Our model of Design for Experiences has three basic circles: relationships, interfaces, and forms, representing the levels of interactions between humans and products. Relationships are the emotions between products and users, Interfaces are the way they talk and work with each other, and Forms are the physical aspects of those interactions (everything that touches their senses). It is those three aspects of the interaction that together make the experience gestalts in the minds of customers and users.

How do you create great experiences? Here are a few of our basic principles:

Whole brain, holistic, yin yang, multi- inter-disciplinary. Holistic, integrated (whatever you call that kind of thinking) is really at the foundation of our approach to innovation and design. It is the attention to every detail and aspect of the product, its eco-system, users, customers, stakeholders, service, channels, branding, etc. and how they are all related to each other to create seamless and consistent great experiences. Gestalts. 360.

Outside-in design. Our starting point is understanding and defining the relationships between people and products: perceptions, expectations, brand image, emotions towards the product in context, etc. We then move to the interfaces between them, and lastly we deal with the forms: curves, materials, pixels, etc. Of course it is not that simple, and always an iterative converging process.

Design for the life-span. Even before customers buy the product, they already experience it on the shelf, ad, blog, buzz, and of course their minds. The experiences span the entire time from that point to even after they replace the product, and each point in time and context needs to be considered in their design.

Design beyond-the-box, design an ecosystem. Increasingly the boundaries between what is a product and what is a service, the tangible and the intangible, is blurring and converging into one. Products are rarely stand-alone and are often connected with other products and services that need to function together. The challenge is to bring them all together seamlessly to create great experiences.

Ecosystem (n.): an ecological community together with its environment, functioning as a unit (source: Webster's)