The synthesis phase

Proposing a new phrase for experience design

As the saying goes, research is me-search.

My interest in the rich range of after-experiences following collective events is, unsurprisingly, quite personal. It started in 2018 when I became a fan of BTS. Sure, I already knew what it was like to enjoy the lingering mixture of exhilaration and exhaustion after a dance party or a day at a theme park. But BTS concerts made me realize that collective experiences could reach a level of intensity and impact I’d never known before.

A new world opened up to me. I remember sitting alone on the train ride home after my first BTS concert, wondering why I couldn’t remember large portions of the show that just happened, seriously questioning if I had been dreaming. I walked home from the station with the sensation that I was floating in space. For the next several days, I was totally out of it, not truly on Earth.

The following year, I had a different kind of powerful experience because of their concerts. At the end of two euphoric nights, a peak moment of communion shifted something in me. That moment began to heal a period of depression. It has taken me years to process my experience, and its meaning continues to evolve. The memory is a source of inspiration and emotional nourishment.

And by the way… my background is in applied positive psychology. Well before BTS, I was already viewing most things through the lens of well-being. Also, at the time of these concerts I was in graduate school studying game design and health—in other words, how to architect human engagement for intended positive experiences and outcomes. No wonder I became obsessed with understanding my concert experiences, and determined to create similar ones for others.

All this to say, I care deeply about what happens after meaningful collective experiences. I’m sure you have your own stories, too. It’s clear these moments can have tremendous impact, which (of course) plays out after the fact. Yet rather little is being said in the experience design space about how to structure a good after-experience. I so eagerly want to talk about that, so I have been searching for the right words.

I confess: nobody calls the after-experience “the synthesis phase.” (Yet!) And I am just starting to play with it. I’m going to explore using it here in The Afterparty and see how it feels.

I could have stuck with “the reflective phase.” I almost did. It’s a good option. For instance, it’s what J. Robert Rossman and Mathew Duerden use in their book Designing Experiences (along with the “anticipation” and “participation” phases). Wouldn’t it be very helpful to use the same words other people use? Plus, “reflection” makes sense when you hear it and is easy to say. 

And yet… when I think about everything I experienced after those concerts, and everything I’ve learned since then, “reflection” just seems to fall short.

After such a meaningful experience, we go well beyond holding up a mirror to it. We also recover, digest, connect, integrate, create meaning, tell stories, and grow. I like “synthesis” as a catch-all, more than any other word I’ve come up with or heard. It captures a process of making, not just thinking. It evokes the incorporation of the experience into our sense of self—such that a new and more complex self emerges. 

Post-ecstatic growth

That is exactly what meaningful experiences do. I know because it happened to me, and I’ve heard amazing stories of it happening to others. In my view, “the synthesis phase” conveys a lot that’s well worth talking about.

Afterparty talk

Do you like the word “synthesis”? Are you already using a different phrase, and if so, what’s useful about it? How else do you refer to what people think, feel, and do after an experience you’ve designed? Should I stop trying to make “fetch” happen?

Party on

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References

Rossman, J. R. & Duerden, M. D. (2019). Designing experiences. Columbia University Press.