Design the Season, Not Just the Moment
Most experiences are designed as moments.
The grand opening.
The concert.
The wedding.
The graduation.
The launch.
The ribbon cutting.
We pour extraordinary energy into making the event itself unforgettable—and comparatively little into everything that happens before it.
But people don’t simply experience moments.
They live through seasons.
The weeks leading up to a graduation are filled with nostalgia, anxiety, excitement, countdowns, photographs, conversations, rituals, and countless small signals that something important is approaching.
The months before a baby arrives are not empty waiting rooms. They’re filled with names, dreams, ultrasounds, decorating bedrooms, buying tiny clothes, wondering who this person will become.
The best vacations often begin long before the plane leaves the runway. Researching restaurants. Sending hotel links to friends. Watching travel videos. Imagining yourself there.
By the time the experience arrives, part of it has already happened.
That’s what interests me.
I call it Anticipation Design.
It’s the practice of intentionally designing the emotional experience before the experience itself.
Because anticipation isn’t a side effect.
It’s part of the product.
We Overvalue Peaks
Experience design has traditionally focused on the peak.
How do we make opening night incredible?
How do we make check-in seamless?
How do we create the perfect meal?
Those questions matter.
But they leave an enormous opportunity untouched.
What happens thirty days before?
What happens when someone buys the ticket?
What story are they telling themselves while they wait?
How often are they thinking about what’s coming?
Every day between “yes” and “here” is design space.
Most organizations leave it empty.
The Season Is Where Meaning Grows
Imagine two graduations.
The first sends a reminder email a week beforehand.
The second spends three months helping students reflect on who they’ve become, inviting families into the journey, celebrating milestones, collecting memories, revealing surprises, and building a shared sense that something meaningful is approaching.
The ceremony might be identical.
The experience isn’t.
One designed an event.
The other designed a season.
The Before Changes the During
Psychologists have long recognized that expectation shapes experience.
A thoughtfully crafted trailer changes how we watch a film.
A beautifully wrapped gift changes how we receive it.
A countdown changes how we value what’s coming.
The mind doesn’t wait for reality.
It rehearses it.
Good anticipation isn’t manipulation.
It’s an invitation to imagine.
And imagination changes what people feel when the moment finally arrives.
Designing Seasons
If you’re creating an experience, ask different questions.
Not:
“How do we make opening day memorable?”
Instead:
When does the experience actually begin?
What could someone discover a month beforehand?
What conversations could happen while they wait?
How could curiosity build naturally over time?
What rituals could become part of the journey?
What stories could people tell before they’ve even arrived?
Designing anticipation isn’t about making people wait longer.
It’s about making the waiting matter.
Maybe
The experiences we remember most rarely begin when the doors open.
They begin the first time we imagine ourselves there.
Maybe that’s the real work.
Not designing better moments.
Designing better seasons.