Introduction: The Imagineering Process by Louis J. Prosperi

The Imagineering Process: Using the Disney Theme Park Design Process to Bring Your Creative Ideas to Life by Louis J. Prosperi is about creativity. It's a close look at the principles behind the process Imagineering used in designing and constructing Disney. And it applies the same process to other fields. It is taking a concept from one field and transporting it to another.

The author has this to say about ideas and creativity.

“Ideas are at the same time the most important and the least important part of any creative project. I know, that seems like a paradox, but bear with me. Ideas are the most important part because every creative project starts with an idea. Good ideas are the basis for all successful creative projects.”

He later adds:

“But generating ideas is not all there is to creativity. It’s important, to be sure, but it’s only one aspect of the challenge of employing our creativity. Ideas are only a part of being creative, and in some ways (here comes the paradox) they are the least important part. What’s equally (or perhaps more) important is how we follow through and develop our creative ideas.”

So what is imagineering?

Imagineering is the blending of two words. It is the blending of expertise from several fields. Imagineering adopted techniques and practices from animation and movie making to develop the craft of Imagineering.

“The Imagineering Process is a simplified version of the process Walt Disney Imagineering uses when it designs and builds theme park attractions, resorts, and other venues.”

Summary of The Imagineering Process by Louis J. Prosperi

Alcoa Corp used the word in an ad in the 1940s and promoted what they considered to be imaginative approaches to engineering. However, Walt Disney popularized the word. It is technical and scientific expertise in addition to creative and artistic expertise.

Imagineering = Engineering + Imagination

According to Walt Disney,

“Imagineering is the blending of creative imagination and technical know-how.”

Imagineering is adapting skills, knowledge, and expertise from one medium and applying them to another. Does this sound familiar to you. If it does not, it is something that you should be doing every day. This means looking to other industries and even countries to see what has been done before.

The Imagineering Process

The Process Louis Prosperi created is a simplified version of the process Disney uses to design and build theme park attractions, resorts, and other venues. Here are the stages of the process.

1. Prologue: Needs, Requirements, and Constraints
2. Blue Sky
3. Concept Development
4. Design
5. Construction
6. Models
7. Epilogue: Openings, Evaluations, and Show Quality Standards

Prologue: Needs, Requirements, and Constraints

Before you start the project, identify needs, requirements, and constraints. Define the overall scope and out of scope work. It is in this stage you identify the problem you are trying to solve. Now when put this way, you can see how the Imagineering Process compares to other creativity and ideation models. Although it is part of the Imagineering Process, the Prologue actually starts before the actual process begins. It is also similar to the Prologue section in a book.

The goal of the Prologue is to define your overall objective including what you can, cannot and must do when developing and building your project.

Blue Sky

The initial ideas and concepts created through brainstorming and concept design create the vision with enough detail to sell to others. In this step, you not only create the vision, but you identify what you are going to create. Your story, creative intent, and other important elements needed.

This is the first main step of the Imagineering Process. In this step, you dream up ideas and initial plans to address the Needs that triggered this process. Blue Sky consists of brainstorming and concept design.

Concept design: Develop ideas generated during the brainstorming into concept proposals. It is often iterative and generative. Ideas from brainstorming are filtered based on Requirements and Constraints related to the Need. Could be sketches, paintings, written descriptions, models and various pitches.Communicate concept so others understand what you are trying to do.

The goal of the Blue Sky step is to persuade the stakeholders that the project meets the original Need and is worth investing in.

Concept Development

When the concept born from the Blue Sky stage is selected for development, it is fleshed out. This means you flesh out the vision, developing initial ideas during Blue Sky stage. The initial concept created in Blue Sky is developed further and fleshed out so you can start more detailed design. It is now time to focus on the practical aspects. Do whatever research is necessary to bring the project to life.

Design

This stage is also known as the Schematic stage. Detailed design and specifications to guide physical construction of the project. The vision starts to move toward reality and you create detailed design documents. The vision is translated into detailed plans to use in construction. the output in this stage are blueprints, story treatments, and models.

The Design stage is to develop plans and documents that describe and explain how your vision will be brought to life. This stage consists of two components. One component is the Macro Level which is the overall project. And the second component is the Micro Level, which is each small piece of the project.

Put your expertise and knowledge to work. Have checkpoints along the way.

Construction

Physical construction and implementation of the project. Your vision becomes a reality. This stage is also known as the implementation phase. This is the stage where all the concept and design work from the previous stages comes together and the project takes the last step from concept to reality. The goal of construction is to build the project based on the design in the previous stages. When you complete the Construction stage, you test and adjust.

Test and Adjust is a part of the Construction stage because it takes place at the end of the construction effort. The specific activities involved in constructing your project will of course depend on the nature of project. Construction does not just mean assembling the final product, but also includes creating and fabricating the various pieces and parts used to assemble the project.

Models

Models integrate the various aspects of design. Build models of various sizes. At this step of the process, the objective is to validate the design at every stage. You create mock-ups and prototypes at each step in the process. The goal of creating Models is to test and validate your design at each stage to help solve or prevent problems that may arise.

Prototypes help you to discover if your solution works and what you need to refine. Models include storyboards, mind maps and outlines. For me, the Models were the drafts of the Bookish Notes. The ask for feedback, was to also ensure that I achieved the stated goals and objectives for the course.

The Imagineering Checklist

The goal of creating models and prototypes is to test and validate your design at each stage to help solve and/or prevent problems that may arise during the design and construction process. Any tool or process that helps you evaluate and refine your design can be considered a model.

Questions

1. How can you use models at the various stages of the Imagineering Process?
2. Are you using playtesting to better understand how your audience will experience your project?
3. Could you use a form of workshopping to refine and develop your project?
4. Are you using prototypes to refine your ideas? Are there specific types of models you can use that are applicable to your field?
5. Can you use storyboards to see the big picture of your project?

Epilogue: Openings, Evaluations, and Show Quality Standards

When construction finishes Disney opens the attraction for guests. This translates to sharing what you created and inviting audiences to experience it. How well did you meet your goals? In this stage, customers get to experience your product and services. Evaluate if the solution works. Show Quality Standards. Have specific proposed updates or changes made to the product.

The goal of the Epilogue is to present your project to your audience, allowing them to experience and evaluate its success and effectiveness over time. You Test and Adjust. In real life, you often have to revisit stages in the Imagineering Process before you get it right.

Conclusion: The Imagineering Process

It is decision time. Based on what I’ve written here, does it make sense for you to read The Imagineering Process? Or is this summary enough for you now? Make that decision for yourself.

The creative technique outlined in The Imagineering Process is new to me. And it may be new to you as well. Usually, I do not like it when an author fills a book with too many examples because it makes the book much longer than it needs to be. However, in this book, I would have welcomed a couple more examples.

I like the way the seven steps are structured in the imagineering process and I can see it will benefit anyone who uses it. I tested the technique with some examples, and I liked the way it worked. The Imagineering Process gives you another tool to add to your toolkit.

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