Analyzing and Redesigning a Designed Experience (adapted from Scott Lukas)
Analyzing
a
Designed
Experience
1. Sense of authenticity
• What elements of this experience give it a sense of authenticity?
• What makes it a distinct and “authentic” experience (in John Dewey’s sense, perhaps) despite the
designed or “constructed” nature of the experience?
2. Sense of history
• How is memory embedded in the experience?
• What elements of this event and its identity trigger memory-making or retelling?
• How does the identity of the event or experience lend itself to being recalled, later?
• Hint: this can occur through sensory stimuli; through the desire to tell stories about the
experience (mental “takeaways); or through physical objects one takes away from an experience
(physical takeaways or souvenirs).
• Don Norman (in a TED talk) asserts that “good design promotes reflection.” By this he
means that we reflect on the experience after it occurs. If the designed experience is especially
good we will continue to have positive associations long after it has passed. By reflecting we may
wish to share or repeat the experience. How does this work with regard to the experience you analyze?
3. Total immersion
• Does the experience offer full sensory engagement?
• How likely is it that participants will experience immersion? What contributes to the success of
the immersive experience?
• How are each of the five senses engaged during this experience?
• Will the intensity (either high or low) of the sensory engagement likely deter some audiences?
(Why or why not?)
• Does the experience trigger levels of emotional experience? How, and through what elements?
• Does the experience trigger levels of intellectual experience? How?
4. Sense of mystery & the unknown
• Does the experience leave you wanting to return, as if there might be something more to be
discovered? If you were to repeat the experience, might it differ in unknown (but likely positive)
ways?
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5. Uniqueness
• Does the experience have its own distinct “voice,” identity, look, or feel?
• Is it unique? Why or why not? What makes it unique?
• How does its uniqueness intertwine with its narrative(s)?
6. Human / Social qualities
• Does the experience include direct, face-to-face social interaction?
• Is the human element integrated into the experience or narrative, or is it detached from the
experience?
• Is the interaction likely to be positive, negative, neutral, or variable?
7. Message, Concept and Unity
(Message = information to be delivered to an audience; Concept = vehicle for delivering message through
the interaction of form and content)
• How is this experience the result of a unified design (or of one seeking unity)? What aspects
unify the experience?
• What aspects (or elements) take away from the sense of a unified experience? (Are these
elements that occur by design, or by chance? In other words, were these elements intentional or
unintentional, and are they likely to recur or reappear?)
• What message does the experience convey? Is this consistent with the message you would expect
from such an experience? Why or why not?
• How do the elements of the experience (or its totality) convey the message? Do form and
content interact to deliver the message? How, and to what degree is this effective?
8. Ethics
• What ethical questions does this experience raise? (Although some experiences may deliberately
raise ethical questions, these are more likely to be invisible or unintended consequences of the
experience.)
• Accessibility: how easy is it to experience the space? Would people with different
mobility/sensory needs be able to have a positive experience?
• Positionality & inclusivity: what is your individual relationship to this experience?
o Is it welcoming / designed for people like you?
Analyzing
and
Redesigning
a
Designed
Experience
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§ If yes, what makes you think so? Would other people with different
social/racial/economic/age/gender/ability profiles be welcome as well?
§ If no, why not? Who do you think it is designed for and why?
• Power: what power structures are represented, challenged, or reinforced in this experience?
o How is labor distributed?
§ Is there a hierarchy? Who is in charge / in a leadership position? Who do you
see doing less well-paid labor?
o Are dominant laws or morals invoked?
§ Does the experience assume that everyone has the same moral priorities?
§ Does the experience assume certain “rights” and “wrongs”? Are there
punishments for doing the “wrong” thing?
o Does the experience implicitly or explicitly reinforce racism/sexism/homophobia/any
other -ism? Or are these power differentials interrogated?
o Is the experience manipulative? By what means, to what end, and why?
Redesigning
the
Experience
1. Sense of authenticity
• What might be done to give the experience a greater sense of authenticity?
2. Sense of history
• How might the experience be redesigned to increase the ways it promotes memories?
• What kinds of objects or souvenirs might do this? How might they complement the intangible
(mental / emotional) “takeaways”?
• How might stories about the experience be triggered through other means (social interactions or
social media, for instance)?
3. Total immersion
• How might the experience be redesigned to offer fuller or better sensory engagement?
4. Sense of mystery & the unknown
• What should be done to encourage repeat visitors to the experience?
