AR/VR Mini Projects
Challenge 1
How might we create the ultimate personal assistant for a design work setting?
This is a 1 week challenge of designing a personal assistant in either an AR or VR setting. The solution should be beneficial to designers.
Role:
Prototyper
Time:
1 week
Team size:
5
Tools:
Pencil & paper
Play-doh
A-Frame
Javascript
Skills:
Ideation
Interaction design
Storyboarding
Prototyping
Solution at a glance: digital prototype
This is a team project. Each of the team member chose an interaction to prototype. The final result was GREAT! Check out our video demo!
My contribution
I designed the “highlight relevant inspirations“ and “voice command in AR/VR“ interaction. I gave myself 2 days as a sprint, using A-Frame and JavaScript on digital prototyping.
Design Process
Identify problems
- It is difficult for designers to get samples of similar work and relevant inspiration when they are feeling blocked.
- Currently designers go to websites such as dribbble, behance, and Muzli for inspiration. However, the results are not customized to their needs, their project, or to their company.
- There is no repository for unused ideas that did not get implemented. Though difficult to find, they are often creative, useful for other projects, inspirational, and encourage creative growth.
Brainstorming
After identifying the problems, each of us proposed solution with a storyboard and explained the technologies we chose. Every group member could vote on the ideas that seemed promising.
The selected idea
A personal assistant that helps designers find inspiration
Our group agreed to focus on designing a personal assistant that guides designers through an Augmented Reality “room of inspiration” and helps them find inspiration relevant to the problem at hand. Due to this blend of physical and digital worlds, we chose Augmented Reality over Virtual Reality as the solution.
Physical prototyping
Wizard of Oz
We used paper, sharpies, play-doh, and sticky notes to make interactions and filmed a storyboard. With this physical prototype in hand, our team could proceed to prototype digitally without forgetting the goals and interactions that should be focused on.
Digital prototyping
Impacts
Our team did a great job on dividing works and utilizing our programming skills on digital prototypes in a 7-day sprint. “If there’s a digital prototyping award, this team would win it“, by Michael Nebeling, the Director of Information Interaction Lab.
AR/VR Mini Projects
Challenge 2
Redesigning the Amazon AR view
This was an 1 hour evaluation + critique + redesign on Amazon “AR view” feature.
Role:
Interaction designer
Time:
1 hour
Team size:
Individual
Tools:
Pencil & paper
Sketch
Principle
Skills:
Ideation
Interaction design
User flow
Prototyping
Solution at a glance
Identify problems for AR View
The current AR view experience is not holistic enough for users to try it.
- It doesn’t allow users to put multiple objects at the same time.
- It doesn’t allow users to view product details in the AR mode.
- It’s almost impossible for users to access this AR view feature by clicking “camera” icon inside the search bar.
Transform the problems into research questions
- How might we make product details more available in the AR view mode?
- How might we encourage users to try out the AR view at their convenience?
Ideation
Currently users cannot see/change different product models/colors in the AR view mode. The only way to see it is to choose more information button, and Amazon would bring users back to the product page. It’s not so immersive and convenient for users to access product details.
The other thing I would change is to put an "AR view” button on the product page. Currently Amazon already included “view 360” on the product page; I would add the AR view button beside the “view 360” button so that users get a clear idea that these 2 buttons allow them to view products in a detailed and realistic way.
Design rationale
The rationales I used for my design include the principal "Flexibility and efficiency of use" from "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" and "the principle of proximity" from "Gestalt Theory". The ability to view product details such as other color options or models increase the flexibility and efficiency of the AR experience. Users don't have to be forced to go back to the product page to see other colors and redo the AR view again. To add an AR view button near the current 360 view button creates the proximity - similar goals and designs are put together.
Impacts
Feedback from Michael Nebeling, the Director of Information Interaction Lab: “You pushed the envelope and proposed a tighter integration of the product details with the AR view in a way that no one else had thought of in the course. While the idea sounds simple initially, it is hard to do and your design is very interesting because of that. I really liked that!“