The CX Live! Episode 71: New Approaches to Ideate, Build and Measure Interactive Spaces with Brittany Bell of Deep Local and James Chester of Gumband

In this episode Brittany Bell, Managing Director at Deeplocal, and James Chester, Managing Director at Gumband, share the unique ways that briefing programs can develop more memorable in person experiences. From initial discovery and ideation sessions to how to engineer spaces that evolve over time, it’s the ability to measure the impact of these spaces by tracking actual utilization that briefing teams need to understand.

Highlights 

• A different approach to the Ideation Process - bring Creatives and Engineers together from the start 
• Key principles of “showing, not telling” and the concept of learning through play 
• Keeping experiences focused on a singular message using levels known as “Wading, Swimming, Diving” 
• Future proofing with technology - ensuring spaces can evolve over time
• Applying an integrated approach for platform control and measurement 
• Being prepared for Day 2 - the concept of installation as the starting line 
• Strategies for working with partners - collaboration, communication, and transparency
• Gathering stakeholder voices, and keeping the process on track via roles, not people
• The importance of playtesting and prototyping in the build phase - why testing design assumptions pays off 
• A 6 step Process - from “concepting” to “install and wrap-up”
• Gumband design - flexible and modular to integrate numerous technologies
• Measurements including collecting, storing and displaying data on both passive and active engagements helping to determine future content strategies 

Resources 

• Simon Sinek: A Bit of Optimism Podcast “Humanize with Thomas Heatherwick”
• The Deeplocal / Gumband Process 

Guest Thought Leaders 

Brittany Bell   
Managing Director, Deeplocal
Brittany Bell is the Managing Director of Deeplocal, an award-winning creative technology and experience design company. She has nearly a decade of experience in project management, interactive exhibit design, integrated marketing strategies, consumer insights, brand communications, customer experience, and events. 

At Deeplocal, she works with brands to create permanent interactive spaces that evoke playfulness, and build emotional connections and loyalty with their customers. As a forward-thinking business leader, she has the ability to distill complex ideas into easily understandable content and project plans. She excels at motivating large, cross-functional groups to align around a single goal and balancing multiple deadlines while maintaining an organized, yet creative, approach. 

James Chester 
Managing Director, Gumband
James Chester is the Managing Director for Gumband, an award-winning SaaS platform that allows brands to control and measure their interactive environments in real time from anywhere. With his expertise spanning architectural design, marketing and tech, he has worked on multi-million dollar building and development projects, and led the digital transformation of Samsung's global media business at Starcom. 

In 2021, he oversaw the launch of Gumband as a product division out of Deeplocal. Since then, Gumband has powered experiential activations and spaces for global tech and retail brands.

Clients: Google, Stripe, Meta, TikTok, Museum of the Future, Activision, Linkedin, Spotify, Netflix, etc