Presented at WebExpo in Prague 2017. As consumers and providers we overlook the importance of healthy, coherent endings. There was once a rich culture of reflection and responsibility, but over recent centuries this has been lost. Producing a mixture of long term societal oversight, and short term denial. We are left with a bias customer lifecycle that is limited to the exciting vocabulary geared strictly around all things new. This has given rise to guilt-free consumers, an overly-blamed business sector and a society which finds itself at a loss when it needs to grapple with responsibility and consumptions biggest ills.

1. Ends.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod @ClosureExp
closureexperiences.com
Closure Experiences in Digital:
Why we need to create better endings.

2. What
Why the customer life cycle is biased
Hundreds of years of ends
The psychology of endings
What it means to Digital
Techniques and models
What you can do in your company

3. 1. 2. 3.
Any consumer experience can be
broken down into 3 stages
On-Boarding Off-BoardingUsage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

4. On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

5. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

6. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

7. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

8. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
T&Cs
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

9. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
T&Cs
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

10. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
T&Cs
Emotionless death
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

11. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
T&Cs
Emotionless death
Lingers forever
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

12. Fuelled by commerce Fuelled by society
Language of self actualisation Language of safety and security
The start of the relationship. It is the conclusion of the relationship.
engagement
time
Advertising
Marketing
Packaging
T&Cs
Emotionless death
Lingers forever
Denial
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
On-Boarding Off-Boarding
Usage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

13. Why don't we create
consumer endings?
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

14. A brief history of
endings

15. Life was hard
El Ángelus. Jean-François Millet. CCJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

16. Death was familiar
Ars Moriendi. Meister E.S.Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

17. Heaven a reward
Belshazzar’s Feast. John MartinJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

18. Funerals meaningful
A Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet. CCJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

19. Plague arrived
Antonis MilanosJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

20. Meaningless death
Scène de la peste de 1720 à la Tourette by Michel SerreJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

21. Mis-managed
Raphael's Portrait of Leo X with cardinals Giulio de' MediciJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

22. Protestant uprising
Scène de la peste de 1720 à la Tourette by Michel SerreJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

23. Fasting
Christ in the Desert. Ivan Kramskoi. 1872Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

24. Jobs
Eisenwalzwerk. Adolph MenzelJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

25. Investment
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

26. Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences. CWD Negative Collection, Orange & District Historical Society
Work less? Buy more?

27. Medicine & science
manages death
Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross.Thomas EakinsJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

28. We hid it away
Gross Clinic on display at the Army Post HospitalJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

29. Consume Heaven on
Earth without end
American Abundance for allVintage ad Wheaties sweepstakes 1958Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

30. Endings had
value and a
vocabulary
Endings are hidden,
overlooked and
unwanted
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

31. Modern endings
hidden, overlooked and unwanted

32. Hidden ending.
Canon Ink Cartridge
On-Boarding Off-BoardingUsage
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

33. HTC One Mini Packaging
Some packaging
avoids the real end.
Starting experiences wrapped
up as long term responsibility
Closure experience overlooked
as important or actionable
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

34. Revenge porn
The un-ending
nature of digital
assets expose us.
One in ten young women
have been threatened
with public posting of
explicit images in US.
Data Society and the Centre for Innovative Public Health Research
Kevin Bollaert being prosecuted. http://www.news.com.au/Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

35. services
products
digital
…the consequences
we see in
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

36. The
Psychological
Impact of
Closure

37. Ernest Becker
“most human action is
taken to ignore or avoid
the inevitability of death”
Denial of Death
Terror
Management
Theory
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

38. Terror Management Theory
Kasser and Sheldon
2000
Researchers attempted to
connect consumption to
Terror Management Theory
Liberation. M.C. Escher 1955Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

39. Terror Management Theory
Kasser and Sheldon
2000
“suggested that concerns
about mortality, although sub-
conscious, strongly influence
our behaviour and aspirations
about material goods and
economic status”
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

40. “people judge experiences
based on their Peak (an intense
moment of the experience) and
at their End”
Peak End Rule
Daniel Kaheman. 1990
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com
Thinking fast
and slow

41. time
feeling
in-different
agony
joy
+peak
end
-peak
Peak End Rule
Daniel Kaheman. 1990
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

42. Peak End Rule
Daniel Kaheman. 1990
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

43. Ends in
Digital

44. 95millionuploads daily to Instagram
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
socialpilot.co. 2017
42 billionlikes daily on Instagram

45. Storage
Source : Matthew Komorowski
Chart Last Updated: March 9, 2014 - This graph of hard drive cost, over 35 years.
$0.043 per giga byte
$0.000043 per photo
Source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/average-cost-of-hard-drive-storage/
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

46. The three seconds it takes to
choose has become too
expensive for people to use.
Delete.Viktor Mayer-Schonberger
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
Storage

47. Digital Hoarding
BMJ. Picture of patient’s living room, published with his permission,Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
“He had four external hard drives containing
the original pictures and four external hard
drives containing backups. He never used or
looked at the pictures he had saved, but was
convinced that they would be of use in the
future.”

