IxDA Helsinki x Exove meetup 19.10.2017 Airport As A Non-Place – Creating Meaningful Interactions Through Ritual Design By VEERA SUOMALAINEN Anthropologist and service designer Veera Suomalainen from Exove Design talks about insightful and shared interactions that can turn a space into a place. Observing existing habits and creating meaningful designs around them will bring value to environments that have ritualistic potential but usually lack meaning, such as airports.

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IxDA Helsinki X Exove
Non-Places and
Liminality
Creating Meaningful Interactions Through
Ritual Design

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Why this approach?
We need a fresh perspective to add to service design.
We need new tools for finding significance.

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Anthropology and ritual design to the rescue!

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How do people as communities create meaning?

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Rituals

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Rituals are at the center of understanding human
experience.

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Rites of passage and liminality

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Non-places

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Liminality offers great potential for designing meaningful
experiences.

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But how?

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Harnessing the power of rituals
1. Creating new rituals or creating
meaning around routines
2. Ritualizing a product or a service
experience
3. Designing products or services
that support existing rituals
behavioral change
enriching the
experience
value creation
https://medium.com/ritual-design/introducing-ritual-design-meaning-pur
pose-and-behavior-change-44d26d484edf

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1. Designing new rituals:
Restaurant Day
- New calendar ritual
- Use of city space → also a
placemaking ritual

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2. Ritualizing a service experience: Unboxing

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3. Supporting existing rituals: Sauna app

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… Or ensuring the continuation of existing rituals: Voting
https://www.ideo.com/case-study/a-new-way-to-
vote-for-the-people-of-los-angeles

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How to begin?
Discovering existing rituals or potential moments and narratives.
Understanding why they are meaningful.

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What does being at an airport mean to people?
VS.

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Or maybe?

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Designing meaningful interactions

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Turning boring or
unpleasant routines into
meaningful rituals
Virtual aquarium tunnel at security
clearance in Dubai
http://info.trendwatching.com/dubai-international-airports-s
ecurity-checks-vs-1508166536750

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Offering support in the chaotic stage
of liminality
PUP - Pets Unstressing Passengers, LAX
... Or Oak Barrel as a familiar place
http://www.lawa.org/welcome_lax.aspx?id=7915

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Reinforcing
“the world
awaits” feeling

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The three points to take away
1. Find ritual moments to create commitment.
2. Observe rituals to understand culture.
3. Keep your eyes open for ritualistic behavior.

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Thank you.
@veesuomalainen