DURATION
6 months
(December 2021 - June 2022)
| What is XR?
Extended Reality (XR) is the umbrella term for immersive technologies.
It is taking the physical world merged with virtual elements to create an immersive experience. This includes AR(artifical), VR(virtual), MR(mixed).
MY ROLE
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Project Manager
TEAM MEMBERS
Macay Fisher
Shivam Hinogorani
Sid Kamath
SKILLS LEARNED
Semi-Structured Interviewing
Collaborative Ideation
Project Scoping
For my capstone project in the UW HCDE (Human Centered Design & Engineering) program, I partnered with 3 amazing students to create the Ullo concept.
A mobile tool blending physical space and digital tech for retail.
In what new way we can bridge the gap between the brick and mortar retail experience and the online shipping experience?
We explored how digital tech can enhance in-store experiences, using extended reality (XR) to elevate the consumer's interaction with businesses.
Juggling hats between UX researcher, UX designer, and project manager, my responsibilities includes
Researching & identifying problem space
Exploring various solutions
Testing concepts / running experiments
UllO
Overview
| What is the goal of UllO?
Ullo enhances and transforms in-store shopping with XR technology, acting as a personal assistant to daily tasks and discovery of retail shopping.
| Why UllO?
Excitement to explore the latest technology fueled our final project.
I was interested in working on innovative ideas and new technology that could change the way we live.
| Who is UllO for?
Ullo is targeting users of everyday retail technology and business owners looking to incorporate extended technology.
Creating user flow for creating and upload content for businesses and users by creating guidelines for content creation.
Build guidelines on first steps for new users for ease of transitional use.
Expand design on filter feature; enables users to sort through experiences and points of interest using relevant filters. This feature currently only supports filtering down to exclusively AR-supported experiences.
Allocate more time for user research and further analysis.
9 Consumers
According to the market research company, those between the ages 18-34 are more likely to adopt augmented reality.
“Early adopters[of XR] are on the younger side. People aged 18-34 account for half (49%) of all dedicated followers – the most highly engaged group. (47%)” (YouGov).
Targeted Research Insight:
#1 Shopping online provides more affordances not in store.
2 | Research
Research Insight Findings
Shopping online provides more affordances not in store.
Affordances: includes reviews, social media inspiration, instant price comparison, recommended products, online deals, and rapid comparison between stores.
Users would like to see stores that provide extend reality options.
Users desire discoverability, customizations, and personalization
1 | Discover
“What current XR retail experiences exist?
3 Business Owners
Owners and managers have a stake in business succession and the implication of changes to an in-store experience.
For a unique-to-brand identity, participation from businesses owners will be necessary to reflect, design, and implement experiences.
Mixed Methods
Affordances enhances user experience by implementing a pop-up feature that displays price, product description, and nutrition facts, users can quickly gather essential information.
This streamlined approach facilitates efficient online searches for additional details, enabling price comparisons, recipe suggestions, and notifications about product availability.
Overall, such design considerations contribute to a more user-friendly interface that meets the needs of consumers effectively.
How can extended reality (XR) bridge the gap between in-person and online shopping for consumers and businesses?
Connecting physical & digital space
Mix methods is a form of research using qualitative and qualitative research. Measurable numerical data and valuable quotes paint a well rounded picture towards building the design of the app.
Competitive Analysis - identified direct and indirect competitors to research strengths and weaknesses to our own in XR.
Pre-screening and Surveys - determined the eligibility of the users and gain quantitative analytical data.
15 exploratory Interviews - identified pain points and solutions.
Focus Groups - facilitated discussion with targeted group, gathering qualitative research to gain users’ feedback and insight.
12 Usability Tests - 1 on 1 feedback for understanding user early reaction as well as iterate on needs, values, and desires are of the product.
Within the focus groups we conducted a brainstorming session, discussed favorable key components, and led a wire framing activity for participants to imagine what an AR retail themed application would look like.
For user interviews we presented users with a lofi and hi fidelity mock up for evaluations with thoughts and feedback on progress, also known as user testing.
Digital Workshop: Analyzing Key Findings
Methods of Research
After reviewing audio recordings and parsing through quotes, we looked for codes: common lines or phrases across all interviews. On a affinity diagram we sorted and organize information.
3 | Design Choices
Understanding our users’ needs and thoughts were crucial to designing this experience.
Throughout the iteration process we conducted a usability study testing for user feedback testing, user engagement, and user satisfaction.
A heuristic evaluation was conducted based on the Niels Norman Group’s set of standard metrics . The purpose of this evaluation was to focus on the functionality, ease of use, and design aspects to continue improving.
