Ends. Closure Experiences workshop Euro IA.

Euro IA
Ends.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod @ClosureExp 
closureexperiences.com
Closure Experiences:
Adapting and Designing for the End

Introduction &
Intentions of
the day?

Aims:
Get dark and reﬂect.
Laugh out loud and learn.

Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
1. Introductions and Intentions
2. Presentation about Closure Experiences
3. Sharing worst endings
4. Transaction Model Swap Shop
5. <br>
6. Descending Engagement
7. Designing Fear and Forgetting
8. <br/>
9. End of Debt Party
10. Aftermath Personas
11. Auditing Ends
12. Check out…
5 mins
20 mins
10 mins
35 mins
15 mins
35 mins
35 mins
15 mins
35 mins
10 mins
10 mins
10 mins
235

On-Boarding Oﬀ-Boarding
Usage
engagement
time
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
Closure
types
Afterm
ath
targets
Transaction
types
1.
3. 4.
D
escending
engagem
ent
2.
Postservice
personas
5.

Exercise: Sharing Goodbyes
1. Discuss the worst goodbye you
have experienced.
Method
Duration: 10 mins 
People: Partner/2
2. Discuss the best goodbye
you have experienced.
The end of a product, service or digital product.
Or maybe a relationship?
Maybe it was great and made you walk away
with a great sense of a complete journey and
experience?
Maybe it was awful, unjust, unbalanced and left
you feeling angry, sad or bad?
Maybe you just didn't notice it was over?

Transaction Model
Swap-Shop
1.

customer life cycle
life death
On-Boarding Oﬀ-BoardingUsage
Closure
Experiences
awareness
consideration
selection / sign up
ﬁrst time use continued use
transaction models closure models
Transaction Models

10
Transaction types
The Transaction type establishes the relationship for the rest of the
service delivery and therefore characterises the Closure Experience.
Payment after
delivery
Payment
before delivery
Scheduled
payment Synchronous
Continuous
observation
restaurants, plumbers,
hairdressers, taxis
ﬂights, trains, music
concert
gym membership, car
insurance, utility
payments
digitised services, pay-
as-you-go,
commissioned services
Google Maps,
Facebook, carriers
2 3 4 51

11
Transaction model swap shop
Payment after
delivery
Payment
before delivery
Scheduled
payment Synchronous
Continuous
observation
restaurants, plumbers,
hairdressers, taxis
ﬂights, trains, music
concert
gym membership, car
insurance, utility
payments, loan
repayments
digitised services, pay-
as-you-go,
commissioned services
Google Maps,
Facebook, carriers
Swap the model and service

Exercise: Transaction Model Swap Shop
Pick an established provider.
Consider the current transaction model they use. 
For example...
Restaurant = payment after delivery 
Coach travel = payment before delivery
Utility company = scheduled payment
Pay-As-You-Go= synchronous payment
Google = continuous observation
Method
People: Groups 3-6
Changing the transaction
model will aﬀect the character
of the service and subsequently
how in ends. 
 
With your group pick a diﬀerent
transaction model and apply it
to your chosen service. 
Discuss the changes this would
make.

Descending
Engagement.
2.

Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com
Descending Engagement.
5 act play, laid over Aristotle’s 3 act format.

“Closure in narratives attempts to
preserve the moral and social order
which would be threatened by endlessly
erring narratives.”
Elizabeth MacArthur. Extravagant Narratives
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Raiders of the Lost Ark

Richard Neupert. The End, Narration and Closure in Film
“Solid closure in conventional narratives
and histories satisﬁes individual and social
desire for moral authority, a purposeful
interpretation of life, and genuine stability”
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Carrie

Endings add
moral and social
order to
narratives.
Do we need this in our
consumer stories ?
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Shane

engagement
time
Dénouement
(untie)
Primary narrator
Messages and symbols
Actors and actions
Exercise: Descending Engagement

engagement
time
Primary narrator
Messages and symbols
Actors and actions
I am alive I am dying
Packaging
1st time use
Transaction
T&Cs
Telling the
story / dream
Dismantle
Funeral
Casket
Responsibility
handed over
Data
transferred
/ deleted
Emotional
reﬂection.
?
?
?
?

Taking the techniques used in traditional
narrative structures. Try to balance the Off-
Boarding with the On-Boarding.
What sort of indicators establish the service or
product. What type of narration does it use? What
sort messages and symbols? What sort of actors
and actions are happening?
Method
People: Small groups 3-6
1. Pick a service/digital product
2. Consider the On-boarding
narrative.
3. Construct an Off-boarding
experience that mimics /
reflects or compliments that

Designing fear and
forgetting, in digital
3.

