Change Agents

Experience Design, the newest discipline represented in Konstfack’s MFA program, often proves more difficult to grasp than others, which is why I felt a brief introduction to the Experience Design Group would be helpful. A growing global trend is represented in the fact that today 86% of production within the United States is of so-called “intangibles.” So what are intangibles? Intangibles are generally defined as assets that cannot be seen, touched or physically measured, and are created through time. This touchstone definition is a useful way to begin to think about experience, and in turn, its design – as an intangible.

Experience Design is a response to the urgent question: How might design continue to be relevant within what many are calling the I-Cubed (Information, Innovation, Intangible) Economy? A ride on a roller coaster at Disneyland is an intangible that takes place over time, is entertainment and valuable – it was no doubt designed by an interdisciplinary team before we knew to call them “experience designers.” So too health care; it’s also an intangible that takes place over time, gives care and is valuable – but by now health care professionals know to call on experience designers to apply their methodologies such as design thinking, future forecasting, and experience prototyping to improve patient recovery time. Experience Design, in other words, does not end at the limits of art and design, but overflows those borders to include human capital, leadership, research and development, goodwill, innovation, social media, collaboration, organizational ability, intellectual property, systems design, interdisciplinarity, effectiveness, soft power, productivity and new knowledge which have become the real determinants of relevance, performance and value in the I-Cubed Economy. And Experience Designers are its change agents.

Ronald Jones
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
The Experience Design Group

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