In yesterday’s post the concept of the “setting” at Disney was introduced. Going a little deeper, from the excellent guest services book Be Our Guest, Disney vice chairman Marty Sklar gave the following list of setting design principles:

• Know your audience – before creating a setting, obtain a firm understanding of who will be using it
• Wear your guest’s shoes – never forget the human factor; evaluate your setting from the guest’s perspective by experiencing it as a guest
• Organize the flow of people and ideas – think of your setting as a story; tell that story in an organized, sequenced way
• Create a visual magnet – a landmark used to orient and attract guests
• Communicate with visual literacy – use the common languages of color, shape, and form to communicate through setting
• Avoid overload – do not bombard guests with information; let them chose the information they want when they want it
• Tell one story at a time – mixing multiple stories in a singe setting is confusing; create one setting for each big idea
• Avoid contradictions – every detail and every setting should support and further your organizational identity and mission
• For every ounce of treatment provide a ton of treat – give your guests the highest value by building an interactive setting that gives them the opportunity to exercise all of their senses
• Keep it up – never get complacent and always maintain your setting

Around the Disney organization, these principles were known as “Mickey’s Ten Commandments for the Setting.” Whether it was a movie, a book, or a theme park, the Imagineers at Disney know the importance of setting as they told their stories.

What stories are your settings telling?

From Be Our Guest, by The Disney Institute