Designing Experiences

In an increasingly experience-driven economy, companies that deliver great experiences thrive, and those that do not die. Yet many organizations face difficulties implementing a vision of delivering experiences beyond the provision of goods and services. Because experience design concepts and approaches are spread across multiple, often disconnected disciplines, there is no book that succinctly explains to students and aspiring professionals how to design them.

J. Robert Rossman and Mathew D. Duerden present a comprehensive and accessible introduction to experience design. They synthesize the fundamental theories and methods from multiple disciplines and lay out a process for designing experiences from start to finish. Rossman and Duerden challenge us to reflect on what makes a great experience from the user’s perspective. They provide a framework of experience types, explaining people’s engagement with products and services and what makes experiences personal and fulfilling. The book presents interdisciplinary research underlying key concepts such as memory, intentionality, and dramatic structure in a down-to-earth style, drawing attention to both the macro and micro levels. Designing Experiences features detailed instructions and numerous real-world examples that clarify theoretical principles, making it useful for students and professionals. An invaluable overview of a growing field, the book provides readers with the tools they need to design innovative and indelible experiences and to move their organizations into the experience economy.

Designing Experiences features a foreword by B. Joseph Pine II.

J. Robert Rossman is professor and dean emeritus at the College of Applied Science and Technology at Illinois State University. He is coauthor of Recreation Programming: Designing and Staging Leisure Experiences (eighth edition, 2019).

Mathew D. Duerden is associate professor in the department of experience design and management at the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University.

B. Joseph Pine II is cofounder of Strategic Horizons and author of The Experience Economy (updated edition, 2011) and Infinite Possibility: Creating Customer Value on the Digital Frontier (2011), among other works.