It was many years ago when I first heard the statement “People don’t remember what was said, they remember how they felt”, and since then I’ve continually found how true this statement is.
Whether it’s the tiny experience of meeting someone for the first time, or the heights of being immersed in three hours of theatre, we have come to know that these experiences don’t just happen and require design and preparation in order to increase their effectiveness.
But just how do you create a great experience?
Whilst we could talk through framework after framework, I have found the simplest way to begin creating great experiences is to create alternate realities.
This is what Pine and Gilmore say in their seminal book, The Experience Economy, when describing what an experience as an economic offering is. And I think an alternate reality is a pretty good description, because when it comes to an experience:
- we want something out of the ordinary
- we want something exceptional
- we want to experience what we normally don’t
The easiest way to get an overall perspective to this is delivering an alternative reality. For instance, if you want to deliver really great customer service experience, then ask yourself how do you create an alternate reality when it comes to service and support? Well, if most service and support is reactive, than one way to create an alternative reality is to have proactive support. Apple, when creating their Genius Bars, or the Geek Squad and their PC repair stations, have both created alternate realities to the usual “send your PC off to be fixed and see it again in 6 weeks” of customer service, and instead made 24 hour turnarounds in your local store.
Breaking down how we create an alternate reality is another thing, but the general mindset is very useful for beginning to build experiences that are remarkable and in turn, are talked about.
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Photo thanks to Andy Castro
Hi Scott,
Good post. The most easy example to point to is Disney. While it’s a fake reality (we know it is) we perceive it as an alternate reality. You literally feel in another world and completely forget the freeway is close by and to top it all off, when you leave Disney it feels strange to go back to ‘reality’. Businesses totally forget that ‘experiences’ can be innovated also. See Las Vegas for example.
Cheers,
Jorge
Hey Jorge!
Thanks for this. Disney is a great example that Pine and Gilmore use as one of the primary examples of The Experience Economy.
What is it that you find most compelling about Disney?
Scott
Yes, I’m very familiar with their book. Compelling is the fact that I still want to keep going to Disney even though I know it’s not real. Also compelling is the ‘act’. Every employee acts as if they’re in another reality. They live it. Beyond the characters, technology, stunts, shows, etc you feel as though you spent a day in fantasy land. It’s that consistency that makes it compelling
What about you, what do you find compelling?
Jorge