Comments on: Can We Really Create Experiences?

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:23:08 +0000

As a marketer and a Web designer I’d have to say it’s the usual bit of mktg doublespeak. We can create user-friendly interfaces. We can create easy-to-use tools. We can create useful features.

Overall we can create an environment that is conducive (or not) to providing a positive experience, but the experience itself is mere concept until made real by the participation of the users. It is up to them to make the experience a reality. And up to us (developers) to not throw obstacles in their way.

By: andy z

andy z — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:04:59 +0000

Georgia, i think it’s worth defining it properly. now it might be a neglegible difference but in the future, when things have evolved, it might mean a wide gap.

to me, an experience can be created when you – figuratively spoken – take someone by the hand and lead them thru an environment which creates some “choreographed” impacts to that someone. like walking through a valley, or river-rafting, or watching a movie.

the problem with websites is: you can’t really take them by the hand. they can always stop, click slower or skip, get distracted by real-life (the world outside the screen) or simply walk away. so the classical “experience” as i understand it can’t take place. from this viewpoint it is somewhat analogous to “motivation” which, according to http://www.sprenger.com/en/ can’t be created, either. we can support its coming-up, we can try to keep it on a high level, but essentially we must let it happen inside their head.

when seeking accuracy of terms it might be a good idea to look “experience” up in a good dictionary.

By: Alex B.

Alex B. — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:38:57 +0000

Those are just words that are supposed to sound good in the ears of potential clients. It’s just advertising. Don’t search too hard for a meaning, because pretentious phrases like this one are usually devoid of any meaning.

By: dravium

dravium — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:13:51 +0000

Not that I am jaded [read: I AM REALLY FOOKIN JADED], but it’s most often the sales and marketing people spewing out shite like that – “Creating rich, intuitive, interactive experiences”.

On the web, we should make stuff easy to use and make information easy to find. Wait, I guess that is the experience.

By: mathamoz

mathamoz — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:51:56 +0000

I would say that the experience is created by the users of the site/service, if it is of a social nature. If you are just building an informative website, there really isn’t an experience so much.

By: TWD

TWD — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:40:12 +0000

I agree that the design paradigm of “creating experiences” is a bad idea as well. You can create an experience for someone, but it won’t be nearly as meaningful as an experience that one creates for themselves. This is why social networking has so much appeal. It’s not the same old story that corporate media has created for you. The user is the one in charge.

By: epynephrin

epynephrin — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:26:35 +0000

Despite not really being a web designer, I’ll admit the phrase “creating experience” does seem a bit presumptuous to me, Joe the Website User. At least for my applications and own circumstances, a website is more about getting the information that I want out of it: I can present the information clearly and in a pretty format, but I have no idea what’s going through the head of the user when they’re looking at it. I think that’s what makes a user’s experience, and what makes it impossible to manufacture in any way.

By: forestninja

forestninja — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:16:37 +0000

No problem, Joshua! I think establishing accurate terminology is important in any industry. I’m curious to see what value others place on that.

By: Joshua Porter

Joshua Porter — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:28:02 +0000

Hi Georgia, thanks for picking up on my pet peave…you nailed it.