You’ll have to excuse the locker-room-level example on this one, but it really does make a point for me. At our offices, we have a conference room where we often have meetings . And some of these meetings can go for lengthy time periods. The closest “facilities” to this conference room are just down the stairs….a few steps away. But I don’t frequent that particular location. I choose to walk a couple hundred feet to the other end of our office hallway to the other facilities. It could be a number of reasons…. I don’t like the pink tile, or I don’t like its proximity to a main entrance to the building, or it doesn’t have hot water in the sink. But what really is the reason is the culmination of all that…..the experience. Now, please remove that fact that I’m still discussing a bathroom here, but experience matters! It IS the reason I walk the extra time and space to go to the other restroom. That restroom has a better experience.
The Bathroom at the other end of the Hallway
Why do people like certain restaurants over others? Sure the food maybe better, but more than not, they like the appeal of the experience. So when thinking through my decision to use the facilities that are further away and the reason that is, it prompted the question for me that I must answer for what I do as a creative….”Am I creating an experience that drives people to walk the extra distance in order to participate?” Are You? Is whatever you’re creating, whether its a product, presentation, conference, or service so appealing as an experience that people will go out of their way to take part in or purchase?
Adam Lancaster 