Experiential interior design (EID) is the practice of employing experiential or phenomenological values in interior
experience design
User experience design (UX design, UXD, UED, or XD) is the process of defining the experience a user would go through when interacting with a digital product or website. Design decisions in UX design are often driven by research, data analysis, an ...
. EID is a human-centered design approach to
interior architecture based on modern
environmental psychology
Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental Psychol ...
emphasizing human experiential needs. The notion of EID emphasizes the influence of the designed environments on human total experiences including sensorial, cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral experiences triggered by environmental cues. One of the key promises of EID is to offer values beyond the functional or mechanical experiences afforded by the environment.
Definition
Cognitive scholars claim that the human mind has a modular structure (against one central processor) by which her evaluate and respond to environmental triggers. This evaluation of built environment leads to the a multifacet perception of that environment that renders ''Sensorial Experiences'', ''Emotional Experiences'', ''Intellectual Experiences'', ''Pragmatic Experiences'', and ''Social Experiences''. These five categories collectively define the experiential values of the environment. Accordingly, EID can be defined as the process of understanding and embedding experiential values in
interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
to engage users in a higher level of sensing, thinking, feeling, interacting, and/or doing. The concept of experiential design, however, is not limited to interior design and can be adopted in architecture, industrial design, product design, and brand experience design.
Outcomes
Experiential design can help to improve the user's evaluation and perception of an environment in different settings such as retail store. For example, three central feelings that can be targeted by EID include pleasure, arousal, and dominance. These feelings are the results of a well-designed environment by practicing EID. Pleasure refers to the degree of happiness, arousal to the degree of excitement, and dominance to the sense of control. These emotions lead to behavioral responses such as approach (vs avoidance). Approach behavior is a positive attitude toward a place, which results in intention to stay, explore, affiliate, or interact.
In business literature
Business literature emphasizes the relationship between
interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
and customer experience. For example, Schmitt's
experiential marketing
Engagement marketing, sometimes called "experiential marketing", "event marketing", "on-ground marketing", "live marketing", "participation marketing", "Loyalty Marketing", or "special events", is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumer ...
framework suggests that commercial environments should consider customers' experiential needs (functional, emotional, behavioral, social, and symbolic/lifestyle) in addition to sensorial experiences. Likewise, Abhari's
Employee experience management Along with the notion of experience economy, employee experience is defined as a set of psychocognitive sentiments about the experiential benefits of employment. Employee experience is formed when an employee interacts with careers’ elements (e.g. ...
model considers the experiential design of workspaces as a driver of employees' positive experiences.
EID does not recommend a specific style of design, rather it emphasizes a design thinking process in which customers' experiential needs are prioritized. Marketing literature has demonstrated that experiential values can differentiate the offerings.
[Kim, J. B., Koo, Y., & Chang, D. R. (2009). ‘Integrated Brand Experience through Sensory Branding and IMC’. Design Management Review, 20 (3), 72-81.] EID helps firms providing symbolic meanings, differentiating brand, and communicating values with unique (branded) environmental experience. The values that associate with this positive experience enhance loyalty and fervent advocacy.
References
{{Design
Architectural design
Interior design