Start ups
Fail Fast >>>

Social: Unintended Consequences
Photo: Jamie SchuhJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

Lingering assets
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

Revenge porn
Share it.
Put it in the cloud.
Your on your own…
One in ten young women
have been threatened
with public posting of
explicit images in US.
Data Society and the Centre for Innovative Public Health Research
Kevin Bollaert being prosecuted. http://www.news.com.au/

We are all hiding
Consumers are denying info requests
Rise of Centenarian - users putting in fake DOB, to
hide personal information.
Digital Entertainment supplier
"People consider VPNs to be a niche tool, but they
are surprisingly widespread. As many as one in four
people use them."
Jason Mander, Head of Trends at GlobalWebIndex
Gratisography. via www.pexels.com

Closure Experienced by the User Obsolescence created by industry
Fear Bullied Context
Change
Exit Forgotten Exhausted
(functional)
Outdated
(technical)
Contractual
(service)
Uncool (stylistic)
Paranoid that the
digital service
provider knows
too much about
you, that too
much personal
information has
been disclosed to
them.
Trolled off,
individuals in the
community have
attacked the user.
User’s context
has changed,
which has an
impact on what
digital services
they use. Having
kids, moving
home, changing
jobs.
Provider has shut
down, sold out,
gone bust.
App deleted off
phone but
account still
active, unused
email accounts
that you have
forgotten about.
Gems in Clash of
Clans, PAYG credits.
Game completed.
Bit Rot’ - out dated
computer
applications and
their offspring files.
‘Vint Cerf, the Vice
President at
Google’
Flash, Silverlight.
T&Cs. Ending the
provision of a
service at the
completion or
termination of a
contract.
Skeuomorphic GUI
interface versus
flat.
Has close links to
Branding
28
Examples of common closure experiences the user has with digital.
And a further 4 of obsolescence driven by industry.
Closure Experiences in Digital

Exercise : Designing fear and
forgetting, in digital
Consider the ways that users experience endings
in digital. Much of the pace and reasoning around
endings is driven by commerce. The argument for
good storage, ability to search, could equally be
negatives for some peoples experience.
A better ending for the user would be a clear,
safe, and comfortable and an absolute closure
experience.
Method
1. Pick a service/digital product
2. Create a dark, strange, sinister
user scenario ending.
Consider the awful situations people endure
lingering assets, killing far away rhino’s, lack of
mental health diagnosis, and a future of hiding
yourself.
This time in the style of a horror ﬁlm.

Historically.
Bank account.
Average usage 26 years. pre 2008.
Life expectancy 73.Retire at 65Adult at 18 years Employment 45+ years
Mortgage. 20-30 years.
Pension. Entire working life.
Ends were rare in Financial Services.

Short term products?
A study from Adobe finds that, on
average, mobile apps achieve half
their lifetime usage in the first six
months.
Adobe
7 day switch.
Legal expectation in UK.
Apps half-life within 6 months
Pensions. Technology, Legislation, and market
conditions have created opportunity
for quicker turnover of products.
Financial Services products end more frequently and quicker.
11 different pension pots
According to UK Department of Work and Pensions
Banking.
Technology.
According to Gallup, the average US citizen has 3.7 Credit Cards.
Credit Cards. 3.7 Credit Cards per US.
Usage of banking apps increased in UK from 10% in 2011 to 34% in 2015

Now.
Bank account.
Engagement driven
through apps / tech
Mortgage.
Remortgage market
Pensions. 11 on average
Ends now common in
Financial Services.
Life expectancy 73.Retire at 65Adult at 18 years Employment 45+ years

And we are LIVE!

And we are DEAD!

Pensions
Pensions need to connect
a Starting experience and
a Closure experience over
decades.
1 in 4 of these pension
pots goes missing through
lack of contact.
Age Concern
Average of 11 employers in
our lifetime.
Department for Work and
Pensions UK
20s 65s40 years of v i s i b i l i t y
lifespan

Thad Zajdowicz. CCJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
Credit cards
US household debt as of Q1
2016, is $132,086
www.nerdwallet.com
Credit cards US average $15,310
Consumer rewarded for more debt.
Never rewarded for paying back.
Gaming debt.
Not celebrating
good debt payers.

Mortgages
Jameslwoodward
There should be a period of
reﬂection and celebration.30 years of
payback shouldn't
end in a moment
Sadly debt is only celebrated, when more debt is added.
Paying oﬀ debt is not celebrated,
avoiding a Closure experience for the user.

1. Deﬁne the person. Who is the target for this.
What age, background, etc. Tell us there story.
2. What sort of debt?
Was it a mortgage? A massive car loan? Or do
they need to deal with a massive Credit Card
debt? Maybe its even the emotional debt they
owe there parents?
3. What sort of emotions have they gone
through over the course of the 25-30 years.
4. What sort of amazing, emotional ending
should they have?
Method
How should such an enormous commitment end?
Many endings in stories have big group meetings of
people - weddings, funerals, parties. Is your event
the same?
Exercise: End of debt party

42
Aftermath Targets
Rebirth Reﬂection Rest
Released to take part in
another experience
Look back at a
wonderful experience
Provides an
opportunity to rest, a
moment of peace
Resentment
I could have made more
of that opportunity
Regret
I feel cheated, and its
someones fault.
Desirable Avoidable
On-Boarding
Usage
Oﬀ-Boarding
Where will your customer end up?

