New to the world of Experience Design? Do yourself a favor. Download this whitepaper from Kevin Mullet of Macromedia. And don't let the dated references fool you. Though the paper was written in 2003, it's a digestible synopses of what Experience Design is—why it matters and how the business world is increasingly looking to exceptional customer experiences to increase market share and gain competitive advantage.
Clearly the whitepaper was influenced by books like the Experience Economy—and though it doesn't reference Web 2.0 (probably because the term didn't exist)—it does articulate the direction of where interactive experiences are heading. I looked this over shortly after it was posted on Macromedia, and nearly three years later, it seems almost prophetic. Enjoy.