Experience design and the origins and aims of leisure studies: Shifting the focus from context to experience

Abstract

This article, adapted from the 2019 Butler Lecture at the NRPA National Research session, provides an overview of the origins, development, and potential future trajectory of the field of leisure research. Economic and societal trends of the last few decades may signal the need for the field to intentionally transition its focus on leisure as a context to leisure as an experience. More specifically the field needs to actively consider how insights gained from 60 years of research on leisure experiences can be applied to contexts beyond leisure. To illustrate the possibility of such a shift, lessons learned from transitioning a traditional recreation management department to a department of experience design and management are shared.

Keywords:

• Leisure studies
• leisure research
• experience design
• experience management

This article is referred to by:

Remaining relevant, visible and vibrant: Embracing experience

It’s both experience and context, and that’s just leisure

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: A galvanizing force for the study of experience in the context of leisure

Acknowledgements

This paper was originally given as the Butler Lecture at the 2019 NRPA National Research Session. I want to express gratitude to the NRPA National Research Session, including the Co-Chairs Benjamin Hickerson and Keith Fulthorp, planning committee for extending the opportunity to deliver the Butler Lecture. I am grateful to Bob Rossman, Gary Ellis, and colleagues in my department who provided feedback on early drafts of this manuscript.