Marketing and pre-experience design

[I’ve been interested for a while](http://www.ryskamp.org/brain/?p=278) in how marketing materials can reveal–and influence–the core experience of a product. Russell Davies explores this well, [calling it “pre-experience design”](http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2008/04/pre-experience.html)

So I found it very interesting [what images are shown by reviewers for the iPad, the Xoom, and the Blackberry Playbook](http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-vs-hp-touchpad-vs-blackberry-playbook/).

The iPad shows big beautiful pictures of people’s faces. The Playbook shows lots of windows in a multi-tasking layout. And the Xoom shows…an analog clock.

Ok, so I’ve always been prejudiced against that clock. But it clearly sets expectations about what the experience of this device will be like–you will touch widgets on a flat screen.

Also, check out the official homepages for each product–including the URL strings—and see how they influence your expectations of the experience:

* [HP Touchpad](http://www.palm.com/us/products/pads/touchpad/index.html)
* [Motorola XOOM](http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Tablets/ci.MOTOROLA-XOOM-US-EN.overview)
* [Apple iPad](http://www.apple.com/ipad/)
* [Blackberry Playbook](http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/)

Right from the start, we get the chance to set expectations for our experiences. How might we do that better?