Beyond the 5E Framework

Experience design was developed over 30 years ago, when the internet was still nascent. Two frameworks in particular, the Compelling Experiences Framework created by Doblin (now Deloitte Digital) and the 5E Framework created by Conifer Research, have been key tools in how designers understand and codify experiences.

If you aren’t familiar with these frameworks, here is a brief intro.

There’s a significant overlap between these frameworks; with the Institute of Design playing a role in each. But do they still matter to the larger field?

Focusing primarily on the 5E Framework due to its wider adoption and notoriety, we gathered 14 experience designers, innovation strategists, and design researchers—some of whom were there as the field of experience design took shape—to help us answer the question:

Emphatically Yes.

We heard from every single practitioner that this framework was not only relevant, but was still being used today in service of crafting experiences. However, as two young strategists who refuse to leave well enough alone, we needed more than that. To leave the answer as a simple yes, especially with the collective centuries of experience we had among our interviewees, would be a waste. So, we pivoted. Knowing the 5E framework was still relevant, we now sought to understand  how to augment it.

So, what did our experts—all ID alumni with substantial work logged in experience design—have to say about this framework?

They loved how easy 5E was to teach, but desired a framework that held more detail.

Simplification allows facilitators to quickly familiarize stakeholders with the framework, but fails to capture a fully formed experience and build credibility with leadership.

Our interviewees craved a tool that could not only make it easy to understand experiences and engage larger groups, but inspire leadership toward action and capture the humanity present in experiences.

That is, human experience is core to experience design, and a framework should help designers better capture this critical component.

In the end the results from our experts was clear: the Compelling Experiences and 5E frameworks absolutely remain relevant to the practice of experience design today. The 5E framework makes it easier to understand experiences, but falls short in capturing the humanity that is so essential to those experiences. Human experience is core to experience design, and a framework should help designers better capture this critical component. And so, we think: Experience design could benefit from complementary frameworks.

We will introduce the first of these frameworks, focused on understanding the larger context of an experience, in Part 2 of this series.

Michael George

Michael George (MDes + MBA 2025) is a strategic experience designer who works at the intersection of place-based narrative storytelling, business strategy and innovation, and human-centered design. His views on the value of meaningful and transformative experiences are informed by his prior roles, including at Walt Disney Imagineering and Royal Caribbean Cruises, as well as from his time serving as the leprechaun mascot for the University of Notre Dame.

Andrew Russell

Andrew Russell (MDes 2025) is an innovation strategist and design researcher. He  focuses on improving design research rigor and practice. He teaches human factors and design research at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).

Jeremy Alexis

Jeremy Alexis is an Associate Teaching Professor at ID and the Vice Provost for Academic Strategy at the Illinois Institute of Technology. At ID, he teaches Analysis & Synthesis and Innovation Methods.