• Where and how might a sense of mystery be added?
Analyzing
and
Redesigning
a
Designed
Experience
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5. Uniqueness
• What else could be done to give the experience its own distinct “voice,” identity, look, or feel?
6. Human / Social qualities
• How might the experience add direct, face-to-face social interaction?
• How might the human element be better integrated into the experience or narrative? If it is it
detached from the experience, what specific steps could add authentic social interaction, or a
human element that makes sense within the narrative that drives this?
• Is the interaction likely to be positive, negative, neutral, or variable?
7. Message, Concept and Unity
(Message = information to be delivered to an audience; Concept = vehicle for delivering message through
the interaction of form and content)
• How might this experience be more unified?
• Does the experience convey a message that is consistent throughout? How might it be
improved?
• How might form and content be more unified to deliver the message more effectively?
8. Ethics
• How might this experience be redesigned to remove any ethical problems that it raises (it may
raise them implicitly or explicitly, with or without intending to do so)?
• What would make it more accessible?
• What would make it more inclusive?
DES 40c Final Project Assignment – Winter 2019
The final project is 20% of your final grade.
Although you are encouraged to share research resources, discuss the experience, and
share proofreading duties with your classmates, all writing must be your own (each
student writes her own paper). Late work is usually accepted only in the case of a
documented emergency illness, or other event that constitutes an excused absence.
Your assignment: use the tools of this class to analyze and redesign an experience,
following the guidelines below.
Pre-submission Checklist
_____ Essay follows required organization of information, with roman numerals and headings?
_____ Final word count without bibliography at top of first page?
_____ Meets minimum (1800 words) / maximum (2500) length without counting bibliography?
_____ Proofread and edited prior to submission?
_____ Single pdf with correct naming convention? Yourlastname_firstname_middleinitials_DES40c_w19.pdf
_____ Submitted to canvas before deadline (11:45 pm Friday, March 15, 2019)?
Length & Formatting Constraints
Submit one PDF file that includes your typed essay and visuals. Typed body of text
should be 1.5 or double spaced, in a standard 12 point font with margins no smaller than
1” and no larger than 1.5.”
You may use other font sizes for headers, sub headers, and notes to demonstrate a
visual hierarchy as needed. Images should be inserted into the text and should give
credit to the source. If images come from online sources that reference should include a
URL in addition to the name of the photographer.
Do not include your student ID number or social security number on the essay.
Qualitative Grading
Quality counts! Sloppy work looks unprofessional. Proof your work. Careless mistakes,
including incomplete sentences, will automatically face a deduction of points.
Choosing an Experience to Analyze
• You must have the experience yourself while preparing this analysis.
• Choose an experience you can have more than once so that you can return to it
repeatedly. You may choose an experience you’ve had before but you must
return to that experience during weeks 7-10 of our class.
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Choosing an Experience to Analyze (continued)
• Ideally, choose something that has been designed as an experience. If it is an
event or activity rather than an experience, you’re making this harder for yourself.
Your essay needs to give extra attention to its effective redesign.
• Any activity that violates laws, the University’s Principles of Community, or the
UC Davis Code of Conduct is inappropriate for this assignment.
• Please do not write your paper on the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art or on the
Davis Farmers’ Market.
Pro tip: Choose something designed with a beginning, middle, and end; it is
more readily analyzed as an experience than something without such flow.
Analyzing the Experience
Refer to the handout “Analyzing and Redesigning an Experience” for more guidance in
your analysis. Complement this with ideas from class lecture, reading, and discussion.
Your analysis begins with your participation in the experience. Then, after you’ve taken
time to reflect on the experience you’ve had, distill four key aspects from that
experience that will guide your analysis. Follow the example Tracy Manuel set in her
guest lecture in which she identified “four key aspects of megachurch experience
design.” For Tracy, these included:
1. Multi-sited experience.
2. Strong branding.
3. Human interaction.
4. High immersion.
Your four key points will depend on your experience and will likely differ; you’re not
copying Tracy’s points but adapting this model to your own analysis.
Pro tip: Adopt and adapt from well designed experiences!
Assignment Goals
• Analyze an experience using the tools of this class. Everyone must experience
the subject about which they write during this quarter (please do not work only
from memory, although your memories of previous experiences may be helpful).
• Write analytically using the tools of this class and the file “Analyzing and
Redesigning a Designed Experience.” Use terms that come specifically from
these sources. You’ll also find useful ideas in Dewey and Don Norman’s writings.
