about

background info

We help you craft engaging experiences so that your audience is no longer a stranger

Our Mission

The mission of æStrange and the goal of AEX Design is to ensure that the initial steps of the audience experience are as engaging and enjoyable as they can be for your target audience. Once the experience alters into a habit for them, then you will have a loyal follower base. They will likely eventually go elsewhere to find new fun and enjoyable experiences, but yours will have them grabbed at a much deeper level. As long as it has provided value to them and is meaningful in its return on their investment, then your retention of them will be for a very long time, if not forever.

What we do:

  • Quality,
  • Creativity,
  • Detail Focused,
  • Value & Trust,
  • Relationships,
  • Hard Working

What we don’t do:

  • Work late/Weekends/Holidays,
  • Work for Free,
  • Promise unrealistic outcomes,
  • Sacrifice for profit

Our Vision

We want to provide your players with the opportunity to learn and experience the world as the exciting adventure it is meant to be. Through these experiences we aim to enrich learning and uncover new perspectives that allow for better communication and understanding between everyone.

The main aim of the process and methodology is to develop an experience that is enjoyable for your audience, and that eventually leads to habit formation and makes the activity second nature.

about

What Is æStranger?

æStranger was created with the purpose of helping organisations and people to better engage with each other and that everyone comes out with a win. The aim is that all parties with leave a net positive outcome and that everyone is better for it.

You may be wondering why the name æStranger? Well, we are all strangers in a strange land at some point, I know I’ve been that, many times in my life. But being strange is a good thing, it means we’re different, it means we get to experience things for the first time. And through those differences & experiences, we can learn more, from ourselves and from each other.

æStranger & AEX Design

æStranger & Audience Engagement & Experience Design is an analogous approach methodology. Using a broad base of experiences across multiple mediums for over a decade, we use analogy-based processes to develop out of the box solutions, which include first principle thinking systems, to analyse and implement engagement methods in new and innovative ways.

The design methodology utilises behavioural psychology, gamification, marketing, strategy and more to create an engaging experience for your audience.

The AEX Design is the process or art of improving activities by crafting challenging and enjoyable human experiences.

The ethos, therefore, tries to ensure that those experiences are crafted from the ground up so that they are organic, holistic experiences.

AEX Design solutions can thus be used in a wide range of areas, from education to business, to health care, to marketing, and so forth.

creators

chief crafter

Albert van der Meer

I am a Consultant at æStranger, based in Europe, predominantly in the Netherlands and Germany. My expertise lies in storytelling, audience experience and audience engagement techniques. With these skills and knowledge, I help businesses, educational institutions, and other corporate environments improve user, customer, and audience engagement through gameful design mechanics.

Before starting æStranger, I worked several years as a media producer, team-building facilitator and freelance filmmaker in Europe and the UK. After a successful career of helping upcoming and established businesses, business schools, as well as music and film talents. I now focus on supporting various businesses and educational institutions and individuals, by helping craft better and more engaging experiences for their teams, clients and customers.

I am also the co-author of Press Start: Using Gamification to Power-up your Marketing. The book offers straight-forward advice and immediate applicability of marketing & gamification techniques. It’s aimed at marketers who wish to fully engage their customers in a positive and meaningful manner using game techniques.

If you wish to Contact me about Consulting work then please don’t hesitate to head over to the Contact page and send me a message or connect with me via LinkedIn!

media

Clients

Testimonials

‘Albert worked on a review of our onboarding and early life with a view to making recommendations on what game dynamics could be added to increase conversion and retention.
Albert did an excellent job on this. He reviewed the platform in detail and really gained an in-depth understanding of the user journey and platform model so as to make his recommendations well tailored for our needs.
He checked in regularly to ensure he was on the right track and took feedback into account at all steps.
The final recommendations were detailed and comprehensive and enabled us to take forward into our product delivery. throughout the project Albert was a joy to work with.
I would not hesitate to recommend Albert to anyone else looking for support on similar projects to ours.’

Peter Wilcox, Product Director, Recast

‘Albert has provided us with a completely new perspective through which to engage our customers. His diligent, attentive and collaborative approach enabled us to get whole-heartedly behind his recommendations. What more could you want from a consultant at the top of his profession. Absolutely brilliant work.’ 

Tim Robertson, CEO, GetWaterFit

‘I have been working with Albert for many years at Ashridge/Hult business school in various projects involving experiential learning. What strikes me in working with him is in the first place his expertise in the tools and background for experiential learning but also his capability to link it to the reality of the managers in executive education programs. Next to this Albert is also a very nice colleague to work with : thinking outside the box when problems arise and a good sense of humor.’

Jean Vanhoegaerden, Professor of Practice, Hult

‘I’ve worked with Albert on many leadership simulation projects at one of the best corporate business schools in the country. Albert is always professional in his approach, and amicable with any group he works with. His attention to detail is excellent, and always appreciated when technical knowledge and equipment is involved. He is a pleasure to work with and a genuinely nice guy…and don’t forget to check out his new book on gamification :)’

Simon Heyes, Founder, novel

before you go!

Before you go and grab your copy of Press Start, would you like your free White Paper on how to better engage your audience and other bonuses?

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Before you go!

Before you go and grab your copy of Press Start, would you like your free White Paper on how to better engage your audience and other bonuses?

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.