User experience designers (UXD) are experts for human behavior in the digital world. An entire profession. Yet we have no formal expressions and hardly any practical tools for designers of live experiences. Isn’t that silly?
Live Experience Design (LXD) is a methodology that I have been developing for the last 10 years. 1000 events, 80 experiental programs and many extraordinary experiences later it has evolved in a 40-point checklist that is being used daily by the Walnut Grove Group in designing events, programs and tourism services.
The LXD model evolves around 3 main pillars:
The first is “classic” experience design, very much influenced by thy work of Pine&Gilmore (The experience economy), but also by the psychological and anthropological insights into what gives pleasure to human beings.
The second pillar is the Hero’s journey model, the universal model for storytelling and a simple tool for improving dramaturgy of our events. The model is also valuable for reminding us on the importance of Jungian archetypes for creating memorable experiences (hero, enemy, mentor…).
The third pillar of the LXD model is based on the game design principles. The video game industry has taught us so much about how to design experiences that keep people immersed for hours and days. It’s high time that we use this knowledge when we create events, education formats, tourism services or any other experiences.
