423: Transforming products into experiences – Geoff Thatcher

Injecting the theme park industry’s experience model into product development

This episode is sponsored by PDMA, the Product Development and Management Association. PDMA is a global community of professional members whose skills, expertise, and experience power the most recognized and respected innovative companies in the world. PDMA is also the longest-running professional association for product managers, leaders, and innovators, having started in 1976. I have enjoyed being a member of PDMA for more than a decade, finding their resources and network very valuable. Learn more about them at PDMA.org.

PDMA invited me to their conference, which was in Orlando, Florida, to interview some of their speakers. This speaker gave a keynote on transforming products into experiences: injecting the theme park industry’s experience model into product development. In other words, what can we learn from theme parks to help us do a better job creating products our customers love?

Geoff Thatcher is the Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Creative Principals. As an experienced creative director, he excels at leading projects from concept to reality. These projects are most often about creating world-class experiences in corporate visitor centers, museums, theme parks, and live events.

Summary of some concepts discussed for product managers

[2:13] Tell us about your work creating customer experiences.

I started in the experience industry as a 14-year-old cleanup boy at a swimming pool. My job was to make sure the customers experienced a clean pool. I went on to be a lifeguard, a train engineer, and a manager in a rides department. One of the most memorable experiences was working on the Mack Wild Mouse coaster, a classic coaster that was very fun to operate. I worked ten years at Laguna amusement park in Farmington, Utah, and then had a brief flirtation with journalism for about two years. I really missed the parks, and as a journalism major in college I realized our job creating experiences was really about telling stories. I was able to combine the education I got writing and telling stories with telling stories at theme parks, museums, and brand experiences around the world.

I love a good story. Amusement parks have their place, but I love the evolution from amusement parks to theme parks—where the rides tell a story.

[8:58] How can we use this perspective focused on the customer experience to improve products?

To summarize the customer experience  framework:

* Attract attention

* Build trust

* Give the information customers need to move forward

* Create an experience for customers to internalize the product

* Be purposeful about the action you want customers to take

The customer experience means the customer is on a journey. The experience model is similar to the hero’s journey and other models that are deeply embedded in the human psyche. I don’t claim to have invented the experience model. I recently wrote a piece talking about the tabernacle in the wilderness as a product experience. The way the priest went through the tabernacle in the wilderness very much aligns with the experience model and the hero’s journey, so these things are just part of who we are as human beings. Any product should be an experience.

The first thing you have to do is attract people’s attention. Often, that’s through product design. If it’s a theme park ride, it’s through an icon. If it’s a museum experience, it might be through signage. If it’s a brand experience, it might be something as simple as a logo.

Once you attract someone’s attention, you have to build their trust. At a trade show, that could be as simple as a handshake. It could be as complicated as an immersive queue through the Hogwarts castle that looks ...