X: The Experience When Business Meets Design

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THIS IS X

EXPERIENCE IS THE NEW BRAND. EXPERIENCES ARE THE NEW BRANDING.

THE FUTURE IS EXPERIENCE.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

—Albert Einstein

CLOSE YOUR EYES FOR A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT THE LAST TIME YOU TRULY HAD A GREAT EXPERIENCE WITH A COMPANY AS A CONSUMER, AN EXPERIENCE THAT CAPTURED YOUR HEART, MIND, AND SPIRIT.

 

WHAT ABOUT IT WAS SPECIAL?

 

LET’S CALL IT “X”—THAT JE NE SAIS QUOI THAT MAKES SOMETHING SO SPECIAL.

 

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT X, CREATING SUCH MEMORABLE MOMENTS FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS THROUGH EVERY ENCOUNTER THEY HAVE WITH YOUR BRAND—ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

What is X?

In math, x represents a variable to be solved for. In business, the x we must solve for is the experience we want to give our customers. Of course, the idea that businesses should focus on customer experience isn’t new. But we’ve entered a new era in experience creation, and businesses that don’t learn to craft much more satisfying experiences for their customers have a great deal to lose.

In 1998, B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore published a controversial essay in the Harvard Business Review heralding the era of “The Experience Economy.”¹ They put forward the idea that businesses should creatively orchestrate memorable ...