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Make Better Decisions with Customer Personas

Getting to know your customers has never been more important, and creating customer personas is a great place to start.

Experiential Design: More Than a Feeling

Experiential Design 101

Experiential design can be many things to many people.  For me, it’s more about what experiential design does and how it makes you feel instead of what it is. I consider experiential design an emotion that is evoked from entering a space or being in the presence of a beautiful mural. As an example, let’s step out of the corporate world and into the restaurant scene.

Imagine the feeling you might get entering a Michelin-starred locally owned restaurant. Consider the lighting and the open kitchen. Maybe the tables are intentionally close together and made of regional wood, the menu printed on textured paper. You’re having a very personal customer experience before you even taste the food. None of this is coincidental– it’s a design choice intended to enhance your experience and evoke a certain feeling.

Now, consider an office space. Without considering experiential design, you may encounter a sterile environment: empty walls, harsh fluorescent lighting, and uncomfortable seating. I don’t know about you, but that space does not promote creativity or foster a sense of warmth. But add artwork or employee stories, alternative lighting choices, and comfortable structured seating.  It becomes the kind of place that starts to produce a more effective space where one can accomplish many different types of tasks -creative brainstorming, socializing with coworkers, heads down learning, and much more.

These examples show that at its core, experiential design really does what it says: designing with the intention to create a specific customer experience. How each individual perceives and actually experiences the original intention is the beauty and uniqueness of the final output. I relate experiential design to today’s Gen Z saying “it’s a vibe.”

Experiential design is not always easy to explain in words, but it’s a feeling that is incredibly hard to miss. It has the impact to shift mindsets, change environments, and help people empathize and communicate better with each other.

How to Leverage Experiential Design 

From making diners feel special and seen to inspiring intentional and thoughtful delivery in the workplace, experiential design truly makes a difference in almost any situation. However, one specific area where it’s very useful is when people are stuck in a certain mindset. We know from studies that it’s difficult for people to switch from one task to another task or to a certain mindset quickly. Experiential design offers the opportunity for individuals to leave a space and reenter it again with a true reset or change in perspective.

Physical transformation signals to the brain that “I’m doing something different now so I can leave that task behind and start something new.” Consider the D.C. Metro. We may not think of it as experiential, but it is a setting that helps countless commuters decouple from their work environment and switch into personal mode. The familiar evening lighting and distinctive signage come to symbolize heading home or out with friends. The shift back from the Metro and into the workplace each morning is similar. Workplace design professionals use similar ideas to help people shift from heads-down work into meeting mode by varying the physical experience between individual workspaces and group areas.

Example of a physical wayfinding sign in the workplace.

The Clearing’s Approach Experiential Design 

First and foremost, we base design work in what’s happening now – in the world, in the workplace, in the news. We collect and analyze the data before we begin designing anything – be it a physical space or training program. For example, we often work with executives on developing and scaling their leadership team through a number of training programs. If we discover a client’s team has become overwhelmed with keeping up online, we recommend conducting those trainings live. That switch from a daily digital only focus to an in-person learning environment provides their brain the physical stimulus needed to effectively switch gears and an opportunity for increased creative solutions.

Second, we approach design with intentionality. Consider The Clearing’s participation at CoreNet’s global Summit the past two years. We recognized that people had been stuck indoors for long periods during this time, so we created an experience intentionally rooted in nature utilizing natural textures and calming elements. We also set up a simple and accessible activity that encouraged attendees to interact with their surroundings. This was designed to engage people excited to reconnect with the outside world – even at a conference.

Finally, we approach every engagement with an open mind. Each touchpoint is an amazing opportunity to rethink what you are putting out in the world. As a designer, I might have an idea of previously proven successful solutions, but every client and their environments are different. By working with our consultants and facilitators to leverage their specific data, we can ensure each part of our delivery approach pulls on best practices while still curated to each client’s needs and customer experiences. Acknowledging that we do not always know what people need and that these needs are always changing is critical to experiential design.

Three Ways for Leaders to Leverage Experiential Design
Be observant – and ask questions. Simply stay in tune with what’s happening with your teams – and if you see something amiss don’t ignore it. Acknowledge and address the need for a change. You never know when changing the environment may be just what people need to gain a fresh perspective. For example, if you notice people using email during meetings, don’t simply ban laptops. Ask why. It may be that people are so slammed with meetings they feel they don’t have time to answer emails in a timely manner. The experiential change required may be evaluating your meeting culture and determining what’s actually necessary, who actually needs to be there, and redistributing time accordingly. Changing that workplace experience may help people enter a more engaged mindset during future meetings.
Start small. Let’s say you receive employee feedback that team members feel they can’t find time to leave their desks during the day in order to reset. As we now know, switching tasks is more difficult when you are stuck in a certain mindset and physically stuck in the same spot, meaning effective and thoughtful delivery may be negatively impacted. s. Fortunately, getting people out from in front of the computer doesn’t require an expensive company retreat. Instead, use what you have. Organize or encourage time throughout the day for walks around the block or on a nearby trail. Host lunchtime yoga. Promote movement breaks. Small activities such as these serve the same purpose as the metro example above – helping people leave and reenter a space recharged.
Be present. Everything you do is an experience, right? From playing with your kids to getting a coffee to raking the leaves. You never know when inspiration may strike, and simply being present allows you to experience and observe these spaces in a thoughtful way. The experience of walking into a coffeehouse from a busy street may seem mundane. However, if you observe what the change in environment or the first sip of coffee does for your psyche, it may spark ideas on how small changes in your workplace could positively affect employee experience.

