Experience Book

Experience designer is not a title that individuals are typically recognised by, yet the work itself is as old as humanity. Shamans, architects and food engineers alike all belong to this group. Drawing on what people need and desire, along with the stories, rituals and myths that bind a community, a carefully shaped experience can change lives, and this book celebrates that capacity. At its core, it examines how we spend our time and how we use it to build the experiences that give character to the places where we live, work and play.

The book is split into two parts. The guidebook first considers why the human mind responds so strongly to experience, then applies that understanding to a method and framework for designing experiences. The sourcebook follows as a store of ideas, drawing on precedents from the last 35,000 years of experience making.

It is also among the first publications to set out the qualities that together define a discipline that is quickly gaining recognition. Its mix of written forms is paired with drawings and photographs, and it includes historical and contemporary examples from architecture, branding, fashion, music, art, sport and business.

The book describes the maker of experiences as a combination of ethnographer, storyteller, master planner and performance artist. It challenges design that rests only on function, favours process over monuments and products, takes pleasure in the unexpected, and puts the spectator ahead of the spectacle. It is written for anyone curious about the power of design, whether they make, communicate or consume.