For as long as I can remember, I've been designing one thing or another. My earliest recollection is of a newspaper my friends and I put together during summer break before third grade. That publication lasted only for a couple of limited-edition issues; limited, because, in addition to writing articles about soccer, my job was to design the paper. This meant that I had to come up with a head mast, writing the few articles we put together neatly, tracing photos into a simple layout, and finally, manually copying each issue a few times. Altogether, this was a tedious, time-consuming effort, which took a while to compete, since we were lured into playing soccer outside. Yet, the joy of turning a blank sheet of paper into a meaningful product, which we distributed (handed out) to our beloved family members for money to buy an ice cream, planted the seeds that eventually blossomed to become my lifelong career in design.

Over the past three decades, I have made my living as a professional designer of a wide array of products. I designed physical objects, such as print publications, including magazines, books, advertisements, and posters; exhibition booths and gallery exhibits; time-based content, such as interactive learning materials and animated films; and eventually, moved to design user interfaces for desktop applications, websites, and apps.

Experienced designers arrive at their careers by a variety of paths. Some go to school to study one of the design disciplines, whereas others learn on the job by observation, trial, and error. Some designers plan and premap their career, whereas others more or less stumble upon it and are drawn by the interesting challenges and creative opportunities of design work. Experience design attracts practitioners from diverse educational and professional background, who are united not by a single skill set, but rather through their shared interest in multidisciplinary exploration, problem-solving, and creative team work.

The time spent on writing this book has often felt like building a sandcastle on the beach. I spent long pleasant moments pouring sand, shaping it, creating and fortifying the structure. All the while, I imagined that the castle and its formidable walls can withstand the approaching tide, but I accepted the inevitable--the entire construction would be gone in the morning. What's left is the anticipation and excitement of starting over, constructing a new castle--better than the preceding one. It is difficult to define experience design neatly and precisely. I have tried to construct a clearly organized and comprehensive description of what is experience design, the concepts underlying this field of practice, and the processes it typically utilizes. However, experience design is an evolving field, and the structure of its "castle" is in constant flux--definitions, practices, strategies, and tools are evolving continuously.

This book is my attempt to present what I see as the foundation of experience design, which, despite the inevitable waves of change, has an interesting history, a solid structure, and certainly an intriguing future.

I wrote this book for those who are curious about experience design and seek a general understanding of its evolving multifaceted nature. This is not exclusively a prescriptive set of answers. In fact, the central themes of this book are interesting questions, which are yet to be answered--how does an impersonal relationship between companies and market audiences turn into a very personal product experience? What is the role of design and designers in fusing intangible motivations, needs, and emotions of companies and people with concrete products, to form a strong, lasting emotional connection between an individual and a product or brand? 

The discovery process undertaken in this book involves forming a historical perspective. I reviewed relevant milestones throughout human evolution, which are like the lights marking a runway for a safe landing on a dark night. The seeds of much of what is done today, while appearing to be taken right off the pages of a science fiction book, have been planted a long time ago. Other important topics include the stakeholders, processes, methods, and tools that are involved in the practical, day-to-day activity of product design.

Finally, this book is also about the notion that while constant change, uncertainty, and ambiguity can be unnerving, these aspects of experience design are countered by opportunities for open-mindedness, curiosity, and creativity.