Ideas
Cognitive Experience Design didn't emerge as a single methodology at a single point in time.
It developed over decades of work at the intersection of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, behavioral science, human-centered design, customer experience and business transformation.
The ideas collected here explore that evolution and the questions that continue to shape the field.
Cognitive Experience Design
01What happens when we move from simply applying Design Thinking to understanding and intentionally designing for how people actually think?
Cognitive Experience Design integrates human-centered design with insights and methods from cognitive and behavioral science to understand and influence the cognitive, emotional and behavioral processes that shape an experience.
Read: The Dawn of Cognitive Experience Design
Designing for Behavior
02Customer satisfaction is not a business outcome.
Experiences create economic value when they meaningfully change behavior—adoption, engagement, preference, usage, loyalty, advocacy and other actions that influence organizational performance.
Read: Don't Design for Satisfaction - Design for Behavior.
Understanding the Mental Model
03Customers don't experience an organization's objective reality. They experience their interpretation of it.
Understanding that interpretation requires going beyond conventional customer research to uncover the mental models that shape perception, preference, choice and behavior.
Read: The Foundation for Influential Design.
Experience Economics
04Organizations can spend enormous amounts improving experiences without materially affecting customer behavior.
The challenge is determining which aspects of an experience truly influence behavior and economic performance—and concentrating investment there.
The ideas presented here span several decades, but they address a common question:
How can a deeper understanding of how people think, feel and behave enable us to design experiences that create greater value for people, organizations and society?
New writing on Cognitive Experience Design, experience-led transformation and the relationship between human behavior and business performance will be added here over time.