43
Target market data
Known/current
customer data
Post Service Personas
Based on departed customers
Current Personas
Fantasy? Reality?
Post Service Personas
Vs

1. Develop a persona that has just left
a product/digital/service
relationship.
2.What sort of Aftermath are they
experiencing?
Exercise: The Aftermath Persona
Consider the emotions felt by them - the negative and
positive impacts they might be experiencing.
Consider the actions a user might take as a result of the
leaving of a service. Maybe they would go to a
competitor, tell friends about their experience or discuss
it via social media.

Auditing Ends.
Do you have
a conscious
ending?
Who is
empowered
from the
moment of
transaction?
How does the
service/
product
descend to
the end?
What type
of ending
do you
have?
How do you
dismantle
the service/
product?
Do you have
an Aftermath
Target?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Does your service / product
have a conscious endings
beyond that which is legally
expected.
Have you considered how
your customers to leave? Is
it easy? Are they held
captive?
A power relationship is
established at the moment
of transaction. This can be a
balanced, fair distribution
of power between supplier
and consumer.
Or a tyrannical power
relationship, where the
consumer loses out.
The outcome of this impacts
the remainder of the
relationship and therefore
its ending.
Human made narratives
have well thought through
endings. They reveal a
meaningful decent out of
the story.
Elizabeth MacArthur, in her
book Extravagant
Narratives says “Closure in
narratives attempts to
preserve the moral and
social order which would be
threatened by endlessly
erring narratives.”
In stark contrast, consumer
experiences have little
consideration to endings.
In Services, for example,
there are broadly 5 types of
Endings.
Time Out - 2 week holiday.
Credit Out - Pay As You Go.
Task/Event Completion -
Parcel delivered, boiler
ﬁxed.
Withdrawal - Break the
contract, leave the ﬁlm
early.
Lingering - A pension that
you no longer pay into. An
unused gym membership
Every service or product
relationship has some form
of content lingering.
Physical products can be
dismantled. Services and
digital products capture a
great deal of data about
consumers.
These lingering assets need
to be neutralised to protect
our future selfs. How would
you do it?
Endings usually end up
being a quick goodbye, and
then a bombardment of
emails with options on re-
engagement.
The aftermath for the
consumer and their
emotions, are considered
their own problem.
What would you like people
to think after they left?
What do you want your
departed consumer to feel?

Auditing Ends.
Do you have
a conscious
ending?
1.
Does your service / product have a
conscious endings beyond that
which is legally expected.
Have you considered how your
customers to leave? Is it easy? Are
they held captive?

Auditing Ends.
Who is
empowered
from the
moment of
transaction?
2.
A power relationship is established
at the moment of transaction.
Payment after
delivery
Payment
before delivery
Scheduled
payment
Synchronous
Continuous
observation
restaurants,
plumbers,
hairdressers, taxis
ﬂights, trains,
music concert
gym membership,
car insurance,
utility payments,
loan repayments
digitised services,
pay-as-you-go,
commissioned
services
Google Maps,
Facebook, phone
manufactures,
carriers
The outcome of this impacts the remainder of
the relationship and therefore its ending.

Auditing Ends.
How does
the service/
product
descend to
the end?
3.
Human made narratives have well
thought through endings. They reveal
a meaningful decent out of the story.
“Closure in narratives attempts to preserve
the moral and social order which would be
threatened by endlessly erring narratives.”
Elizabeth MacArthur.
In stark contrast, consumer experiences
have little consideration to endings.

Auditing Ends.
What type of
ending do
you have?
4.
In Services, for example, there are
broadly 5 types of Endings.
Time out Credit out
Task/Event
completion Withdrawal Lingering
2 week holiday, 3
year degree, 1
year software
subscription,
Pay As You Go,
Points on your
driving license
Parcel delivered,
boiler fixed, car
serviced, concert
watched, operation
successful, money
transferred
Break the contract,
leave the film
early, end the
relationship,
A pension that you no
longer pay into. An
unused gym
membership
Endings in Products and Digital
have other aspects.
You can find these on the www.closureexperiences.com

Auditing Ends.
How do you
dismantle
the service/
product?
5.
Every service or product relationship has
some form of content lingering. Physical
products can be dismantled. Services and
digital products capture a great deal of
data about consumers.
These lingering assets need to be
neutralised to protect our future selfs.
How would you do it?

Auditing Ends.
Do you have
an Aftermath
Target?
6.
Endings usually end up being a quick
goodbye, and then a bombardment of
emails with options on re-engagement.
The aftermath for the consumer and their
emotions, are considered their own
problem.
What would you like people to think after
they left?

Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod. @ClosureExp www.closureexperiences.com
End.

Ends. Closure Experiences workshop Euro IA.

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