Think “Experience Architecture”

At the beginning of this class, we were assigned readings and videos about airports in order to conceptualize the main theme of the course, experience architecture. Experience architecture is the design of spaces (architecture) for users (experience), such as an airport. In de Botton's work, "A Week at the Airport," de Botton addresses a doubt about experience architecture that sheds light on the scope in which the concept applies.

"Standing before costly objects of technological beauty, we may be tempted to reject the possibility of awe, for fear that we could grow stupid through admiration...[and] yet to refuse to be awed at all might in the end be merely another kind of foolishness. In a world full of a chaos and irregularity, the terminal seemed a worthy and intriguing refuge of elegance and logic."

(de Botton, 2009, p. 3-4).

Simply put, experience architecture is design that is meant for the experience of the user. De Botton communicates this through an explanation and analysis of the airport and addresses a fear of design and poses the question, does design matter? Should we hold it in high regard? The overwhelming answer is that design matters because it is the kind of beauty that involves looking at disorder and creating order. This perspective from de Botton of experience architecture also applies to other design contexts. If I write a report, I can change it from a 25-page word document into an interactive pdf with an appealing layout, making it more exciting for the reader and easier to navigate. If I am organizing an event, I can think about the layout of the space as well as the programming so that the event is easy for guests to navigate without confusion. Bringing order from disorder should be at the forefront of any plan and design. That is why this class is valuable to everyone who takes it, no matter what their future career path is.

I plan on being an English teacher when I graduate. I am continuously thankful for my major in professional writing and how the program has helped me develop in my critical thinking skills. I am learning more than "how to write." I am learning how to think about how to bring order, how to think about user design, and how to think about experience architecture. I can apply these ways of thinking to my teaching job on both the microscopic and macroscopic level. For example, on a small scale, thinking with an experience-architecture perspective will help me write lesson plans with the students as the primary users. On a larger scale, I can use the mindset to make more navigable course mapping and classroom procedures. Good design in the classroom will put the emphasis on learning rather than burdening students with trying to navigate confusing designs. This “designer's mind” is a skill that I will value–and certainly make use of, for the rest of my career.


Source: De Botton, A. (2009). A Week at the Airport. New York City, NY: Vintage Books, a division of Random House.