48. Lingering assets
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

49. 32bit death from Apple
Users not off-boarded
A technical death.
Lacking an emotional funeral.
32 bit Apps no longer
function
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
App store provide no
guidance to off-boarding
32 bit developers fail to
support the off-boarding

50. Terms & Conditions
T&Cs that only
allow the user
to fail cannot
end amicably
20,000 words
12 mentions of “Termination”
6 mentions of “Until”
2 mentions of “Opt out”
All reference Apple as decision maker in any
situation. User has no apparent power
Closure should be a… fair, just conclusion
without negative consequence.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

51. Terms & Conditions
“Apple reserves the right to disband a Family
in accordance with the “Termination” section
of this Agreement.“

52. Terms & Conditions
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

53. Controlled sharing
By Daniel Case via Wikimedia CommonsJoe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
Facebook sharing fell 5.5%
from mid-2014 to mid-2015
Personal sharing fell 21%
Messenger apps (Whats App, Facebook
Messenger, SnapChat) growing at 25%
more than standard social platforms.
Snapchat has attracted 25
percent more users than
Instagram in the year to
2016 Mary Meeker’s 2016
www.theinformation.com

54. We are all hiding
Consumers are denying info requests
Rise of Centenarian - users putting in fake DOB, to
hide personal information.
Digital Entertainment supplier
"People consider VPNs to be a niche tool, but they
are surprisingly widespread. As many as one in four
people use them."
Jason Mander, Head of Trends at GlobalWebIndex
Gratisography. via www.pexels.comJoe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

55. Why do
emotional
endings?
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

56. “Closure in narratives attempts to
preserve the moral and social order
which would be threatened by endlessly
erring narratives.”
Elizabeth MacArthur. Extravagant Narratives
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Raiders of the Lost Ark

57. Richard Neupert. The End, Narration and Closure in Film
“Solid closure in conventional narratives
and histories satisfies individual and social
desire for moral authority, a purposeful
interpretation of life, and genuine stability”
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Raging Bull

58. The narratives of
consumer endings are…
“endlessly erring narratives”
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Don’t Look Now

59. Endings add moral and
social order to narratives.
Do we need this in our
consumer society ?
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com Shane

60. A good
Closure Experience
will be…

61. A good Closure Experience will be…
Consciously Connected to the
rest of the experience through
Emotional Triggers that are
Actionable by the user in a
Timely manner.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

62. Consciously Connected
Consciously Connected to the
rest of the experience through
Emotional Triggers that are
Actionable by the user in a
Timely manner.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

63. CCO by Ryan Stone
Epson’s PaperLab
Visible ending and rebirth.
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

64. Emotional Triggers
Consciously Connected to the
rest of the experience through
Emotional Triggers that are
Actionable by the user in a
Timely manner.

65. Spotify Goodbye.
Emotional and meaningful

66. Actionable
Consciously Connected to the
rest of the experience through
Emotional Triggers that are
Actionable by the user in a
Timely manner.

67. Trov Insurance
On demand
insurance.
Challenging the blanket
time based insurance
commitments
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod closureexperiences.com

68. Timely
Consciously Connected to the
rest of the experience through
Emotional Triggers that are
Actionable by the user in a
Timely manner.

69. Rando
Anonymity makes closure simple
Closure Experiences. Fjord. 1.10.2015Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.

70. What can you do?

71. 1. Think about it.
2. Talk about it.
3. Audit.
4. Map it.
5. Design it.
6. Plan it.

72. Think about it.
!

73. Talk about it

74. 74
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
Q1. Do we have a conscious ending?
Q2. What type of ending do we have?
Q3. Are consumers happy after the End?
Audit
Ask yourself some questions.

75. Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
engagement
time
Starting Experiences Closure Experiences
Reflection
Commitment
Last use
Map it
Break up
First use
Projection

76. 76
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
When designing the end think about these characteristics.
Is it Connected to the beginning of the experience?
Is it Emotional and meaningful for the user, like your adverts?
Is it Actionable by the user so the acknowledge it happening?
Is it done in a Timely manner?
Design it

77. 77
Joe Macleod. Closure Experiences.
5 x 55% of your project time
5 years out
To reveal your products
off-boarding needs…
Plan it
When developing new products and services
don't forget to plan the end in.

78. Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod. @ClosureExp www.closureexperiences.com
End.

79. Ends.
Get the book on
Amazon.
Get the ebook on
Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod. @ClosureExp www.closureexperiences.com

80. goo.gl/T2ZXVP
Get the book on
Amazon.
Get the Ebook on
Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords
Joe Macleod. @mrmacleod. @ClosureExp www.closureexperiences.com
Ends. Chapter1.