Experience by Design

Summer is in full swing, and with summer for academics comes the typical question, “Do you have summers off?” I can’t speak for all academics, but summers don’t mean the lack of work, but the shifting of work. We go from our primary focus being on teaching and into other pursuits that we don’t have time for during the school year. Typically that means research and writing.  For me, it is no different. I’ve been doing a lot of writi...

Happy Fourth of July to everyone out there, as I record this on the day before the 4th. For those in the US, this is the day that we celebrate our independence from the British. No offense to our British listeners. But to be fair, we are not alone in our desire to kick the British out. Nice to see that we could put that ugliness behind us. Now we are happy to closely monitor Royal Family news, refurbish British shows to suit our ow...

I’m currently working on a book called Experience by Design, and by currently I mean the last three-plus years. You could say it is a work in progress. But as the saying goes, “progress, not perfection.” When all you see is the goal, it can be hard to see the progress you are making. So making progress I am, and hopefully I’ll have something to share about that soon. If you would be interested in checking out drafts of chapters for...

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One of the things that I am starting to notice more and more is the difference between “getting older” and “feeling older.” Getting older is something that is unavoidable as long as we’re alive. But I find feeling older comes in waves. I am finding that seeing another child graduate high school is another moment in which I am impacted by feeling older. My daughter Hailey has reached the end of her high school years, which is more b...

Parenting children is definitely one of the hardest challenges that we can face in life. But as challenging as that is, it is nothing compared to reparenting your inner child. Some of you might be familiar with that turn of phrase. It refers to the process of dealing with childhood trauma, and “short-falls” in the manner in which you were parented in the first place, especially in relation to nurturing, support, care, and emotional...

I’m lucky enough to live in a spot where there are a lot of trails that I can enjoy whether running, walking, biking, and even snowshoeing if we get enough snow. No matter what I am doing, I have one simple rule: if there is a friendly dog on the trail, I must stop to pet it. The opportunity to pet and engage with random dogs is one of the things that just brings me a lot of happiness. It is hard for me to understand those who are ...

We are rapidly approaching the end of semester, which can only mean one thing: freedom. The end of the semester is always a weird time. It kind of reminds me of the end of a relationship where both parties have just had enough and know that it is time to move on. Let us conclude the business at hand and get on with our lives. Sure we can stay friends, and perhaps even hold out the potential of getting back together at some point in...

Springtime in New England is the worst. As I sit here on another cold and rainy “spring” day, I’m reminded of what I was told by someone when I first moved to Boston 25 years ago: “Springs in New England are wonderful.” I never trusted another word that person said after I experienced it for myself. 

Part of it is the waiting for something better that you hope is right around the corner in terms of sunny skies and warmer weather. An...

I always feel a bit bad complaining about getting older, because getting older is not a privilege afforded to everyone. At the same time, getting older does present certain challenges. I was able to get a glimpse into aging the other day when I went to get my eyes examined. Turns out that the middle of the day at the eye doctor is peak time for those who are, shall we say, of a demographic much more advanced than I. It definitely w...

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the great things about doing a show like this is the fascinating people I get to talk to who are coming at experience design from many different approaches, perspectives, and backgrounds. One of the groups that I perhaps enjoy talking to the most (no offense to anyone else) is artists. I’ve always admired the ability to turn imagination and passion into something that expresses one’s soul in a way t...

I made a huge mistake. That statement is not that uncommon for me to say. Mistakes happen with some frequency despite my best efforts. If to err is human, I’m definitely very human.

There is an interview that was done back when Adam was still involved that I just came across and realized was never released. And of course that shames me because, despite the delays that might invariably occur with producing this things, I always try t...

As a person who likes the winter, it can get pretty tiresome listening to people say that they hope there is no snow this winter. In the Northeast and much of the country (if not the world), what is the winter for if not for some snow. A winter without snow is just a brown-infused frigid hellscape. And isn’t there enough hell going around? At least the snow can create a coverage that obscures the ugliness that lies underneath until...

One of the reasons that I originally went into sociology, and doing ethnographic research, is learning about people’s stories. We are a species that likes stories, and likes hearing about people’s stories. I think this is why “human of New York” is as popular as it is. People have their stories rooted in their lives and experiences. And when it comes to entrepreneurs and business, the ideas they come up with often are closely tied ...

I miss my gas stove. I used to have one in a home I first lived in after moving to Massachusetts. There was something about the click-click-click and then the spark of the flame. Being able to see it and adjust it accordingly based on how much heat I wanted to generate for whatever I was cooking. It felt magically.

Come to think about it, my love for a gas stove may extend back to watching my parents light cigarettes from the flame....

Being creative ain’t easy. There is something about putting yourself into your work that can be hugely rewarding, but also massively exhausting. Doing something without putting your heart and soul into it can come with its own drawbacks, but at the end of the day the results of your work are not tied directly into how you see yourself. 

For people who consider themselves to be creative and work in creative roles, the sense of burnou...

I never expected the term “branding” or “brand” to be part of my lexicon, but here we are in 2025 where it seems that “branding yourself” and “what is your brand” are common concepts to discuss. Trying to figure out which version of me will “land” or resonate with not just my “audience”, but anyone. 

Iconic brands are something that seem to last forever in our minds. What are some of the iconic brands? Apple. Coca-Cola. IBM. Lego. M...

The New Year is a great time to reflect on our past, and to think about what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. After all, it is the season of the Annual Performance Review! 

Whether in our personal or professional lives, it can be hard to identify what is important in terms of our evaluations. How do we know if we are making progress toward our goals?

The same can be true for companies. What are the metrics that indicate ou...

One of the ways that I describe experience design, and more specifically for the purposes of this episode customer experience, is by asking people to imagine the worst customer experience that they have had. And unfortunately for all of us, there are a lot of them.

It is probably easy to remember the bad experiences. But what about our best experiences. The times that we felt cared for, appreciated, thought of, where someone did som...