combining existing technologies, resulting in a totally new experience. However, we have to admit that sometimes, we can’t hold ourselves down when it comes to exploring the unknown.

Our favorite technology experiences

Volvo HR90

It has been a while since you could find us fiddling with wires and servers in the trunk of the Volvo HR90, turning it into a recruiter that conducts job interviews. Even though it’s been a while, it’s still our absolute favorite. For us, it’s the perfect example of what we mean by technology experience.

Undercover

Another example of a great technology experience we’ve built is the digital twin of Ferry Bouman for Undercover, a series available on Eén and Netflix.

In this case, one of the shows’ characters surprised the viewers with a text message. Ferry 2.0 asked fans for help via different conversational flows and was trained to answer any incoming question. At the end of the flow, the main character even called the viewers to tell them something (of course, we integrated a simple voice message in the flow). The experience was surreal. Some of the contacts even alarmed the police because it all seemed so real.

In need of an (in)sanity check?

Great technology experiences come with great creative minds. We’ve talked about great technology experiences we’ve already built, but we’re still looking for new, even more mind-blowing ones. Do you have a great idea?

We love to support visionary, imaginative thinkers. We know you are always exploring boundaries, are in need of technical validation and need an answer to your questions quick, real quick. That’s why we have a hotline for agencies. We want to be your technical partner in your creative thinking process. Do you want to get access to our (in)sanity check? Well, be quick to contact hannah@craftworkz.be or call +32 478 37 14 42.

Bitten by our technology experiences? Want to discover even more? Check out our cases page and dive in.