Imagine opening your fridge to cook a delicious, nourishing dinner... and only finding condiments. Spicy chili crisp, zesty chutney, umami anchovy... critical flavors, but it's impossible to create anything of substance with these things alone. As a cook, this is the best analogy I can give on what it's like to try design a meaningful experience without a significant understanding of human behavior. The condiments are where the fun happens, but your guests are hungry for a meal!
Most people will assume their lifetime of human interactions are enough to understand others, and I've absolutely felt that way before too. In fact, at the beginning of my experience design journey I felt like I had humanity completely pegged. But when I learned that the vast majority (95%) of our inner world & actions are influenced by our subconscious mind, I had to admit that maybe there was more to human behavior than meets the eye.
We see a lack of understanding humans ripple across the hospitality and tourism industry. Wellness retreats that promise to heal what ails you in two days, special gatherings that completely miss the mark on fostering belonging, festivals that don't take into consideration people's psychological safety... it's one overpromise, under-deliver after another.
You can study humans from many different angles, but not just one will give you all the answers. That’s why I like to learn from a variety of behavioral and social science practices. Sure, the lines often blur between them (for example, play is studied across many different disciplines) but they each offer their own valuable perspective. So without further ado, let's get into them.
Positive Psychology
What does it take to accomplish wellbeing? How do we as humans flourish? This is where I started my journey, and it’s where I return to most often. It’s what draws me to studying play, flow, eudaimonia, and emotional intelligence. The more we understand the nuances behind what makes people feel good, the more we can design experiences that give this to them.
Case in point: it might seem like festivals are universally pleasurable for all humans, but I can’t stand them. The crowds, the configuration, the food… I often leave after an hour feeling worse than I arrived. I know that festivals are rarely designed with wellbeing in mind, and yet I still go occasionally, hoping to change my mind. That has yet to happen.
Positive psychology reminds us that feeling good is subjective, and what stirs up positive emotions for you may not stir up positive emotions for me. It teaches us that without meaningful engagement and accomplishment, flourishing isn’t possible. And when we learn about positive psychology and how humans flourish, we begin to see that putting entertainment & fun at the core of hospitality and tourism is a fairly restricted (and possibly even harmful) approach.
Environmental Psychology
What we in the industry call ‘sense of place’ or ‘biophilic design’ would be known as environmental psychology in the field of sciences. This branch of psychology studies how people interact with their physical surroundings, including natural & built environments.
In recent years I became familiar with the concept of ‘environmental enrichment’ and it has changed the way I view my surroundings ever since. The things in our environment shouldn’t be just pretty things to look at. We need exposure to multi-sensory stimulation that also invite wonder & creativity, enhance cognitive function, and reduce stress in order to thrive.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: modern hospitality is rarely designed for enrichment. The beige-on-beige rooms void of interactive touchpoints are doing guests a disservice. What might have started as an attempt to create a soothing “quiet luxury” environment actually backfires (as we saw with the mice in this experiment).
Cognitive Psychology
Decision making must be the most complex thing I’ve ever learned about. Did you know there are hundreds of cognitive biases that impact your decision-making ability? For example, thinking you understand humans intuitively and that you don’t need to study behavioral & social science – that’s a cognitive bias known as “the illusion of understanding”.
I won’t pretend like I deeply understand all the ins & outs of cognitive psychology, because it is so multifaceted, but it is something I try hard to pay attention to. Especially as good experience design often requires us to ask people to leave their comfort zone and to engage guests in problem-solving strategies. Cognitive psychology also helps us understand how guests form expectations and how these expectations can influence their experience. For example, the expectancy-value theory examines how individuals' beliefs about their abilities and the value they place on outcomes influences their motivation.
In learning more about cognitive psychology, I have become 100x more thoughtful about designing experiences for peoples’ underlying fears, desires, and motivations. By understanding what’s going on in people’s minds, we can downplay or play up certain aspects of an experience to make it more enriching!
Neuroscience
At one point in our lives, we all decide there is a habit that needs breaking. If you haven’t been there yet – just wait, it’s coming. I was here several years ago and did what many people do: I picked up a book to learn how. And ever since, I’ve been fascinated with the idea of neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and adapt in response to experiences. So, as you can imagine, this plays a massive role in experience design. Yet, most people in our industry know very little about it. Maybe because it sounds like some big scary science word, but if I let that deter me from learning about something, I’d have the intelligence of a 7-year-old.
At the core of transformational and immersive experiences, neuroscience teaches us how we are driven to act and evolve. It shows us just how important novelty and emotional intensity is, pointing us in the direction of what really matters when we’re looking at designing an impactful moment. The more we can learn about important neurochemicals like oxytocin, dopamine, cortisol and what triggers these, the more we can create supportive spaces & experiences that people love.
Sociology & Cultural Anthropology
Cultural customs, rituals & values, how people gather, symbolic meaning behind imagery, STORIES… it all falls into this vast world. Some social psychologists even argue that self-concept, a huge driver of behaviors & decisions, originates here. We all exist in a cultural context that shapes what we think we should want and how we think we should behave, do we not?
The beauty of travel is the ability to expose ourselves to new ways of being through the people we meet. When I travel, I am constantly inspired by the people who are preserving their cultural customs & rituals. But I also have a special place in my heart for people who rebel against what doesn’t feel right for them and are trying to make new waves in their culture. This is not easy to do when we’re so deeply wired for connection to others for our survival.
There is a rich wealth of knowledge in the social sciences that reveal secrets to how we can support people connect deeply and meaningfully. By paying close attention to collective behaviors, what supports a sense of belonging, and the basics of human interaction, we can design experiences that are truly powerful!
And there you have it! Five different studies that I engage in regularly to educate myself about humans to improve my experience design skills and frameworks. I realize not everyone is as curious as I am, nor does everyone have endless time to spend getting to the depths of human nature. But we need all five of these studies to get a full picture of the human experience. So if you’re looking to collaborate on your experiences & guest journey with someone who understands humans on this deeper level, let’s talk.