Are experiences really stories?

I’ve recently been reading quite a few articles about storytelling. So I got to thinking… are these the same things as the “experiences” I’ve been talking about? Well, kinda, but it is more about the interplay of the two…

For the love of social media

I’m launching this site, nakedbaron.com in conjunction with my upcoming graduation from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Now it is time to put all the learnings from the MBA program to practice. What I do next is beyond simple professional re-branding:

360-degree collaboration on XBOX 360

Here is a snippet about how the XBOX 360 team realized that blasting target audiences with advertising doesn’t gain you immediate traction in the marketplace, but rather making the product a delightful customer experience is what matters.

Design flaws in everyday experiences

When I think of creating great experiences, I think of two primary things: 1) Disney rides and 2) the concept of the not-so-big house.

In both cases, we see the drive to create experiences that aren’t just acceptable but that are vastly superior. These experiences consider not only functional aspects but also the sensory connections. Let’s take a closer look.

Transparent advertising?

OK. So I might as well tell you that I grew up a big Disney fan. I love that they go the extra mile with everything they do. But I saw a commercial tonight that I thought was interesting…and I’m not sure whether it was interesting for good or bad reasons. In this commercial, they said:

Choose your words wisely

I came across an interview excerpt (Larry Tesler on The “Laws” of Interaction Design) the other day from the IxDA discussion list, and while I thought the excerpt itself was quite difficult to read as someone used an orange background with white text, I found the article to be quite valuable. I was particularly intrigued by one snippet…

Hello, Moto!

I think one great example of design stepping forward in a now commonplace technology is with cell phones. Just look at what Motorola is doing with the RAZR, SLVR, and PEBL. I actually own a v400 Motorola and haven’t been the happiest with the reception strength, yet I’m not certain the hardware/phone is to blame here but rather the network.

On Target…

A couple weeks back, my wife and I were watching TV as we usually do in the evening when we happened to see a commercial. My wife thought the commercial was a show, and I was like, “no, that’s a Target commercial…their whole thing now is to use somewhat cryptic artistic commercials to sell different product lines.” OK, so maybe I didn’t quite capture what Target was doing, but what I really meant to say is that Target uses design/art to distinguish themselves and their products from competitors…thus, they use design to sell!