Experience by Design

As a person who likes the winter, it can get pretty tiresome listening to people say that they hope there is no snow this winter. In the Northeast and much of the country (if not the world), what is …

One of the reasons that I originally went into sociology, and doing ethnographic research, is learning about people’s stories. We are a species that likes stories, and likes hearing about people’s st…

I miss my gas stove. I used to have one in a home I first lived in after moving to Massachusetts. There was something about the click-click-click and then the spark of the flame. Being able to see it…

Being creative ain’t easy. There is something about putting yourself into your work that can be hugely rewarding, but also massively exhausting. Doing something without putting your heart and soul in…

I never expected the term “branding” or “brand” to be part of my lexicon, but here we are in 2025 where it seems that “branding yourself” and “what is your brand” are common concepts to discuss. Tryi…

The New Year is a great time to reflect on our past, and to think about what we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. After all, it is the season of the Annual Performance Review! 

Whether in our p…

One of the ways that I describe experience design, and more specifically for the purposes of this episode customer experience, is by asking people to imagine the worst customer experience that they h…

Many months ago now, I had the chance to go to the WNDR Museum in Boston. If you google that, it will come categorized as a “tourist attraction.” but it is a lot more than that, especially considerin…

The original goal of those in the field of usability was pretty simple: to make products and environments that were more usable for those who were interacting with them. By looking at how to make bet…

As American troubadour Bob Dylan said, “The times they are a changin’.” I’m recording this one week after the 2024 presidential election. Without delving into the specifics of any particular outcome,…

Today we have a fascinating discussion lined up with Alex Nathanson, a technologist, artist, and founder of Energy Transition Design LLC.

In this episode, we'll explore the intricate challenges and op…

When you work in academia, you come across some very smart people. This should be surprising given that academics spend an enormous amount of time exploring whatever topic they study. And people beco…

Maybe it just is the way that I am viewing the world, but it seems like everyday reveals another fresh disaster. It could be that disasters have always been with us, and now we are just more aware of…

There is something about building something with one’s hands that seems to resonate. There is a resilience in being able to bring forth out of different parts and ingredients a thing that is whole an…

I never expected the word “algorithm” to play such a significant role in life and society. Growing up, I thought an algorithm was something that we would leave to math classes. The last time I took a…

When I was growing up, it was not uncommon to hear someone being told “Don’t be so sensitive.” Typically this was said when a person was being accused of reacting too strongly to some minor action. A…

There is a saying that nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. Clearly, there is a lot more certain in life, with perhaps the most important one being healthcare. 

Healthcare is something that…

One of the central questions in experience design is how to not only engage the audience for whom we are designing, but also how do we best include them in the process of design. But such a statement…

In today’s episode of Experience by Design, we welcome Jon Cohen, an expert in transformative experience design from G&A, an experience design company. We do a deep dive into the potential risks and …

I’ve been involved in the creation and promotion of a number of athletic events, more specifically a cycling discipline called cyclocross. I’ve also participated in my fair share of events, from loca…