Five types of experiences: prosaic, mindful, memorable, meaningful, transformative.

technique — attributed to Andrew Lacanienta

Lacanienta cites BYU's experience-design typology. Prosaic experiences are autopilot, like brushing teeth. Mindful experiences require some attention. Memorable experiences carry emotion. Meaningful experiences involve discovery (about a subject, about yourself). Transformative experiences produce behavior change or paradigm shift. If every experience were extraordinary, participants would be exhausted by eight in the morning. The typology gives designers operational language. A gathering can intentionally start with a prosaic experience (arrival, badge pickup), move to memorable (a curated welcome), then to meaningful (a discovery session), without every moment trying to be transformative. The discipline produces designs that work because they breathe.

For experience designers, event programmers, and learning designers thinking about the variety of experiences a program should contain. The typology is most useful as a planning checklist when every session is being designed at the same intensity.

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