I went to a galaxy far far away
Of amazing customer experience and inclusive design at Disneyworld.
Hello there! It’s been a while! Longer than I thought actually 😅
Part of it was because I went on holiday, and the other part is because recovering normal habits after a two-week break is really hard. I still haven’t been back to the gym.
Side note: since being back I’ve “come out” about my alopecia 👩🦲 on LinkedIn, and I’ll now do it here for the same reason: I don’t want people to worry I’m undergoing chemo! It happens more often than I’d like, and it’s not great (aside from the occasional free seat on the Tube). I’m just bald, it sucks but not that much 😁
But let me tell you about my holiday! Because it’s actually relevant to this newsletter, believe it or not 😉
When an entire world is built with customer experience in mind
I want you to try and imagine stepping into a space where every little detail is taken into account.
If you’ve been to immersive theatre, you know that the effort is fantastic but inevitably there’s a detail that takes you out of the magic, like a contactless card machine in what’s meant to be a prohibition speak easy.
Disneyworld in Florida has had years of research, experiments and money to take care of all that.
Step into Galaxy’s Edge, the Star Wars area, and you have Storm Troopers patrolling the streets asking people if they’ve seen members of the rebellion. Food and drinks are themed to fit the grungy spaceport scene (no Mickey Waffles here), benches are made of space crates, shops are replaced by open market displays and merchant’s tills look like data pads.
The bathrooms in the Space 220 restaurant have signs to explain that “the facilities work the same as the ones on Earth”; buses on break are “refilling their pixie dust”; the food court in Pandora has blue noodles.
Nothing is just a cheap gimmick, you can feel the love that went behind it.
Where there’s love there’s inclusion
I can’t say that the park goers were a diverse group, but I can say this: I’ve never seen so many people with various levels disabilities in one place that wasn’t a church event.
It’s not just due to selective theming (we went to the Universal parks too and it was nothing like it, despite having Harry Potter, Minions and Simpson sections).
I witnessed a Cast Member portraying Kevin, the bird from Up, pausing his parade to make a connection with a guest with Down syndrome and communication difficulties. They took their time, communicating with each other through spontaneous gestures and flapping of small wings.
The staff (called Cast Members), from ride operator to shop clerk, are trained to create fun, immersive and inclusive environments for the guests. No rush, just childhood dreams 😊
I had my moment with Winnie the Pooh and I can tell you, whenever I’m ill or sad I’ll be thinking of that soft hug for life.
It’s not what they say, it’s how they make you feel. Super safe.
So, what did we learn here?
That people can tell when there’s love in what we do.
And we don’t have to get everything right (trust me, the Disneyworld Resort app is an absolute UX nightmare with the performance of a drunk sloth, but it’s so good to have all the parks and reservations systems in one place that we can forgive a lot).
We just have to keep evolving, stay curious and learn from our customers.
Oh, and take holidays. They’re nice.
Until next time!
Bunny of the week
Want to learn more on inclusive design?
Have a look at this playlist from Inclusive Design 24, an all-day online conference on inclusive design practices.
Ah That was a beautiful read, thank you for doing this it keeps me in touch with you both xx