Experience by Design

When you are doing a PhD dissertation, or writing a book, or working on some major project that takes a lot of your time, attention, and emotional energy, there is a tendency to start to resent that thing. I guess it is a natural outcome of all that investment. While I may have resented the dissertation process, I never really resented my dissertation topic because it focused on the ways in which commerce brings together people who...

Where has the summer gone? Hard to believe we are staring at back-to-school in the face. I’m just wrapping up my summer course on Employee Experience, and it was great to see the students produce projects that really embrace the value of employees in organizations. Hopefully some of their ideas can be implemented in actual organizations, because I do believe that they can make a difference by putting their words into action. ...

I just had the pleasure of traveling to New Orleans to take in the art, music, museums, and culture that the city has to offer. And trust me, it has a lot to offer. A city that old and with so much history has so much to offer on so many levels that it would take a lifetime to explore, let alone even attempt to understand. 

During my trip, I chatted with a lot of people who were from there or moved there, talking about what th...

This past weekend, I had the distinct displeasure of participating in an event called “The Muddy Dash,” put on by the company EventLab. I used to put on bike race events, and I have participated in I don’t know how many athletic events. Without a doubt, this was by far the absolute worst experience in almost every way from an event planning standpoint. Way too many participants for the venue, resulting in standsti...

As I have been working on my book “The UN-WOW,” I’ve been talking to a lot of people in experience design and experience management about whether or not my idea for the book makes sense. Two things have emerged from these conversations. First, people generally are very supportive of the principles behind The UN-WOW. It seems that people see a lot of opportunity in exploring more mundane aspects of everyday life fo...

I’m back from my vacation with the kids, which we took in Lake Placid, New York. For those of you with kids, you know that vacation with kids is never really a relaxing time. It is more of a relocation, but with more spending and trying to keep people entertained. Despite those challenges, I had a good time, even though I feel like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Instead of getting that, I came home to one of m...

I’m recording this episode a week early as I’m on vacation with my family up in Lake Placid, New York, a beautiful spot that we have been going to for close to 20 years. One of the nice things about going to a familiar place is all the constants that are there. Things like Mirror Lake, the Olympic Oval, the Ski Jump, the lovely High Peaks mountains. All of it is a nice reminder of past summers and current adventures. Fo...

Working from home over the summer, primarily working on the Un-WOW book but other things as well, I get to see what passes for daytime television today. It takes me back to my childhood a little when I would be at my grandparent’s home during the summer months where they would watch me. This was in the archaic before-times, when cable television didn’t exist. Although in Detroit we were living pretty large because we we...

As I have been going through this book writing journey, one of the most interesting parts has been the focus on storytelling. In academic writing, there tends to be more of a focus on a kind of sanitized relating of “facts” in a very disimpassioned way. Also, there is the verbose tendency to describe things, using many words to explain simple things.  If words equaled money, academics would be the richest people in...

If you are a long-time listener to Experience by Design, you know that I work at a business university that has its foundations as a school for training in accounting and finance. Since its founding in 1917, not much has changed in terms of that focus. We are still primarily known for our education in accounting and finance. When I first started there (almost 27 years ago now), I really had no idea what finance was or what was invo...

I have some pretty exciting news to announce, and I’m glad to be doing it here first. I have completed my book manuscript, tentatively titled The Un-WOW: A Guide to Experiences Designs of All Kinds. You will notice the subtitle is taken from Experience by Design podcast, where we explore experience designs of all kinds. In the manuscript, I take a lot from guests I have talked to over the years. One thing that I have learned ...

Despite it being the summer months, I’ve started helping out with coaching Nordic skiing junior athletes who are part of a ski club. It has been a fun journey, which has included getting a coaching certification through the US Ski and Snowboard Association. Recently, I’ve been working with some athletes on a weekly training run, because after all fast skiers are made in the summer. Being back with a club has given me th...

I think it is part of getting older that you start to think of your past not as one singular life, but a series of lives that have culminated into wherever you are at the moment. The passage of time allows for that perspective, but I suppose a five year old is going to think in similar terms of where did the time go, it was just yesterday that I was four (which in fact, it was). We all go through episodes and identities and phases,...

It is indeed an exciting time to be alive. I’m not talking about AI, but OTAs, or Organized Team Activities in the National Football League. Non-contact football practices have just commenced. Our hometown heroes the New England Patriots are coming off a very successful season, which unfortunately ended in the Patriots getting shellacked by the Seattle Seahawks (so much so I stopped watching the game). 

If Patriots fans ...

For regular listeners of Experience by Design, you’ll know that I have had a bit of travel of late. London. Florence, Italy. Even Lake Placid, New York. To be honest, I don’t like traveling. I like being places, but don’t love the process of getting there. I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling. Travel can be taxing. Being there should be enjoyable. Or some might say an experience.

Hospitality is a bi...

I just got back from the Customer Alpha event that was part of the broader FTT Embedded Finance, Payments, and Future Identity event, put on by VC Innovations. It was the first time I’ve spoken publicly about my concept of THE UN-WOW, focusing our efforts more on everyday mundane experiences rather than transformative metamorphic experiences. There is more to it than that, so stay tuned for updates as I work on a book on THE ...

I’m off again. This weekend I’ll be heading to London for the Customer Alpha event, where I’ll be delivering the keynote for the conference. “Customer Alpha is a leading customer experience event bringing together a cross-industry community of professionals who never stop striving to better understand and deliver for customers.” How cool is that! I’m excited to be there, and talking about my conc...

This last week of being back from Florence has given me a chance to reflect a bit on he experience of not just being in a foreign country, but being in a completely different kind of physical environment. By that I mean, the city of Florence, or more specifically a city where I was walking everywhere. The origins of Florence date back to around 59 BCE. From that time, the city has continuously grown and evolved to what it is today....

I am back from my trip to Florence, and am covered in history. It is impossible to go to Florence and not be. Unless you are a college student who is doing study abroad and only know about Rafael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon and movie. It was kind of crazy to be able to walk around and casually see works of art from the 1300s. It is easy to say things like “Florence is t...