Existential thought in relation to experience basically states that people create their own experiences and make meaning of those experiences in their own terms. There are no experiences put upon them - just experiences they enter into, make meaning of, and describe in their own terms.

Essentialism in relation to experience is the idea that there are specific attributes all experiences have,and if it does not have those attributes, cannot be an experience.

All very interesting questions, but to get back to your post, I think there many aspects of our lives, experiences we have, that we would like to be different. As designers we are able to provide different tools to people so they can use them to create the experiences they want. You may use a stapler to attach two sheets of paper together while someone else may use it to hold their book open while they read so they have both hands free (this example from Dick Buchanan). We may build products/tools/services with one use in mind and people will always find different ways to use them to get the desired experience.

To me, it’s not about capitalizing on this, but recognizing this is part of the design equation. Designers can only design the product/tool/service (and even process) and hope for a specific “user experience,” but in the end, people will determine what that experience looks like and how it makes them feel.

I don’t see our job to “designing the experience,” but providing the stuff that fuels experiences. I guess I’m more comfortable say we are experience enablers rather than experience designers. But that doesn’t sound as good in practice, does it?