Brian Solis is a digital anthropologist and futurist, studying disruptive technology and its impact on the future of business and society.
This episode is all about design– specifically experience design, which is the topic of Brian’s latest book “X: The Experience When Business Meets Design.” It’s the paradigm which drives companies like Nike, Airbnb, and Uber that are transforming one industry after the other, and Brian has some great insights that will help you wrap your head around it and apply it to your own work.
Today on the podcast,
- How to take inspiration from brands, people and products that are outside your industry– for example, as Brian says Starbucks isn’t looking to other coffee companies for inspiration
- We address the common misconception that innovation is synonymous with technology, and why innovation is really about understanding people- their behavior, their preferences – and finding a way to give it to them
- Brian says that simply asking “why” is one of the best ways for us to uncover friction points and get rid of them. It’s such a simple question, but so powerful.
Enjoy!
No one achieves greatness without completely exposing themselves
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Some Questions I Ask:
- What is experience and why should we care? [3:04]
- What’s an example of a business that no longer works? [4:18]
- What is experience and experience design and how can it be a differentiator for people? [6:06]
- How should kitchen counter entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, freelancers how to think about experience design? [9:15]
- How can freelancers be different, not better? [17:46]
- Where do we go to find your research? [21:08]
- What are some examples of how people find inspiration outside of their industries? [23:45]
- Why shouldn’t we be afraid of challenging the status quo? [27:09]
- What are some things that you do differently than other authors? [31:59]
- What’s something about you that people would be surprised to find out? [37:37]
- What’s something that you’re very dubious of that others are not? [38:02]
- How important is lifelong learning? [38:40]
- Does the education system work? [38:53]
- How soon will VR be a “thing”? [39:06]
- Do you have any routines that give you an edge? [40:22]
- What’s something that I haven’t asked that you wish I would? [42:02]
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- How our technological world today is rewiring how we experience the world; from Uber to Tinder to Snapchat. [3:12]
- “If you want to stand out, certainly you have to be great at your craft, but you have to be better at creating the experience of experiencing your craft” [5:48]
- How we, from individuals to big businesses, benefit from prioritizing the experiences of who we’re trying to reach. [6:54]
- How Maya Angelou helped Brian clarify why experience design is important. [8:25]
- What makes Lady Gaga special; and it’s not just her talent. [9:50]
- How you turn your strengths into an ecosystem that best represents how you’re trying to make your customers feel. [11:43]
- How Brian used storyboarding to clarify what relationships really mean. It’s not about the product or service that you sell. It’s about how you can help the people around you to learn and solve their problems. [12:14]
- How looking at your phone so much has shifted your attention span to that of a goldfish. [14:15]
- “You can’t create an experience just by following what everyone else does.” [14:40]
- “It’s not good enough to be good enough. It’s not good enough to be the best. You have to understand the impact you want to have in someone’s life and design for it.” [15:30]
- How Virgin America chose to stand out by creating a unique safety video experience. Where are people not expecting to have a great experience in your world, and how can you give it to them? [16:13]
- Where to look for inspiration for your innovation. [18:00]
- How businesses are often times like remote controls. It ain’t pretty. But if you ask “why” more often, you can help reduce the amount of proverbial buttons in your business. [19:10]
- The first step to creating a great experience for your customers; finding the friction. [20:46]
- “A magazine is an iPad that doesn’t work.” [24:10]
- All you’re doing by thinking “outside the box” is putting yourself in another box. You’ve got to change the rules of the box. [24:31]
- Why the Uber experience is beating the taxi experience, and how that experience means dollars for the Ubers of the world. [33:44]
- “But this is the way we’ve always done it… says no successful entrepreneur ever.” [36:50]
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