Multidimensional takes brands where omnichannel never could

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A doctor recommends an over-the-counter topical cream to their patient. Ever fastidious, the patient gets a second opinion from Dr. Google. The patient likes what they read, and also learns that a big-box retailer just a quick bike ride away has the cream in stock. Mindful of their carbon footprint, the patient resolves to ride to the store rather than having the product shipped—even if it’s ostensibly less convenient. But at the pharmacy section, they’re met by a wall of locked glass, the cream tantalizingly out of reach. They buzz for assistance. No response. They buzz again. No response. Our patient confronts a stark lesson: Seamless shopping experiences remain more aspiration than reality.

For years, brands have sought deeper connections with customers by working to unify experiences across physical locations, websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms—a strategy that’s come to be known as “omnichannel.” Yet as our itch-inducing parable shows, such ambitions don’t always translate to practice.

As the lines blur between our physical, digital, immersive, and shared experiences, many brands are still leaning on omnichannel strategies to track old consumer habits rather than inspire new ones. They still conceive of consumers as grains of sand racing down a purchase funnel, or as inscrutable personas. They focus myopically on technology integration or a cohesive look and feel across touchpoints, at the expense of meaningful experience design. Such approaches are, in a phrase, a bit one-dimensional.

The reality is that people experience the world through physical, human, chronological, and technological dimensions. The moment we recognize the consumer journey isn’t just transactional or omnichannel, but multidimensional, we discover a better way to strengthen connections between people and the things and places they care about. When we design experiences that exist across these dimensions, we create moments that are not just consumed, but lived.

It’s time to ditch omnichannel and go all in on multidimensional. Here’s how:

Make the journey part of the experience

I first glimpsed the potential of multidimensional design (MDX) while serving as CEO of Frog, a global design agency. We were tapped by Disney to design the MagicBand, an all-in-one wristband for Walt Disney World Resort and Parks. It contained an RFID chip that interacted with various systems, from unlocking guest rooms to the FastPass scanner outside Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

The MagicBand mitigated crowding and increased the number of guests the park could accommodate. Linked to the guest’s billing profile, it streamlined guest purchases. Despite its lengthy and, at times, fraught genesis, the MagicBand led to real ROI for Disney, increasing park capacity by 5,000 guests and vastly improving customer experience metrics such as “intent to return.”

But the real magic trick? The MagicBand transcended its commercial mandate and extended the Disney experience beyond the park itself, introducing experience dimensions that brands rarely consider. Before a family ever set foot in Orlando, they received their bands, personalized by color and Disney character. Addressing this chronological dimension of experience, the bands supercharged anticipation for the family’s trip. Upon arrival, the family began appreciating the bands as their figurative and literal keys to the kingdom, imbued with both the physical and human dimensions of MDX. Long after the family returns home, the bands retain their magic, becoming cherished keepsakes.

Design for every dimension

Multidimensional experiences stoke wonder and eliminate friction across four human dimensions—physical, human, chronological, and technological. Today, designers and strategists have a growing suite of powerful tools to hide seams and conceive of multidimensional experiences that create a sense of total immersion, no virtual reality required (but often, quite useful).

Consider IKEA. The Swedish flat-pack purveyor was an early adopter of augmented reality, empowering customers to use their smartphones to view and position virtual furniture pieces in their homes. From the signage at the stores, to the in-app experience, to the Click and Collect convenience of order pickup, IKEA cares for all four dimensions of MDX, both in their component parts and as a greater whole.

Design the never-been-done

For my nickel, nothing projects the power of MDX like MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. A glowing orb in the desert, Sphere extends the bounds of what an entertainment venue—saying nothing of entertainment itself—can be. Its 16K LED display spans an area of 160,000 square feet. Sheathed in an extraordinary outer skin covered in 580,000 square feet of programmable LEDs, it’s even visible from space.

Developing the interior experience for guests and visiting artists, our teams at Journey realized that we weren’t just considering lighting schemes or the reflective properties of a tile. Our entry bridges, concourses, galleries, dressing rooms, lounges, viewing suites, and food and beverage venues were components in a cohesive multidimensional universe. Watching U2 inaugurate the space, with animations surrounding the band and 20,000 fans belting out “Beautiful Day,” the notion of omnichannel felt as small and disposable as a ticket stub.

How to apply MDX

Conveniently, MDX complements how future-facing retailers, hospitality brands, sports leagues, even financial services and healthcare firms are already directing their CapEx. According to Zendesk, 77% of business leaders see positive ROI from immersive experiences. The upside is staggering, with Grand View Research forecasting a $1+ trillion market opportunity globally for extended-reality experiences by 2030.

Brands ignore these dynamics at their peril. But where to begin? Not every brand needs an all-powerful wristband, or a sphere that’s visible from space. They do, however, need to audit their businesses across the four dimensions of MDX and assess where they’re strong and where there’s work to do.

Museums facing precipitous declines in attendance should ask how MDX might address this existential threat. Hospitals should apply multidimensional design to make their environments feel less like clinics and more like sanctuaries. Bank branches command millions of square feet, when most customers are just popping in to use the ATM. Don’t get me started on retail.

All of them should be putting MDX at the center of their organizations.

Far-fetched? Not as much as dismissing MDX and expecting to be relevant, let alone solvent, in five years. Omnichannel had its moment, and that moment is over. By addressing people across every dimension of their lived experience, MDX takes brands where omnichannel never could: closer.

Andrew Zimmerman is CEO and a cofounder of Journey.