Sitting On The Shoulders Of Giants

Wednesday, September 3rd 1997 was a pivotal day for me. I was 14 years old, had been granted my first without-supervision-pass to a see a live gig in Dublin's Point Depot Theatre. It was an extra night hastily added to the front of Oasis' Whats The Story? (Morning Glory) tour.

Liam Gallagher and his brother Noel both took to the stage around 8pm, for what would be the only time the feuding duo shared the stage in Ireland that year. Liam cancelled the next two nights leaving Noel to sing solo. Family can be challenging.

Being under 5ft tall at the time, I was lucky to attend that concert with a lifelong friend (still to this day) @Joey Donnelly, who at one point hoisted me up on his shoulders so that I could get a better view of the stage. Joey was also somewhat vertically challenged in those days, but strong enough to squat me upwards. As I frantically rewound the clicking wheel on my disposable camera, Wonderwall rang out across the 8,000 strong choir in the nations capital, and I felt, if only for a fleeting moment, that I had been gifted a higher level experience than anyone else in attendance. The hair stands on the back of my neck as I think of it even now.

All too quickly, a security guard flashed his torch at us both, now a two man wobbling totem pole, and in an instant I was returned to ground level.

"You have to go up there man, it's unreal" - I screamed. "I know, I was up before. We'll get kicked out!", Joey replied. He never made it up that night, however as years rolled on, I am sure I returned the favour somewhere or other. My lower lumbar pain doesn't lie.

Why was this moment so significant? Well, this weekend marked the 50th live music event I had the fortune to attend in the past 2 years.

Everywhere I have gone, from Bueno Aires to Bundoran, Coachella to Christy Moore - one thing holds true at each event. At some point, you look around and there is someone sitting on the shoulders of another - having their Wonderwall moment.

Now, if they are in your way - you might be bothered, but spare a thought for a second to the person on the bottom. The lifter. Here they have probably someone their own body-weight sitting on their shoulders, jumping up and down for a few minutes, usually during a key part the set, when the crowd is going most wild - and they are focussed on keeping their balance; and are most likely not seeing anything.

You see, the lifter, is (literally) holding the experience of another over the experience of their own. This small selfless gesture reveals the very heart of the designer: the understanding that at the heart of designing every great experience is empathy.

Without knowing it, Joey taught me the true value of walking a mile in the shoes of those you wish to build experiences for. Today it is called human-centred design, and is the fulcrum of design thinking. As Johnny Ive, Apple's far-famed designer often says:

Everything we see tells us something about the person who but it there.

Well, here's to the lifters.

Onward.