I Miss Our Trade Shows – So I’m Doing Something About It

Bob and friends at Commanders Palace at Amusement Expo

If you’re like me, you’ve been to a few virtual events this year. I guess that most were just ok—lots of webinars, too many PowerPoints, and hardly any real meetings. But nothing that got me excited to really ShowUp. I miss our trade shows I was in New Orleans at the Amusement Expo in March…

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All About the Feels – Give Them An Experience They’ll Talk About

Too often, when designing experiences, we focus on what people will be doing. In-game design, lots of effort goes into balancing and core loop design. UX designers want to make sure that experiences are smooth and uninterrupted. We consider the technology, the interfaces, the rules, and the outcomes. We ponder pricing strategies, operational models, and…

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Why Asking Why is the Key to Innovative Experience Design

Five Whys

In my last blog post on how to design entertainment experiences, I wrote about the importance of a holistic approach to experience design where you consider all of your stakeholders. But it’s not enough just to identify them. You need to engage with them to understand their needs, so you can design an experience that…

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5 Critical Components of Successful Experience Design

Holistic approach

In a time when everything is changing, we all need to innovate the design of experiences we offer our customers. What we did last year is unlikely to work today. We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetime. Well-worn best practices are suddenly obsolete, making innovation a required skill for survival. Innovation is not…

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Innovate or Die

McKinsey Innovation Priority by Sector

Everything has changed, but at the same time, nothing has changed.  That’s the paradox of the times.  The rules of being in public are changing.  Consumer habits, parent’s risk profiles, entertainment options and appetites are all changing. Yet the initiative to innovate business models is lagging. When I talk to business owners and executives, the…

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How to Deliver Social Experiences to Your Guests

Social Experience Top Golf

When I spoke to Randy White in June of 2020, one of the areas we touched on was the need for more social experiences.  Why do they want to be entertained? Why do they go out to movies, or bowling, or restaurants? Randy’s opinion on this is they want to socialize. “People want social experiences”…

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