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Was Walt Disney the original “User-Experience” expert?

Posted in: by: Mario Garcia

Jan 19, 2010
03:08 PM

Just spent a marvelous weekend with my family at Disney World. The weather was perfect, the lines not too long and wife and kids had a blast. Imagine it was exactly what Walt Disney pictured when he first had the vision for his amusement park. In fact, it says it right there on the Walt Disney World dedication plaque:

“May Walt Disney World bring joy and inspiration and new knowledge to all who come to this happy place...a Magic Kingdom where the young at heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn together.”

Unfortunately, Walt Disney died before the park opened, but his guiding vision is evident in every experience that is to be had there. Made me wonder, was Walt Disney the original user-experience expert?

Sure, he lived in another era, but the man who invented “Tomorrowland” was definitely forward-thinking and some of his quotes can still guide us today as we build websites to engage audiences.

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

In other words, remember that we’re not designing for designers or writing for writers. If what we’re doing doesn’t appeal to our audiences then it doesn’t matter how great it looks.

“Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.”

If there’s a clear goal with a specific desired-result, it’s easier to get the team behind it and moving towards it. If the goal is to build a good website, then rethink it. That’s too easy. Disney’s goal for Disneyland was to create a place “where children and their parents could have fun together.” Simple, specific and easy to base important decisions on.

“I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.”

Hard core journalists or serious businesses would not want to call what they do “entertainment,” but the reality is audiences need to be entertained to be engaged. Recently I wrote an article about good client-side project management. In it I describe everything my client did right, but also showed a video I took of this unique elevator that was in their building. Most of the comments or retweets that resulted were to go “check out the cool elevator.” I’d like to believe my readers were entertained while learning about proper project management.

“Whenever I go on a ride, I’m always thinking of what’s wrong with the thing and how it can be improved.”

A site is never finished. Technology and audiences evolve faster than ever, which means that we should never become complacent. Always browse your own site asking the same question: how can it be improved?

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

This was Walt Disney’s response when told something was impossible. Innovation is the result of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. So there is no innovation if “that’s impossible” is a stop sign for you. Start with the mindset that nothing is impossible in thinking of the ultimate user experience and work from there. And if you think that’s easier said than done, or a some sort of cliché then check out Disneyland or Disney World and consider this last quote from Walt Disney:

“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.”

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