The project was done as a class assignment and was sponsored by Avanade.
Overview
During my Purdue UX Degree program, I collaborated with Avanade, a Digital Creative Consultancy, as part of a project. My assignment was to explore emerging technologies such as AR and VR to create a new product. I decided to develop a product for amusement parks that leveraged AR and GPS technologies to enhance the experience for visitors.
Timeline & Status
2 semesters - 4 months, Launched December 2018
My role
UX Designer & Researcher - Surveyor, Workshop Leader, Visual Designer, Lead Prototyper
Team
1 Project Owner
1 Team Lead
3 UX Designers/Researchers - Me included!
Research - Creating clarity from ambiguity
Secondary Research
I aimed to explore how to seamlessly integrate digital elements into physical design to enhance, rather than detract from, the amusement park experience. Initially, I conducted analogical research on the current applications of AR in navigational apps. Many apps utilize AR technology to guide users using their camera and a digitally drawn line. Additionally, I investigated how amusement parks currently incorporate maps and technology to enhance visitor experiences. One notable technology is Disney Parks’ MagicBand, which enables interactions with designated touchpoints throughout the park.
Disney’s website has a page devoted to an interactive 3D map of the park which shows the location of park attractions such as entertainment, restaurants, guest services, etc.
American Airlines utilized Apple’s AR kit and GPS to help navigate users to their gates, showing popups for restrooms, cafes, and convenience stores along the way.
"I get lost in the parks due to lack of signs!"
"I hate waiting in long lines!"
"Dealing with the large crowds sucks."
Discovery
Design - Creating based on the data
Codesign Session
To confirm our survey results and gain deeper insights into others' amusement park experiences, I organized a co-design session with five participants. We engaged in three group activities: affinity diagramming, crazy eights, and a final reflection. The main takeaways from the session were:
The importance of ensuring our solution is compatible with mobile phones.
The necessity of incorporating AR navigation into our final solution.
Design
After brainstorming various ideas, such as AR park navigation, ride entrance time tracking, and AR games for queue entertainment, we finalized our design direction. Our solution combines wearable bands, akin to those at Disney parks, with AR technology in amusement parks. These bands would utilize GPS for friend location tracking, displayed on your mobile phone. Visitors could also use their phones for park navigation and viewing local attractions through AR.
Lessons Learned - How can we improve? What can we learn for next time?
Retrospective
Looking back, while our product appears finalized, its actual usefulness is questionable. The map application seems to be the most practical feature, and AR is already a common feature in many navigation apps. However, the integration of the armbands with navigation feels disjointed. We may have been overly focused on the novelty of using emerging technology without thoroughly assessing the necessity of the armbands. Tracking people accurately with phones is already feasible.
In future projects, I would probably forgo the co-design session and instead focus on early design and iteration. This approach would give us the opportunity to conduct user interviews and refine the designs accordingly. Although similar steps could have been implemented in this project given more time, the constraints of strict deadlines necessitated maximizing the available time.