If you feel your workplace is in need of a reboot, considering experience design may make a positive impact. And remember, experiential design concepts apply beyond physical space. So, whether you and your team are Work from Home (WFH), Work from Office (WFO), or Hybrid there are nearly endless ways to implement the ideas we’ve talked about today. If you’d like to know more, I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached at robyn.klem@theclearing.com.

Every Picture Tells a (Better) Story

I recently wrote a blog post in our “Buzzwords Defined” series covering Human-Centered Design. While today’s topic, visual consulting, isn’t what I’d consider a buzzword, it is something we consider a differentiator at The Clearing. It’s also the practice I have the amazing opportunity to lead in partnership with an exceptional team and one that touches nearly everything we do – from client delivery to TC’s own visual identity.

What is A Visual Consultant?

We are experts in the field of design – visual communication design, graphic design, user experience (UX) design, interactive design, and the list keeps on growing as the field of design continues to evolve. As consultants, we approach our client engagements from the lens of a visual communicator – be it through drawing, motion, storytelling, or a fully engaging digital experience.

We partner with our clients to create inclusive brands that help represent each project with one unified voice.

Here’s an example. A data consultant may see the world through numbers, correlations, and comparisons. A visual consultant may see it through imagery, patterns, motion, or experiences. They both tie into The Clearing’s people-first change management consulting approach, working together to allow us to pair imagery and overall experience with data in a thoughtful way to inform delivery.

Visual Consulting in Practice

Often, we find the common denominator our clients lack is a shared language. Solving problems and seeing opportunities is difficult when two parties don’t understand what the other is saying. At The Clearing, we’ve found that creating a visual language can help to improve communication and build more meaningful solutions. Here are a few examples of how it comes to life in practice:

Seeing is believing. Oftentimes clients don’t know what they need until they see it. Our consultants will talk about solutions; however, sometimes the ideas don’t resonate until someone gets up and draws a picture on a whiteboard or shares a sketch.
Leveraging visuals to bridge information gaps. We find presenting data in a visual format increases understanding and “stickiness” with our clients. It breaks down complex and overwhelming content into easy-to-understand patterns and visuals.
Gaining leadership buy-in quickly. If we have a five-minute meeting with a senior leader and need to make sure one key piece of information is absorbed, we use visuals. Nothing gets a point across more quickly and clearly than a well-designed infographic.
We co-collaborate with partners and clients to create a shared language and vision based on customer needs.

A current example is the newly released President’s Management Agenda (PMA). Data and content are visualized throughout the document in both a static and interactive way to share with the American public the President’s plan toward an equitable, effective, and accountable government that delivers results for all. The design of this document is crucial in reaching all Americans and needed to be designed in a way that was easy to view and consume in an accessible manner. The visuals helped create a shared language that spans audiences from everyday citizens to policy gurus.

Our Approach to Visual Consulting

Two key elements differentiate the way we use visual consulting.

First, we follow a people-first approach to our work.
Second, our visual consultants are embedded in the work and committed to our clients: we’re problem solvers, collaborators, and active listeners at heart.

Before we put pen to paper (or cursor to screen), we sit, we observe, we listen, we discover, and we explore together. Only after this can we begin to design with intention, which is unlike many design teams that immediately go into the “do” phase. This co-collaboration allows our team to truly understand our client’s needs, challenges, and opportunities and enables more meaningful and lasting solutions. Our clients are always part of the design process that relies heavily on our co-created shared visual language.

What I’m most proud of is when our clients say the visual design helps them to create a shared language that has allowed them to connect with their stakeholders on a deeper level and truly “feel” the impact that is possible. This visual partnership makes achieving buy-in easier and getting to implementation faster – and that’s a language anyone can understand.

Buzzwords Defined: Human-Centered Design

Buzzwords. They’re everywhere. Certain buzzwords are so ubiquitous we laugh about them. Sometimes, we hear them – and let’s be honest, use them – without really understanding what they mean.

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing a new blog series: Buzzwords Defined. We’ll be putting context around the buzzwords we use at The Clearing and the phrases we hear from our clients to keep us all up to speed – and make our coffee chat vocabulary sound even more impressive.

The first buzzword we’re looking to tackle? Human-Centered Design.

While this may sound like a phrase that only applies to physical products, it actually applies to just about anything. It simply means considering the human perspective during all phases of problem-solving.

That could mean thinking about what a person actually needs when designing a new toaster (not in The Clearing’s wheelhouse) to putting people and their needs first when designing a new workplace environment (definitely in our wheelhouse).

Human-Centered Design focuses on three basic principles:

Focus on all people
Find the root problem
Everything is interconnected

We feel so strongly about this simple concept that we created our own IP framework for it: the AMPERIAN CYCLE®. It’s the five-step prototyping process we use to address specific customer needs in an agile, rapid, and inclusive way. It also serves as a consistent reminder to keep the people impacted by a given change, initiative, etc., at the center of our approach.

The outcomes of the process include a shared understanding of challenges customers face, alignment on a data-driven solution, and an interactive prototype of the solution. In short, it’s Human-Centered Design simplified.

To summarize, there will always be a new buzzword. And if there’s one thing we know, it’s that buzzwords come and go. The key thing to remember is not the word (which is simply how humans create a common language around a given concept), it’s the principles and values behind it.

That’s all to say the concept of Human-Centered Design won’t go away anytime soon, but the words we use to refer to it may change – just like any phrase du jour, covered here or elsewhere.