With this we were able to be pointed to direction of improvements.
Due to time and technical constraints we were not able to fully bring our vision to life and pivoted to designing for concept. Some limiting factors that contributed:
Technical: Though we were tech enthusiasts, we did not have a technical expert on the team, this limited our scope and understanding of realistic possibilities.
Ambiguous Product Vision & Strategy: Challenges occurred with 4 brilliant overlapping brain ideas and not enough direction, the lack of constraints made it more difficult and time consuming in choosing scope direction.
Limited Time & Budget: Rushed into design process before fully planning out which caused major set backs for concept changing.
Design Corners: Due to time constraint, we had to cut on important design process like: design systems; information architecture, user personas, fully functioning high prototype, which could have strengthen the project further.
Introducing UllO
3 Retail Employees
Retail employees have a direct effect on creating the shopping experience.
Employees have the most interactions and observations with consumers in the business.
This can provide insights into the primary demographic’s behavior, reflecting second hand observations.
This was a very challenging project, similar to what I imagine it would be like to build a start up from scratch. It was both engaging and rewarding to navigate the complexities of a fast-paced environment while adapting and acquiring knowledge on the fly—both technically and conceptually.
The UW HCDE Capstone projects provide the opportunity for UW students and industry leaders to partner in working together to address real-world issues in human-centered design and engineering. Originally our industry partners were moving in the XR direction however due to unfortunate circumstances, we had to move forward without the industry guidance.
Parting ways with our sponsor was a tough decision, particularly since it is uncommon for a capstone course. This choice did result in some delays, but it also allowed us the freedom to explore our genuine interests instead of adhering to a predetermined statement.
The thing that I enjoyed the most about this project was be challenged in thinking abstractly out of the box without constraints of current technology, and to daydream and collaborate with such a fun team with big ideas that reached far!
Initial exploration, my team and I familiarized ourselves with the field of XR engaging in secondary research, narrowing knowledge gaps through articles, studies, experts, videos, analytics.
“What XR experiences provides the most engaging, informative, and intuitive interaction for consumers, while furthering the goals of businesses?”
As a blank canvas, the most challenging aspect of this project was choosing what direction to take between breadth versus depth. As there was free range, ambiguity was difficult to navigate with various considerations to make such as business objectives, success metrics, user goals, and constraints.
15 Exploratory Interviews
The goal of conducting exploratory interviews was to identify and understand what kinds of problems exist allowing opportunity for brainstorming innovative solutions. Furthermore, we were able to learn more about users’ pain points, motivations, behaviors.
Exploratory Findings
E-commerce is rapidly outpacing brick and mortar sales.
Digital allowances such as social media, reviews, and rapid access to information and imagery are attractive to consumers but unavailable in store.
Online shopping cannot fully replace the atmosphere, instant gratification, and up-close nature of the retail environment.
Who are our Users?
After conducting a brief competitive analysis, it was unveiled that the top most users of retail XR include consumers, business managers, and retail employees. Additionally we were able to expand on knowledge of marketing strategies, design choices, and identifying gaps.
Dynamic space designed to enhance user engagement through a thoughtful personal blend of augmented reality (AR) business posts and user-generated content.
Geolocation, the platform ensures that each user is presented with local content, fostering a sense of community while also highlighting innovative technologies from companies.
Encourages users to interact with and explore new offerings within their vicinity.
This seamless integration of AR elements and localized content, positions the platform as a forward-thinking hub for technology adopters.
Targeted Research Insight:
#2 Users would like to see stores that do offer extend reality.
Discoverability
The likes page serves as a valuable tool for users to organize and curate their favorite content.
Through the creation of folders, users can categorize liked items according to their preferences, making it easier to navigate through saved content.
Dedicated notes tab enhances this experience, allowing users to jot down ideas or maintain to-do lists that align with their interests.
Functionality ensures that users can swiftly return to their desired content, promoting a more personalized and efficient experience.
Brand Guidelines
High Fidelity Glimpse
Evaluate
Targeted Research Insight:
#3 Users desire customization and personalization.
Personalization & Customization
4 & 5 | Evaluate & Iterate
Challenges & Improvements
How did research insights convert to design choices?
Iteration & Limitations
When making visual design choices for Ullo, we wanted the feelings evoked to be energy, passion, and optimism. Through color psychology, red, yellow, and orange stirs these emotions. Because the AR experience is new and untapped, we wanted to push the feeling towards excitement.
Looking back and reflecting now, this color palette could have been improved to have clearer contrast. It isn’t the most accessible towards people with color blindness and low vision.
