The Impact of Chinese Architecture & Disneyland on Design

Here are the key points that you need to take away from the lecture on the three key architectural artifacts of the Ming Dynasty: The Forbidden City, Tian Tan, and the Ming Tombs (13 Emperors).

Here are the positive lessons to take away:

1. Decoration can be beautiful, functional & supportive of the content & function of an experience
2. An experience can be organized to reinforce the content & functions that occur within it
3. An experience is more useful & meaningful when it is highly-focused in terms of function & content
4. An experience can be bounded for entry & exit to connect the elements & spaces into a unified whole
5. Designing an experience is simplified with a specified audience as the targeted users
6. Color, icons, shapes and text can be used for element identification & overall understanding of the experience
7. Strict application of imposed constraints in a experience design can lead to happy accidents, serendipity
8. Layering of design elements can draw attention, create anticipation and draw users deeper into an experience
9. Strong visual composition draws & focuses attention on the parts of an experience that matter the most
10. Attention to the details in a design engages users & draws them deeper into the experience
11. Connecting the experience with a story gives users a way to understand the spaces, relationships & functions

Here are the Negative Lessons we can take away:

1. Constant repetition of visual & experiential motifs across multiple experiences undermines their symbolic power
2. Constant repetition of visual & experiential motifs across multiple experiences becomes tedious & boring
3. Conformity without contrast will fail to direct, redirect & focus attention
4. Absolute symmetry will fail to direct, redirect & focus attention
5. Utter reliance on a dominant visual axis will fail to direct, redirect & focus visual attention
6. Rigid enforcement of symbolic & structural constraints limits the opportunities for innovation
7. Rigid enforcement of symbolic & structural constraints limits the opportunities for interpretation
8. Rigid enforcement of symbolic & structural constraints limits the opportunities for creativity

And then after looking at the modern application of the principles in Disneyland, where there is a great deal more variety but there are clear connections to these 15th Century experiences, here is what we can apply to the creation of interactive media experiences in the digital domain:


1. Use decoration to support the content & function of an experience
2. Organize the experience to reinforce the content & functions that occur within it
3. Focus an experience design in terms of function & content
4. Limit the experience within specific boundaries & create a transition from the outside to the inside
5. Target your experience design to a specified audience
6. Use color, icons, shapes and text for element identification & overall understanding of the experience
7. Be creative within given constraints whether they are client-given, cultural or historical
8. Layer design elements to draw users deeper into the experience
9. Use strong visual composition to draw and focus attention on the pieces of the experience that matter the most
10. Give attention to the details in an experience design
11. Connect the experience to a story that relates to the content & attracts the targeted users

These are principles that you can apply in all of your experience design.

Next week we will look at some more interactive animations, see examples of information appliances, work on some loader movies and learn more about designer the interface between users and content in the digital domain.