The Ordinary Person's Guide to Becoming an Experience Designer

A 2006 study by Unity Market Research discovered something most of us already know: shopping is fun. Fully 70% of 1,250 Americans surveyed view shopping as entertainment rather than a chore. Enter the experience designer.

Experience designers are responsible for orchestrating a compelling and enjoyable retail shopping experience. Shops touched by an experience designer are "works of art," or "mini universes unto themselves." Shopping becomes a sensual and imaginative journey calculated to seduce. Interior design--artful lighting, fixtures, paint colors--is just the beginning. Experience designers also create interactive, "high-touch" exhibits. They organize events, promotions, tours, and membership clubs to build customer loyalty. Their customer service teams aim for perfection.

Case Study: Designing the American Girl Doll Experience

The American Girl doll stores embody experiential retailing: each store features a theater for doll-centered musicals, a café for doll tea parties, a doll hair salon and spa, a photo studio, and even a clinic for dolls missing a limb or two. The store organizes birthday parties and mother-daughter vacation packages (complete with hotel stay). American Girl's experience designers draw in millions of visitors a year--for an average visit of four hours and an average tab in the hundreds of dollars.

How to Become an Experience Designer

Experience design brings together art, interior design, merchandising, marketing, project management, and business. The best preparation for this emerging field is a four-year bachelor degree in interior design, marketing, or architecture. All three fields are widely available as online degree programs, allowing you go to school when it works for you.  Coursework should emphasize business fundamentals, customer service, event planning, product design, and 3D/CAD skills.

Experience design is that rare artistic career that pays well and features bright prospects. Average earnings for experience designers range from $43,000 for entry-level designers to $100,000 and more for established professionals. Opportunities are best in high-end retail. For many creative types, the opportunity to spark the imagination, have fun, and get paid for it means a dream come true.

Sources

• Fast Company
• Career Profile: Experience Designer
• MSNBC, "10 hot jobs for 2007"
• Market Research, Recreational Shopping Report 2006