Creating Magic Kingdoms - 9 UX Lessons from Disney's Imagineers

Slides from my talk about Walt Disney's user experience skills in designing the world's first theme park in the 1950s. Originally presented at the 2008 IA Summit in Memphis. Probably doesn't make too much sense without the talk itself, but there's a podcast available: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ia-summit-09-day-1

Transcript

1. “There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrate to some stroke of the imagination.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. Creating Magic Kingdoms lessons from Disney’s Imagineers Mike Atherton, RedUXD
15. emotional engagement
33. “Our greatest asset was ignorance. We didn't know we could fail.” Marty Sklar, Imagineer
34. If you can dream it, you can do it. Q: How many Imagineers does it take to change a light bulb? A: Does it have to be a light bulb? L E S S O N O N E
41. Get them excited. “The best way to get started is to stop talking and start doing!” - Walt Disney L E S S O N T W O
55. Build a creative culture. “Imagineering is a mixture of free-thinking and sheer lunacy.” - Michael Eisner L E S S O N T H R E E
73. Tell stories. “We don’t build roller- coasters or log flume rides. We tell stories.” - Tom Fitzgerald L E S S O N F O U R
110. Never break the spell. “Disneyland is the star, everything else is in the supporting role.” - Walt Disney L E S S O N F I V E
142. Have attitude. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” - Walt Disney L E S S O N S I X
155. Need a smart developer who thinks they could build a simple app in 1 day. Cash or profit share paid depending on preference. Big idea! NiallHarbison Niall Harbison
157. $20,000 $48,000 $12,107.09
158. Play your own game. “You don’t build it for yourself. You know what the people want and you build it for them.” - Walt Disney L E S S O N S E V E N
165. Accept change. “I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things. ” - Walt Disney L E S S O N E I G H T
172. “We were stupid and naive, which turned out to be a wonderful thing.” Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr
173. Look to the future. “My nightmare is that one day no-one shows up.” - Walt Disney L E S S O N N I N E
187. OMG!!
194. “Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have more.” - Groucho Marx I N C L O S I N G
214. persistent storage business logic page and interaction logic markup visual design
222. Dream Believe Dare Do
227. mike@reduxd.com Thanks to the Imagineers, the members of Flickr, Daveweb.com, Leigh Dodds and everyone else for the use of images throughout this presentation. Its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. s