Designing for Nostalgia
There’s a great scene from Mad Men about nostalgia…
When it comes to voice interaction, I don’t think nostalgia has been mined for its value. In the box office, this isn’t the case. Every 10 years, there’s a reboot of another film franchise to try to rekindle the passion of our youth. In music, the Backstreet Boys are on tour again or there are rumours of a Spice Girls reunion. There are tween generations that are growing into disposable income every year and are then aspiring to the deep emotions they had felt when they were young.
Why aren’t there more Skills or Actions engaging our nostalgia? Yes, there are game show skills but what about Teddy Ruxpin, Speak’N’Spell, My Little Pony (apparently, you have to tread lightly around this one), GI Joe, or other experiences that were big in the 70s and 80s?
Adding voice into a relaunch of these items could mean that a generation of parents could introduce their kids to the same but enhanced versions of the products they played with as children. There’s gold in them hills!
