We sometimes say: Imagineering is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Well, this is the sweat phase! In the analysis phase you start looking for information that can serve as a basis for your vision and concept. You dive into relevant trends and developments, examine supply & demand and analyze (potential) audiences.
A also stands for Appreciative, which already gives you the hint about how you will go through this phase - with an appreciative mindset. Imagineers look typically for what is there that is really valuable, even magical. Instead of focusing too deeply on problematic issues, imagineers want to discover the magic of the organizational life in order to help it grow. Thus, in the Analysis phase, you try to understand the whole system you are working with, which can be an organization or a community.
In analyzing the demand you are especially interested in the backgrounds of the (potential) customer or visitor. What motivates him or her? What are the motives and values that are behind the (buying) behavior?
In the analysis of the supply-side you do not only look at the characteristics, success stories and strengths of your own organization (micro). In addition you also look at the specialties of your competitors and industry (meso), but especially for inspiration you can gain from best practices. Finally, you review trends & developments in society (macro).
In most cases you will use a variety of imaginative research techniques, also called design research. Here you will find an interesting LibGuide on that subject. Always keep in mind what Einstein said: imagination is more important than knowledge!
In the analysis phase you start looking for information that can serve as a basis for your vision and concept. You dive into relevant trends and developments, examine supply & demand and analyze (potential) audiences. Here is a clear and inspirational overview of all the ins and outs of this A-Phase:
En hier is de Nederlandstalige versie:
The Guest Experience Model is a very effective and imaginative aid to design and deepen the experience.
The visitor journey is an effective, subjective and fun way to find out the level of experience of a festival, event or other activity. It also works for musea, shops and other (leisure)locations
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Design Research
There are numerous ways of researching. Sometimes you see the forest for the trees. That’s why we made a comprehensive libguide with lots of suggestions of how to do design research. Get inspired!
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The principle of a valuefit is an important way to align with you customers, clients or visitors. But in practice it is easier said than done. In this clip you get some interesting insights
Valuefit: that’s (not) easy
There is also a Dutch version of this clip:
Om een goed beeld te krijgen van de contactmomenten tussen een organisatie en zijn klanten kun je heel goed het principe van ‘Raakmomenten’ (in het Engels: Touchpoints) gebruiken. Hieronder vind je een algemene uitleg:
En in deze clip zie je voorbeeld van een ingevuld raakmomentenmodel:
Here is the English explanation of the Touchpoint model.
Een goede manier om achter de Raakmomenten te komen , is een ‘mystery visit’. Je gaat dan als een ‘gewone’ bezoeker (uiteraard zonder je kenbaar te maken!) naar de organisatie en geeft je ogen en oren goed de kost. Hier zie je meer over zo’n mystery visit:
In the analysis phase you are in the first place invited to use modern design research techniques (see separate libguide on this subject). But also more traditional ways of research can still be very useful. Here is a lecture that explains how you can get insights in the supply and demand chain (in Dutch only).
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The touchpoint analysis is a good way of getting insights in the state-of-being of an organization. This lecture gives an example of how that can be done in theme parcs. Maybe it can inspire you …. (language: Dutch)
En dit is de Nederlandse versie:
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Here is another perspective on touchpoints:
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An important aspect of imagineering is that it is value driven. So most of the times an imagineer will conduct some kind of value-research. In this lecture the basics of values are explained. The theory is accompanied by a few clear examples.
En hier is de Nederlandse versie:
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Agreed, It’s something you are more used to in marketing, but in imagineering ‘market selection’ can also come in handy. If you need to freshen up your knowledge about it, here is an overview on how to look at markets from an imagineering perspective.
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After you’ve made a thorough analysis it’s important to use all the information you found to come to a strong concept. In this lecture you are guided from the analysis phase to the creation phase in a very imaginative way with lot of examples.
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What is the best way of doing research on the experience of visitors? Well, why don’t you ask them? And that is just what is happening in conducting a visitors journey. After reading this lecture you will know all about it (language: Dutch).
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A lecture which introduces you to the philosophy and methods of Appreciative Inquiry:
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So called DNA analysis is powerful way of ‘defining’ the pure basics of an organization. Here you find several models that can help you in your search of this DNA (language: partly in Dutch)
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A number of books that might be interesting for you:
Or this great book on social constructionism:
An Invitation to Social Construction by A book on different design research tools:
A book on different design research tools:
Gamestorming A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by 
Gamestorming : spellen voor vernieuwers en veranderaars by Het is een al wat oudere uitgave, maar nog steeds zeer actueel: het proefschrift van Joke Oppenhuisen ‘Een schaap in de bus’. Het is een baanbrekend onderzoek naar waarden van de Nederlander
Title: Een schaap in de bus? : een onderzoek naar waarden van de Nederlander by Here is a website with a lot of tools and canvasses to fill in for every phase of the ABC model:
Consumer trends are, at their heart, an essential part of uncovering innovation opportunities. Otherwise they’re just intellectual masturbation: diverting, pleasant and entertaining, but with little real purpose;) Yet we frequently hear that ‘trends’ feel mysterious and opaque. Which is where the CONSUMER TREND CANVAS* comes in.
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Working in the field and doing action research is the best way for the imagineer to get the information needed. Sometimes more traditional research methods also come in handy. Here are some tips & tricks on deskresearch (language: Dutch).
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The essence, soul, personality, dna; these are just a few of the words that are used to define the identity of an organization. KaI Morel is an expert in this field and shares some interesting opinions on identity marketing (language: Dutch).
Identiteitsmarketing : waarom wij bestaan by _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
An important aspect of imagineering is that it is value driven. So most of the times an imagineer will conduct some kind of value-research. Often that is done by laddering. A special ‘branch’ of laddering is the Mean End Chain, in Dutch: Betekenis Structuur Analyse (BSA). In this article you will find some helpful illustrations and a lot of information on this subject.
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The Guest Experience Model is good way of analyzing the state-of-being of an organization in all it’s facets. It’s also a good business model to compose and illustrate the horizon of the renewed organization.
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Increasingly the imagineering process leads to new business. Here is a book that sheds a light on that. Part I of this book is about 'New Business Model Canvas' (based on the BMC by Osterwalder). Part 2 is about the Guest Experience Model. There is a lot of information about it to be found on the internet, like explanations, workshops and even a complete PDF of the book!
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The Customer Journey is an effective way of analyzing the way in which a customer ‘travels’ through your organization, event or festival. Here is a general scheme that can help you to make a specific customer journey.
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A lot has been said about values already in this libguide. This article has nothing new, but gives a clear overview of several theories on values (language: Dutch)
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This article on laddering may look a little outdated, but it’s still very topical (language: Dutch).
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Here is an oversight of questions you can ask, based on the philosophy of Appreciative Inquiry.
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And here you can learn how to formulate Appreciative Inquiry questions.
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A great way to canvas trends: https://trendwatching.com/trends/consumertrendcanvas/
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Looking for needs? Do you want to use a different model than the model of Maslow?
A list of needs and feelings from the center for non violent communication:
