Think about walking into your favourite local café. The barista remembers your name. Your coffee’s made just right. The music’s chill, the vibe’s warm, and even when they’re flat out, you don’t feel like an inconvenience.

That’s experience design. And honestly? It’s a total superpower.

But here’s the thing, we’ve both been around long enough to see how often it gets watered down. Somewhere along the way, “experience” turned into a checkbox – or it just never really got the focus it needed in the first place. A smiley face button at the exit. A survey where nothing seems to get better. A half-hearted effort that fizzles out before it lands.

That’s not what experience is.

Real experience, the kind that sticks, that builds loyalty, that makes people feel something, that comes from the inside out. It’s not just about customers. It’s your employees. Your members. Your stakeholders. Anyone who interacts with your brand, your product or service, your culture. And when it’s done right, it’s the difference between “just doing business” and being unforgettable.

You’re Not Just the Boss, You are the Experience

Unless you’re in a big corporate, you don’t have the luxury of passing the “customer experience” off to a department, it’s you.

You’re the one replying to emails, answering phones, fixing the hiccups, calming the upset customer, and still trying to run a viable business. And that’s exactly why experience is your edge. Because while the big guys are buried in layers of process and policy, you’ve got something they don’t: proximity. You’re close to your people. You see the good and the bad in real time. You don’t need permission to fix what’s broken, you just need the headspace to notice it.

It’s Not About Big Budgets, It’s About Paying Attention

You don’t need a loyalty program, fancy automation, or a rebrand to create a memorable experience. Most of the time, it’s the small stuff.

Like calling a customer by name. Following up when you said you would. Making your process smoother, so your client doesn’t have to chase you. Saying “thank you” and meaning it.

Experience is about making people feel seen. Heard. Valued. That’s it. And when you do that consistently, people come back. They tell their friends. They become your biggest marketing engine, no ad budget required.

Real Talk: You’re Doing It

If you’ve ever stayed up late fixing something for a client because it mattered to you, that’s experience design. If you’ve taken a minute to explain how your process works so your customer feels confident, that’s experience.

If you’ve hired someone not just because they could do the job, but because they care the way you do, that’s designing from the inside out.

You’re not starting from zero. You’re just probably not calling it what it is.

One Small Shift at a Time

This isn’t about adding more to your plate. It’s about being intentional with what you’re already doing.

Ask your customers: What could we do better? What’s one thing you love, and one thing you’d fix?

Then look around your business and ask yourself the same. Where’s the friction? Where’s the magic?

Tweak as you go. Keep listening. Keep learning. That’s how experience grows, step by step, from the inside out.

Because experience isn’t some corporate strategy, it’s a human one, and you’ve already started.