1.3
Expedition
It’s about seeing the world the way your consumers, clients, or competitors actually live it. Not theorizing from a distance. Not abstracting. Immersing. In a world flooded with secondhand information, firsthand experience is a competitive advantage. When you immerse yourself in the real environment, hunches turn into instincts.
Expeditions are most valuable when the environment or experience is central to the challenge you’re solving. They’re especially powerful when you have a hunch, exploring unfamiliar territory, or looking for inspiration on how systems could work differently.
If you’re working on a retail strategy, spend a day walking stores, big and small, across neighborhoods.
If you’re designing for hospitality, book the room, check-in, use the service, experience the friction.
If you’re tasked to understand a consumer, hang out where they naturally gather.
Traine your intuition. Hone your instincts. Mark yourself with memories of the problem you’re solving.
Set yourself up lightly. Then trust the world to offer what you need.
Observe actively. Watch not just what people do, but how they move, where they hesitate, how they adapt when no one is watching.
Capture sensory details. What does the environment feel like, sound like, smell like? Small sensory notes can become powerful clues.
When appropriate, spark casual conversations. Ask open-ended questions. Let people tell you what matters to them in their own language.
Document obsessively. Don’t trust memory. Capture anything that feels interesting, even if you don’t know why yet.