Treat everything as part of the experience, including the bathroom.
principle — attributed to Paul Bulencea & Claus Raasted
Claus Raasted's frustration with most conferences is that part of the experience is not part of the experience. You go to a conference and you sit in a hallway between sessions and nobody designed that moment. At the College, every moment is part of the design, including the hallway, the bathroom, the dinner table, the bus ride. The team also lies to participants about which moments are designed and which are random, because the lie produces a more useful frame: if you treat everything as a learning experience, you get more out of every minute. The bathroom is the bathroom and the bathroom is also where two people might decide to start a company.
For experience designers, retreat creators, and immersive program builders. The principle requires committing to design coverage across the full participant timeline, not just the headline sessions.
total-experience-design, intentionality, design-philosophy, immersion