New Year, New Visit, Part 2: Rethinking Campus Spaces Through Human Behavior

After fixing the movement and psychological flow of our admissions office, we turned our attention to a different question:

What does our space feel like to someone experiencing it for the first time? More specifically, What is our space communicating through the five senses?

Retail and hospitality brands design this on purpose. They think about what you see, hear, smell, touch—and yes, even taste—because they know those inputs shape trust, comfort, and memory long before a transaction happens.

Higher ed doesn’t have retail-sized budgets. But we don’t need them.

We just need to start designing our spaces the same way: through human behavior and sensory experience, not furniture catalogs.

What follows isn’t about copying Apple or Starbucks. It’s about borrowing their intentionality.

Lesson 1: Comfort is Strategic

Comfort is largely about how a space feels—literally. Where your body can rest, relax, and exist without tension.

In our old space, comfort was an afterthought. The formal furniture (circles, stiff seating, heavy wood) created an emotional tone that said: “Be polite. Sit upright. Don’t touch anything.”

If that sounds dramatic, walk into any Apple Store and compare the feeling. Apple designs around approachability — open spaces, natural materials, and surfaces that invite interaction.

We wanted that energy.

✅ What we changed

We redesigned our primary visitor space to feel like the living room of campus:

• Deep, modular couches

• Soft textiles (but not easily washable)

• Flexible seating families could rearrange

• Outlets in every direction

• A parent-friendly zone with high-top tables and a TV

People sat down differently. They asked questions differently. They stayed longer. Comfort isn’t decor, it’s an emotional permission slip.

Lesson 2: Sound Sets the Tone (Ask Starbucks)

Sound is one of the fastest ways to shift emotion in a space, especially when people are already anxious.

Silence can feel sterile or awkward — especially for nervous first-gen students walking into an unfamiliar space.

Starbucks intentionally curates music to match the brand tone: warm, approachable, steady energy. It creates an emotional baseline without anyone noticing consciously.

✅ What we changed

We let students make our playlists.

With clear boundaries (no explicit lyrics, nothing inappropriate), ambassadors built seasonal, student-forward playlists that gave the room a heartbeat. It instantly shifted the energy from “lobby” to “campus.”

Students walked in and heard themselves. Parents relaxed. Staff felt more relaxed. The whole room softened.

Sound is invisible, but it’s powerful.

Lesson 3: Scent Is a Memory Maker

Smell bypasses logic and goes straight to memory, which makes it one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, tools in experience design.

Hollister and Abercrombie may be the most famous examples, both dilute signature scents and diffuse them through the store. Why? Scent creates memory.

Disney pumps signature scents into different areas of their parks. High-end hotels scent their lobbies. Even supermarkets use smell to guide shopper movement.

✅ What we changed

We didn’t turn the admissions office into a perfume counter, but we did pay attention to:

• Air freshness

• Cleanliness (hints of lemon or fresh scents that indicate cleanliness)

• Subtle, neutral diffusers

• The welcoming smell of fresh coffee

Your space shouldn’t smell like nothing. It also shouldn't smell like Bath & Body Works. But it should smell like care.

Lesson 4: Taste Matters

Obviously, nobody is licking your admissions office. (If they are… you have bigger problems.) But taste is part of the sensory experience, and it’s overlooked far too often.

Taste isn’t about indulgence. It’s about care and care changes how people remember an experience.

Here’s the reality: Campus visits are long. Families get hungry (hangry?). Students get tired. Parents get cranky. And by the time they get to financial aid or their closing conversation, their blood sugar is tanking, which absolutely influences their perception of the visit.

Food = care.

Food = comfort.

Food = hospitality.

Especially in our state of Kentucky.

✅ What we planned

Right before the pandemic, I came up with a plan. We were going to partner with our dining services team to create a signature branded snack, either a custom granola recipe or a custom popcorn flavor.

Something:

• Easy to transport

• Widely allergy-friendly

• Inexpensive

• Memorable

• “Shareable” with family back home

It would have been part of the take-home experience, something small they could eat later, triggering the memory of their visit in a positive way.

Yes, it would feed people but that wasn't the intention. It was about leaving a sensory imprint to remember later.

Lesson 5: Visual Identity Must Match Your Brand

Vision is the sense we rely on first, and the one that creates the fastest judgment: “Does this place match what I was promised?”

Before redesigning, our admissions office looked nothing like the university we marketed:

• Brass chandeliers

• Beige walls

• Dark trim

• Heavy furniture

• Random formal portraits

It matched the taste of our Board of Trustees — not our students.

Meanwhile, our marketing was modern, warm, inclusive, student-centered, youthful. The disconnect was jarring.

Retail brands would never tolerate that. Your digital brand and physical brand must match or you lose credibility.

✅ What we changed

We aligned the physical space with the brand students already saw online:

• Institutional colors

• Modern lighting

• Student-centric photography

• A welcoming focal wall

• Frosted privacy glass that felt intentional

The space finally told the same truth as our marketing.

Lesson 5: The Family Experience Matters Too

Hospitality brands obsess over “flex zones”, areas where different types of visitors can be comfortable in different ways.

We needed the same thing. Parents and guardians often spent portions of our visit alone during class visits, coaching meetings, or student-only tours.

✅ What we changed

We created a parent/guardian flex hub:

• A semi-private corner

• High-top tables

• Plenty of outlets

• Soft lighting

• A TV with local news

Parents/guardians now felt considered. It wasn’t fancy, it was human.

Why All This Matters

When students walk into your space, their brains are already comparing it—subconsciously—to places designed for comfort and clarity: an Apple Store, a hotel lobby, a coffee shop they love.

And whether you acknowledge it or not, those comparisons influence how they perceive:

• Your brand

• Your staff

• Your tour

• Your campus

• Your culture

Retail and hospitality have already done the research. Higher ed just needs to borrow smarter.

Final Thought: Your Space Should Look, Sound, Smell and Feel Like Your Institution

Your space doesn’t just communicate through words or signage. It communicates through the five senses.

Here’s the most important thing I can tell you: There is no single “correct” way for an admissions office to look.

Our space became a campus living room because that’s who we were — warm, relational, conversational, community-forward. Couches made sense for us. Soft music made sense. Modern décor made sense.

But that may not be you. Your personality might point you toward:

🎨 A campus playroom If you’re quirky, youthful, or creativity-driven. Beanbags. Swings. Student art plastered everywhere. A hand-shaped chair (yes, please).

🔬 A campus innovation lab If STEM is your heartbeat. Clean lines, interactive screens, holograms, robotics, glass, metal, motion.

🎭 A campus studio If you’re arts-forward. Texture, light, installations, student work that rotates like a gallery.

🏛️ A campus parlor If you’re rooted in history. Warmth + modernity. Heritage that feels intentional, not dusty.

The goal isn’t to copy retail design or imitate another school. The goal is to make your physical environment tell the same story your marketing tells.

When a student walks into your space, they should think:

“Yes. This feels exactly like the place I’ve been imagining.”

Because if the physical doesn’t match the emotional, the experience falls apart.

Identity leads. Design follows.

Up Next…

Part 3: The Small Things That Send Big Signals

Restrooms, seating layout, wall space, micro-moments — all the little details that change the emotional tone of your visit more than you realize.