A startling new take on the Consumer Experience. Where `retail anthropologist` Paco Underhill leaves off on the Why and How We Shop, Pinault immerses us in the physical and technological context that has now begun to `Shop Us.`He breaks The Play Zone into three main chunks, each one of which carves out important new territory for both consumers and the companies that serve them: 1) An introduction to complexity science - and its applications to organisations - that stands on its own right as one of the finest primers in the area, chock full of examples from nature to business, and of course, shopping; 2) a review of some of the great new tools - and in Play, one of our own, most important intuitive tools - that unlock a new and increasingly necessary means of tackling complexity (the LEGO material is particularly irresistable - where do you get those kits?!) and 3) a future-state view of how key technologies are blending to transform the consumer environment and experience, from biometric scanners to next-gen customer profiling software to miniscule radio-frequency ID tags.
The technology even invades the book. There`s a little sticker inside with its own serial number unique to each copy of the book. Check out Pinault`s Website theplayzonebook.com for a neat and playful dive into all this stuff, including links to what you can do with the `electronic product code` serial number.
It`s a bit like a Johnny Mnemonic experience, cramming a lot into a little space, both in the book and brain. A long version or workbook might help. Take it when you`re awake!
