My Role: Interaction Design, UX Research
Project Team: Visual Designer, Developer
Duration: January 2020 - May 2020
Tools: Unity 3D, AR Foundation, Visual Studio, C#Programming, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma
Masters' Thesis Project, CSU East Bay
What is Daftar?
Augmented Reality (AR) mobile application and virtual portal that demonstrates a virtual space filled with users' mementos and personal objects when working in offices that do not provide private desk space.
Design Goals
Daftar seeks to create a sense of identity and belonging in the workplace as employees are finding themselves coping with these extremes.
How does it work?
The user clicks through the screen. First, they will need to scan an area to place the door to the portal. Once they are happy with the placement, they can click on the “Stop Scanning” button to ensure that the portal does not keep moving around and start interacting with the objects and exploring the room!
Final Concept
Ultimately, we create a mobile application and two unique and highly personalized augmented reality (AR) portals that demonstrate a virtual space filled with users' mementos and personal objects.
Project Process
EXPLORE
Research & Finding
Workplace personalization and its impact on productivity
Up to 75% of companies have moved towards “activity-based” workstations, in which employees have no dedicated desks and must find new places to work each day from a variety of collaborative or “heads down” areas.
Studies have repeatedly proven that most workers are happier and more productive when they are able to personalize their spaces.
Studies have repeatedly proven that most workers are happier and more productive when they are able to personalize their spaces.
Data source: Haddington Night
Comparative Analysis
The idea of creating a long-lasting digital profile that showcases personality and interests currently lacking in other applications. Most AR use cases are meant for fun, fleeting moments – quick to enjoy and easy to forget.
How is the competition different?
► Daftar focuses on reshaping the workspace by creating a recognizable virtual environment for the user.
► Daftar seeks to fill in a real-life gap in the workplace, as users lose ways to express themselves creatively.
User Interview
To get a better understanding of user needs, we decided to interview workers in both cubical and open-space office environments. We defined questions and did qualitative, quantitative, and contextual research.
Qualitative Research
Who do we interview?
The respondents were between the ages of 21 and 36 and included designers, developers, and marketing teams working in open spaces and cubicles. The questions were related to both private AR rooms and AR desk objects, to distinguish which idea was more interesting to users and why.
Quantitative Analysis
we created a user survey to understand users' needs and gain feedback on the effectiveness of personalizing spaces on employees' emotions and work productivity. There were a total of 10 questions. We followed up with 2 participants to create a customized virtual room for them.
Result of Interviews
During the interview, we realized that most people want:
► To have the opportunity to decorate their space and share it with their colleagues.
► To work in their private offices instead of open spaces to get more privacy.
► The interviewers indicated that they use AR applications with simple interfaces.
► A virtual room to help them disconnect from hectic work environments, and rejuvenate them to re-engage with work.
Contextual Research
To get a better understanding of user behavior, we decided to visit people in an open-space workplace to observe how they do an activity. Watching employees at JLL (Real estate company) and ASI (Associated Student Inc.)
To save employees right and privacy I used the JLL photo from Google
What We Observe:
► Employees hardly move their chairs even during their break time which is not good for their health.
► They use Augmented Reality (AR) applications to have cute objects around their desk.
► They barely talk or socialize with their colleagues and mostly spend time on their phones.
DEFINE
After interviewing working professionals and researchers, we came up with a lot of valuable data. The next step is to define the major design problems that should address in our design.
Affinity Mapping
We conducted affinity mapping to get a better understanding of our potential solutions.
The Result:
We realized that employees' paint points are:
► Not having a dedicated space to decorate.
► A lack of stable and useful applications.
► Not having privacy.
► Communication and socializing issues.
Persona
Based on interviews, we decided to create AR room experiences for both genders with various personalities.
The Problem
The modern workplace is constantly redefining itself as we see changes in the way we interact with each other and technology. On the one hand, organizations are doing away with personalized cubicles and offices, in favor of activity-based workstations.
DEVELOP & DESIGN
Ultimately, through well-researched market strategy and user research, we found out that portals can be effective mechanisms to share one’s personality and create social connectedness with colleagues.
Project Development
The entire scope of the project is built on the foundation of augmented reality (AR). How it works:
The camera of a smartphone scans an area with SLAM technology. The user can place an AR Room onto the scanned physical floor surface by tapping on the device’s screen.
Portal Development
After the initial interview and gathering ideas about both users, we started our ideation process and created the first mockup of their room. The next step was to recreate a similar experience in the Unity 3D environment by adding stock 3D game objects.
Jason's First Prototype
3D View in Unity Game Engine
Photoshop Room Design
Arielle's First Prototype
3D View in Unity Game Engine
Photoshop Room Design
Jason and Arielle's initial room in 3D Unity environment
Final Portal
We interviewed Professor Jason Anaya and Arielle again and provided a questionnaire to better understand their personality and preferred environment. We created a more anthological study to find out the essence of what makes them feel unique as users, and what they might want to see represented in their personal space.
Jason Final Room Prototype
Arielle Final Room Prototype
Usability Testing
We had done four user testing in total. In each session, we observed users' interactions with the portal without interrupting them and asking questions related to their experience to create a more successful prototype with a fantastical environment.
Feedback & Iterations
Portal Interactive Objects
Wireframes
We decided to design onboarding screens to educate users about AR technology and demonstrate how to set up the portal step by step to avoid any confusion.
DELIVER
Final Prototype
Challenges & Overcome
CHALLENGES
1. Our major challenge was developing a robust solution.
2. Marker technology would require users to carry items with markers physically attached to them, which could produce a myriad of problems.
3. Poor lighting proved to be a major issue when trying to display augmented reality objects.
4. Navigating the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted our ability to user test our work.
OVERCOME
1. After the initial user surveys we came to a resolution.
2. The portal method allowed us to use plane detection technology, which only requires users to establish the ground in their camera’s field of view.
3. We suggest that users launch the application either indoors or in the shade.
4. We did Virtual user testing via Zoom screen share of the portal, using the Unity platform.
Outcome & Lessons
► In conclusion, we believe that the world is going to continually increase its adoption of virtual solutions in nearly all aspects of life, including in the workplace.
► We learned that we needed to have effective communication to help move forward and complete our project.
► Visiting other people's spaces would be a great way to continue the iteration and development of the application.
► The project was shared with JLL’s Northern California marketing and design team, to showcase our understanding of the growing trend of activity-based workspaces and how AR might play a part in shaping the employee experience.
► Daftar has the potential to be a powerful tool to help people find solace in the comfort of surrounding themselves with the things they love, in addition, to being able to visually express themselves to their friends and colleagues.
