Project Type 360 Experience Prototype, Desktop, Education Website, Team Case Study
Duration 14 Weeks
Role User Research, Product Strategy, UI Design, Interaction Design
The Ask:
The Hellenic American Project nonprofit program's client came to our team to design a 360 experience that would utilize the assets from their website.
The website aims to showcase to users a more encompassed way to view photos, videos, and information. The goal was to create new exhibitions curated from existing assets that would bring returning users.
Tools XD, Zoom, Illustrator, Photoshop
Project Details
Academic websites can be dull, dry, and full of text. Not to mention how hard it could be to absorb and keep up with all the information from all the different resources and references cited on the website.
My team and I worked to improve the digital interface of the Hellenic American Projects' website to engage its current members and attract new ones through an innovative way of researching. The challenge was to create a way for the organization to tell its story using an innovative digital interface that interactively showcases its existing archives.
My Role
I was one of the designers on a team of 3. We created this project over the course of 14 weeks. I helped define a problem, ideate, and prioritize solutions. As well as strategized the user experience and interactions for the final prototype. While conducting user testing, I helped interview users to understand better The Hellenic American Project and how its intended audience interacts with it.
After understanding the needs and goals of the client, my team and I presented an opportunity statement in which we showed our research, insights, and visuals to the client. This allowed our client to visualize our concept. We received some valuable feedback we then applied to our final prototype.
Design Process
Persona
We focused our efforts on developing a solution that would help people like Adonis.
User Journey
Adonis' user journey helped us visualize how the 360 experience website could create value for him and generate a solid user flow for our prototype.
User Flow
Opportunity Statement
"There's an opportunity to provide Incoming Freshman of Gen Z with new sources of information that they are currently not aware of through a 360 experience of artifacts talked about during the immigration journey paired with their interview as a guiding voice-over."
Wireframes
Research and Key Insights
"There's an opportunity to provide Incoming Freshman of Gen Z with new sources of information that they are currently not aware of through a 360 experience of artifacts discussed during the immigration journey paired with their interview as a guiding voice-over."
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Ideas
1. Opportunity to provide 3d generation Greek Americans with Greek American history and culture that satisfies their academic needs through a podcast.
2. VR/AR experience that provides new sources of information that current members were not aware of.
3. Opportunity to provide information about existing archives and new archives through an immersive interactive digital interface.
We found that an AR (Augmented Reality) 360 Experience was the best option because through it HAP could showcase all their existing archives such as photographs, literature, and videos all encompassed in one place. This allows HAP to represent existing material in a more exciting way!
Chosen Idea
We found that an AR (Augmented Reality) 360 Experience was the best option because through it HAP could showcase all their existing archives such as photographs, literature, and videos all encompassed in one place. This allows HAP to represent existing material in a more exciting way!
User Testing
The overall objective of the study was to understand The Hellenic American Project and how its intended audience may interact with it. We came up with 3 objectives that helped us start our user testing.
1. Objective 1 (We want to see if users can start an experience)
2. Objective 2 (We want to see if users can navigate around the experience)
3. Objective 3 (We want to see if users can start an interaction)
Recruitment Criteria:
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Looked for users ages 17-21
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Freshman/Incoming students
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Have to use a source for class
Methodology:
The testing group consisted of 10 users. We conducted virtual and in person user testing. For the virtual user testing we used Zoom. We used a prototype made from Adobe XD for the desktop version. Each session took 10-15 minutes and we recorded audio, transcripts, and photographs.
Key Observations
There were 3 main observations during our user testing. Most users had difficulties :
1. Starting the experience
2. Seeing the main menu/ exit buttons
3. Locating the exit button
Solutions
Final Prototype
What I learned
I learned that academic research can also be fun and interactive. In the future I would like the project to include more artifacts from outside of HAP and make it more community-driven. Adding a human touch with real stories, photographs, and audio would open the door to a conversation between all Greek American generations and communities all over the world.