Experiential Design | Task 1 : Trending Experience

23/09/2024 - 14/10/2024 (Week 1 - Week 4)

Yong Xiao Tong / 0368290
Experiential Design / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media 

Task 1: Trending Experience

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LIST

1. Instructions
   
2. Exercises
   • Week 1
   • Week 2
   • Week 3
   • Week 4
3. Proposal Ideas
4. Reflections

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INSTRUCTIONS

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WEEK 1

Task 1

Identify what type of XR experience is AR or MR? Describe why?

I think XR experience is an AR experience because it shows digital information on top of the real world without interacting with real objects. XR includes MR, but it’s broader because it also covers AR and VR. So, XR is not the same as MR, but MR is a part of XR.

Activity 1

launch google.com on phone browser, search for dinosaur or dog, cat, tiger. View in 3D/ View in AR (Life Size)

Fig 1.1 Google AR

Task 2

Imagine the scenario in either of the two places. what would the AR experience be and what extended visualization can be useful? What do you want the user to feel? (kitchen/ shopping mall/ gym)

In the gym, I often lose track of my reps during a set, especially when I'm tired. If I had AR glasses, then a visual counter could appear in front of me, keeping track of my reps automatically. Other than that, they could also show my heart rate and which muscles I'm using. The AR glasses could tell me if my form is good or if I need to adjust. This would help me stay on track and work out better.

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WEEK 2

In today’s lecture, we explored key topics such as experiential design, user mapping, and journey maps.

Experiential Design

Experience design is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, omnichannel journeys, and environments with a focus placed on the quality of the user experience and culturally relevant solutions.

Experience design is not driven by a single design discipline. Instead, it requires a cross-discipline perspective that considers multiple aspects of the brand/ business/ environment/ experience from product, packaging, and retail environment to the clothing and attitude of employees. Experience design seeks to develop the experience of a product, service, or event.

User Mapping

User mapping helps to visualise how a user interacts with a product or service. One tool we discussed is the empathy map, which helps articulate what we know about a particular user. It helps gather insights into the user’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, which are then used to improve decision-making and create more user-centred solutions.

Journey Map Group Activity

For our group activity, we were tasked with creating a journey map, where each group was assigned by Mr. Razif. 

My group chose to map the experience of ordering food at a fast-food restaurant, specifically Texas Chicken. The journey map allowed us to break down the steps a customer goes through, from entering the restaurant to receiving their order. This exercise helped us identify pain points and opportunities for improving the customer experience.

Fig 2.1 Journey Map

After the presentations of each group's journey maps, we were introduced to Unity and began setting it up for our next activity. We installed the Unity software along with the Vuforia package, which we’ll use for augmented reality development. After setting up the Vuforia license key and image target database, we completed our first marker-based exercise with an image target.

Fig 2.2 Marker-based exercise 1

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WEEK 3

Today, we learned about user controls, and our exercise focused on creating UI buttons for screen navigation.

Fig 3.1 Marker-based exercise 2

Fig 3.2 Marker-based exercise 2

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WEEK 4

In today's tutorial, we focused on marker-less AR experiences. Unlike the previous tutorial, where a marker-based AR experience required an Image Target to trigger the AR visuals, this approach only needs to detect the floor or any flat surface to spawn a 3D object. As always, the 3D object we used was a cube.

Fig 4.1 Marker-less exercise 

Fig 4.2 Cube on the floor

Fig 4.3 Cube on the table

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PROPOSAL IDEAS

3 ideas for Project 1

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REFLECTIONS

At the start of this module, I had no clear expectations, and to be honest, the first two weeks felt like a blur, largely due to personal challenges. However, as the class progressed, everything began to make more sense, and I started to grasp the concepts more effectively.

One aspect I found particularly intriguing was the comparison between marker-based and marker-less AR experiences. I personally feel that marker-less AR offers much more flexibility in interactions. Unlike marker-based AR, which relies on specific image targets, marker-less AR can detect flat surfaces, enabling a more seamless and dynamic user experience.

As a beginner, I’m still navigating the learning curve with the Unity editor and other tools, but I’m confident that my skills will improve with practice and as we continue through the remaining classes.

Overall, this first phase of the module has provided me with a solid foundation in AR technology and its potential to enhance user interactions. It’s exciting to see how these concepts can be applied in real-world scenarios, and I’m eager to learn more in the upcoming sessions.

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