Information is overrated
Communications as Experience Design: Memory and Information.
As communicators, we often mistakenly think our role is to manage the flow of information. We think, “If only the world knew,” and so we focus our energy, communications and strategy on relaying information. We forget that people, for years, have outsourced and automated their factual and informational memories. Because we can. Why remember, when we can look up anything.
Communications as experience design is about creating memories.
We remember experiences. True brand is measured by the sum of all experiences, positive and negative, that people have with it. To design great experiences start by being conscious of impressions you’re creating. How do you make people feel? That’s the first step to the necessary analysis of every single touchpoint of contact, of your overall company’s interface with clients, vendors, employees, competitors. That’s the first step to finding your own feet and, as a company, standing for something.
Focus on communicating your truth, instead of covering the smell of decay with perfume. As a company, focus on creating great experiences and learn to care about people, because it’s just not optional anymore. It’s not enough to feed me information. Not enough to just have a great product.
Crash course on creating experiences
Here’s some examples of interesting ways to create experiences today:
- Arcade Fire imposing dress code on concert goers — Arcade Fire asked their audiences to show up in “Formal attire or costume — MANDATORY. (Formal wear = suit, dress or fancy something)” Why? Because dressing up and taking photos is an integral part of the concert and Arcade Fire wants to give you a reason to dress up.
- Dinner en blanc — white everything + food. Simple and beautiful concept, that is easy to communicate with visuals.
- D.I.G.I.T by Teehan + Lax — visualization of how machines see humans, reflected right back at us. Beautifully done.
- Starbucks baristas misspelling your name, or getting it right. Both experiences absolutely work and make Starbucks seem more human and fun. It makes people want to take photos.
- Apple. The whole company is one unified, beautiful experience. Most of the time.
Transform your product into an experience. That’s how you create memories — the only thing that counts.
