Visualisation and communication. Behavioural game design.
This is a great example of how you can teach people something with a clear visual explanation. You often don't need a formal online module or a workshop to accomplish the same thing. These can be hi-fi (like this example) or lo-fi using paper, whiteboards, Post-it notes and the video camera on your phone.
Apart from having an awesomely usable site, Engine Creative put together this nice motion graphic about resource efficiency. I like the minimal visuals that compliment the clear message.
Credit: Kay Gaensler
Top Gun is one of the classic 80's movies that I love. (I still have 'Danger Zone' on my iPod).
I also love watching behind the scenes features on DVDs to get an insight into the thinking movie makers put into creating an experience. Tom Peters told us that we're now living in the experience economy. Jesse Schell wrote that everything you experience is an experience (meaning that everything moment of our existance can be boiled down to experiences).
I design learning experiences for a living so I'm always looking for ways to design better ones.
Top Gun was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer who has been involved with lots of great movies over the years. When he described the original vision for Top Gun he said they wanted to make 'rock 'n' roll in the sky.' Awesome? Yes. And if you think about the movie that is exactly the experience you have when you watch it. "Highway to the danger zone!"
Often you see product descriptions like, 'your address book on steriouds' or 'text messaging on steroids' or 'Web hosting on seriods'. What's with all the steroids? Who knows. What I do know is that these kinds of descriptions are more about poor marketing than inspiration.
The iPhone is an experience (easy phone calls, fun games, productivity on the go). Shopping at your favourite store is an experience. Theme parks, sports events and concerts are all experiences. Your project, conference talk, client meeting, Web site etc., are also experiences. They also need an inspiring vision that can guide your team to create something awesome.
With so much choice in the world, those who design the best experiences win.
If Tom Peters is right and this is the experience economy then what is your vision for the experience you're creating? How does it measure up to 'rock 'n' roll in the sky'?
Question
Take your latest project brief and spend 10 minutes pulling it apart to find the experience that you are trying to create. What did you come up with?
Visualisation and communication.
Behavioural game design.
Social business.
