Brand and Retail Experience Design

Course

The course aims to transfer knowledge, tools and methodologies of experience design as unique skills and in their logic of integration with other complementary disciplines.
Experience design applied to physical spaces is a discipline with unique strategies, methods and skills that combine the value aspects of the product-system (product, service, communication) and the brand with the integration of the digital world (digital experience).

In recent years, the theme of experientiality has characterized the design of commercial spaces, administration, entertainment and services. The Covid emergency has highlighted the social, psychological and cultural importance of the experiential dimension within physical places, and the post-pandemic landscape is expected to be characterized by a conceptual rethinking of the same and their declination according to new systems of meaning. and meaning.

The theme of experience transversally involves sectors such as brands, brands, entertainment and hospitality, trade fairs and events and services. The course aims to develop culture and competence in these sectors where the theme of experientiality is of great importance but is often unknown to the management who thinks according to scientific-economic paradigms or is reduced to single and specific technicalities (layout, communication, visual) and not an overall and coherent experiential approach.

Didactics

Frequency

Location: POLI.design for face-to-face teaching hours and in streaming for remote hours.

Delivery method: blended, in presence with the possibility of requesting to attend in live streaming for a maximum portion of 80% of the hours provided by the program (or 8 days of class – at least 2 days of the course must be attended in presence).

Weekly commitment: Thursday and Friday.

Daily commitment: full time, from 9 am to 6 pm.

Training objectives

The objective is to enable the participant to know and understand the potential of the experiential market of physical places, to learn the methodologies to design this experience and apply it to the final realization of an experiential space (concept store-format replicable sign) or within the spaces of others (corner and similar), or in general in the design of an experience related to a brand / product replicable in physical spaces.

Didactic Modules

Module 1 – The Age of Experientiality and the Changing Meanings of Consumption, 16h

The sale of products alone is no longer sufficient today to attract and interest the consumer. In recent years, the integration of the actual purchase of goods and services integrated with the experience that the consumer lives in relation to a brand has acquired more and more value.
This is why the change of meaning in the world of consumption requires the ability to read the new trends and to design experiences that have both social and commercial value.
This module discusses the evolution of experiential consumption with respect to the new meanings of meaning, their value and importance, the theoretical models that lead from the logic of product-commodities to that of experience-memorability, as well as the importance of physical experience.

• The era of experientiality and the changing meanings of consumption, 4h
• Methods and tools for reading new trends, 4h
• Physical and digital, increasingly hybrid dimensions, 4h
• Testimonials: the importance of physical experience, business case, 2h
• Workshop, 2h

Module 2 – Concepting as the key to a successful experience, 16h
Concepting is the design methodology that underpins successful experiences. This method allows for the conception and planning of every aspect of the experience right from the origin of the project idea. In this phase, the creative, design, communication and business aspects are integrated.

• Strategic design and contemporary challenges, 4h
• Design-led innovation, 4h
• The concepting activity as key to the success of the experience, 4h
• Testimonials. The success from the genesis: business case, 2h
• Workshop, 2h

Module 3 – Methods and operational tools for designing the experience, 32h
The realization of a successful experience requires the knowledge and skills of operational “tools” and the consistency between them and the concept. In this module, the phases of the experience construction process will be addressed in order to put the student in a position to know how it works and how to build a team of useful and often necessary skills.

• Designing the experience: the tools and their importance, 4h
• A question of assortment: there is no experience without the product, 4h
• How to enhance the experience through the layout of spaces, 4h
• The economic implications of the experience: business plan and profitability, 4h
• The physical space: the importance of Interior Design, 4h
• Communicating the brand: from the point of sale to the event, 4h
• Testimonials: the importance of the physical experience, two business cases, 4h
• Two workshops, 4h

Module 4 – The relationship and integration between physical and digital experience, 16h
The experience seen from the perspective of both the company-designer and the end customer is “one” and “unique”, the “digital” is a means and not an end to be exploited for the creation of memorable experiences

• Integration between physical and digital experience, 4h
•  Identity and digital culture, 4h
• User experience design, 4h
• Testimonials: the importance of the physical experience, business case, 2h
• Workshop, 2h

Title Released

Certification: at the end of the course an open badge will be issued by POLI.design.
Compulsory attendance: 80% of the course attendance is compulsory.

Order of Architects PPC of the Province of Milan | Issuance of 20 CFP to Architects

The event is in collaboration with the Order of Architects PPC of the Province of Milan.
20 CFP are recognized to Architects. Minimum attendance: 80%.

Employment Opportunities

Managers and Designers (architects, designers) gaining skills in design thinking, concept design and experience design.

Admission

Requirements

The Course is reserved for:

Architects

Graduate students, undergraduates who want to supplement their specialized skills and hold a degree in Architecture, Industrial Design, Engineering, Economics, Humanities or technical-scientific disciplines.

Professionals belonging to:

• Italian and international companies in the world of food and non-food brands, consumer brands, Italian niche companies, accessible luxury brands.
  Professional figures such as:
  – Marketing, Strategy, Retail, Commercial Management;
  – Technical Design and Technical Direction.
• Italian and international companies in the retail/services/entertainment sector.
  Professional figures such as:
  – Marketing, strategy, retail, commercial management;
  – Design Direction or Technical Direction.
• Companies in the furniture sector (from shelving to refrigerators to digital devices).
  Professional figures such as:
  – Marketing and Commercial Directions;
  – Designers.

Faculty