reimagining hospitality and event planning, through immersive technologies.
Product Design
User Testing
Interaction Design
Motion design
The Challange
The wedding event is considered to be one of the biggest and most important events in our lives. Choosing the right venue from thousands of options involves endless considerations: the atmosphere, design, cost, geographical location, wedding date, number of guests, and much more.
Our challenge was to fundamentally change the way people make that decision.
the brand
Experience it for real, Before the real experience.
The client approached us requesting a rebrand and the creation of a new, modern VR app aimed at an international market.
My main role in the branding process was motion design, which included creating logo animations and a fun, engaging presentation.
insights
Before starting work on the project, we made sure to have a clear roadmap:
Project goals
Our goals for the project were, first and foremost, user-centric:
a good first impression
Creating a positive experience for people trying VR for the first time while using the product.
the expirience
An immersive expirience, making people feel as they are experiencing aplace for real.
closing the deal
Complementing the work of the sales agents and helping to increase revenue for the venues.
Personas
We had 2 main archetypal personas using the product:
• The Bride \ Groom (but honestly, mainly the bride😄)
• The older family member
user & Competitive Reaserch
We started by interviewing relevant potential users to gain valuable insights. We also looked at competing products, both in the event planning world and in VR apps in general.
Most potential users have never experienced VR
The majority of the population has little to no experience with VR, although most people showed excitement to try it out.
Different people, different priorities
Brides-to-be (and their families) have different priorities when looking at venues. Some need to see every single room the venue has, while others want to see how it looks in different seasons.
The big players have yet to enter the market
Big hospitality/event planning companies have yet to enter the VR market, leaving us an opportunity to create something first and unique.
VR is still in its "early adopter" phase
We checked out a lot of different VR apps from various fields. We noticed that, with a few honorable mentions, most VR interfaces were still not as polished as mobile and web apps tend to be.
the expirience
We set ourselves the goal of creating a pleasant and positive experience for first-time VR users. After some discussions with the client, we made two major decisions that would impact the product interaction:
No remote control
We wanted to eliminate a potential pain point for both the user and the client. Remotes can be easily damaged by inexperienced users and are costly to replace. Additionally, batteries can suddenly run out, etc.
This led us to implement a look-to-click interface, which presented its own set of unique challenges to solve.
An accompanying sales agent
The client decided that, in the first iteration of the product, users would need to meet with a sales agent in person. Only future versions would allow users to receive a VR headset via mail.
This meant that, instead of traditional onboarding screens, we wanted to create a way for the agents to help onboard new users.
user flow
We started by identifying the optimal user-flow, including additional features that will be implemented in future updates (marked in grey):
wireframing
Designing for VR introduced new design challenges, such as utilizing 3D space and depth in useful and interesting ways, understanding how sizes and space behave in 3D while working in 2D, and many more.
We started by designing in 2D and testing the designs in a VR headset as flat projections. The best designs were then tested in a real 3D environment, using ShapesXR, a spatial design and prototyping platform on a Meta Quest headset.
The enviroment
We didn’t want our interface to exist in a void. Our goals in creating an environment were:
• Make it engaging and interesting, inviting exploration.
• Enhance brand exposure.
• Create a vast, open feeling.
• Implement a changing background, adaptable for future expansion of the app into travel, hotels, etc.
After many different iterations, we ended up with "The Planetarium"
user testing
We conducted user testing in two stages:
• 2D testing using Figma's prototyping tools to get the general flow right.
• Testing specific flows in 3D using ShapesXR, and in Unity with cooperation from our development team.
Some interesting insights from our user testing included:
Making clicking an intentional action
With no controller, we used a look-to-click interface. During testing, we noticed that some users were accidentally clicking items by looking at them for too long or having trouble finding an empty place to put the "cursor."
We decided to add dedicated "action" buttons to provide a clear target to click on.
Adding better clues
After adding the "action" buttons, we noticed some users still missed them. We decided to add better clues in the form of "hover" interactions, both to explain the expected action and to highlight the action buttons for the user.
agent Companion app
Our companion app needed to serve 2 main functions:
• A way for the agents to help onboard new users.
• The ability for the agent to see what the user(s) see, understanding what interests them the most.
The app will mostly be used on company tablets, but it also needed a phone version as a fallback option.
design
User Interface
The design process focused on using color and visual cues to improve the user’s experience and ease of use, while emphasizing brand language and color throughout the app.
We also put a lot of effort into using interaction design to our advantage, incorporating movement and micro-interactions to emphasize certain elements and actions for the user.
The Mini-Player
To give the user the ability to control the video mid-playback, we created the Mini-Player.
It appears only when the user looks 30° downward, and disappears when they look straight ahead, providing basic playback controls.
Agent Companion App
The agent companion app was designed with the same care and attention as the client-side app, making it easy to use while maintaining the design and brand language.
Landing page
For marketing purposes, we created a landing page aimed towards venue owners and managers.
final thoughts
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Read other case studies
Learn more about my work with these projects:
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Motion Graphics
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