• Propose ways that the experience could/should be redesigned.
• Assess any ethical questions that the experience raises, especially if they are not
addressed directly by the experience itself.
• Integrate research from printed and online resources with other forms of research
including interviews and your own notes from the experience.
Pro tip: Use your analysis and redesign to open the door for new opportunities
(an internship or a portfolio project to be completed later).
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Basis of Grading
Your work will be graded on the quality of your writing, research, and analysis.
A successful analysis will include all required information stipulated below. It will show
depth of thought and creative research, including engagement with ideas from across
this course. Writing should convey a sense that the author lived through and understood
the experience, and should give the audience enough information to intuitively
appreciate and vicariously understand the experience.
To earn a grade of B+ or higher, your paper must grapple with the difficult questions
associated with ethics and the possible redesign of the experience. For additional
guidance regarding the basis of grading for this project please see the section of the
course syllabus titled “Grading of written and creative work.”
Visuals
You are urged to include visuals that help you to deliver a convincing analysis and/or
redesign. This may include your own sketches such as mental maps showing ideas or
charts showing how an experience unfolds.
Pro tip: Make a sketch or flowchart to communicate effectively!
Research
Your paper must show additional research beyond looking at the website attached to the
experience by using the library or interviewing owners or staff. Consider including the
following forms of research:
• interviews or correspondence with experts or people associated with the
marketing and/or making of the experience (ethnographic research);
• books, magazines, and online sources (business journal articles; reviews; etc.);
• notes and analysis from your direct encounter with the experience (participant
observation).
Integrate the results of your research throughout your essay.
Pro tip: Your research isn’t just for the background section. It can provide
support for your analysis, ethical considerations, and ideas for re-design.
Quote & Cite!
Use quotations for any group of words that are not your own, and give credit to
the source of those words with a citation. Such quotation citations need to refer to
the specific page(s) from which quotes (or other specific information) were taken.
Use the MLA citation system (parenthetical format). Papers should include a single
bibliography that combines works cited with others consulted but not cited. Library books
and online MLA style guides will tell you how to cite personal communications.
You need not use citations when you refer to your own notes from analyzing the
experience; if you refer to another group member’s ideas, have the courtesy to cite them
in your paper.
Pro tip: Be generous. Citing and quoting refer your reader to the precise source
of an idea.
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How to Organize Your Paper
Organize your paper using the roman numerals and categories below. Add other
information and analyses that are appropriate for your study. Word counts are intended
to be a general guideline that indicates the different weight of each element below;
however, the completed paper should be a minimum of 1800 words and maximum 2500
words (target length 2000 words), not including bibliography.
I. Introduction – approx. 150-175 words
(Names your experience and previews what we will learn about it. Identifies the
four main points that will be the focus of your analysis under Roman numeral
III.)
II. Background (History, Narratives, Mission, Design Concept) – approx. 200-300 words
(This section will help you to refine what’s most important in your longer analysis
below; use the narratives, mission, and concept to organize your longer analysis.
What narratives drive the experience? What is the mission, goal, or purpose of
those who designed or deliver the experience? How does the form of the
experience deliver its narrative or message? What concepts drive the
experience? What aspects of the history of the organization or experience are
relevant to your analysis? How does the history help us to better understand the
salient characteristics of the experience?)
III. Analysis of the Experience – approx. 800-1200 words
(Organize your analysis like Tracy Manuel did in her megachurch analysis, by
highlighting the chronology of the experience and then focusing on four main
points. You may create your own visual chart or display to communicate the
event’s chronology [e.g. what happens first, what happens second, etc.]. You
should not include every detail; your task is to give the reader an understanding
of your experience, as seen through your analyses.)
IV. Ethical Considerations – approx. 300-500 words
(Identify ethical considerations – whether explicit or implicit – in the design of the
experience. Ethical questions often – though not solely – emerge from
considerations of materials and waste; labor; ideological underpinnings of an
experience; potential negative impact on society; absence of accessible design;
or dehumanizing factors).
V. Redesigning the Experience – approx. 300-500 words for a well-designed experience
but an experience that is NOT well designed will require substantially more words
(How might the experience be redesigned to improve it? Be certain to consider
the human element; how might that be improved? See the handout “Analyzing
and Redesigning an Experience” for more guidance.)
VI. Conclusion – approx. 150-250 words
(What are the “takeaway” messages of the experience, and of your proposed
redesign?)
