Pigalle Tavakkoli - What if emotion is the real design tool?

The Experience Designers

Steve sits down with experience-design pioneer Pigalle Tavakoli to explore what she calls "StoryFeeling". The shift from telling stories at people to orchestrating the feelings they live through.

Building on her recent keynote at the London Experience Week and forthcoming book - The Building Blocks of Experience Design. She explains how emotion-first design unlocks deeper narrative power. Starting with detective-grade audience research, designing for a full spectrum of feelings (not just "happy"), and letting those emotions drive lasting thought and behaviour change.

We explore her journey from theatre and fashion production to founding the School of Experience Design, showing why tech should amplify rather than replace human insight, and share practical tools like her "Emotion Change Equation" for crafting truly transformative experiences.

Find out more about Pigalle’s upcoming book: schoolofexperiencedesign.net/book-form

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pigalletavakkoli

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

01:05 Formative Years and Parental Influence

06:15 Journey into Experience Design

08:47 Teaching and Developing Methods

14:36 Human-Centred Design Philosophy

22:15 The Role of Technology in Design

31:00 The Role of a Producer: A Two-Way Dialogue

32:17 Exploring Human Emotions in Experience Design

34:08 The Emotion Change Equation

35:48 Designing Memorable Experiences

41:27 Reflecting on Emotional Impact

45:46 Defining Experiences and Transformations

49:12 Personal Transformational Experiences

51:56 The Interconnectedness of Human Experiences

56:28 Closing Thoughts and Where to Find More