Reframing VR for Designers

Unleash VR's Possibilities for Non-Technical Students

Problem

Although Pratt Institute, the design school has VR headsets, they are not fully made use of because of the lack of resources on how to start VR and how students can possibly use VR for their creative practice.

Solution

Create an interactive website that includes the quick hands-on experience to learn how to use and the potentials of VR.

Outcome

The starter kit is launched in the School of Design and used in classes. 100% of user testing participants answered it expanded their understanding of what is possible in VR.

Keyword

Onboarding

Multimodal Design

Graduate Reasearch

Client

Pratt Institute School of Design

Project Type

Graduate research

Duration

October 2023 to January 2024

Team

Yuri Minami (research assistant), Manjot Kaur (research assistant), Mindy Eng (advising professor)

My Role

UX design, research. I executed the project as a research assistant with the professor's lead.

Tools

Google Sites, Meta Quest

PROBLEM

Many students at Pratt Institute aren't fully aware of VR's potential as a creative tool.

KEY SOLUTION

Website that teaches how to use VR and its potential through quick hands-on experiences

Visit Website

KEY SOLUTION - PHASE2

Immersive VR creative tool tutorials specifically made for design students

Project in progress!

WHY WE MADE THIS?

VR is amazing, and our school has headsets!

VR has a lot of potential and Pratt Institute has VR headsets for students so we thought we should make use of VR as a design professional.

Immersive

Entertaining

Educational

Creative

USER INTERVIEW - KEY INSIGHTS

But... students have no idea how to start VR and incorporate it into their creative processes.

While we have headsets, students could not fully use the opportunity because we had no resources to guide them into their new journey into VR.

"I needed to explore YouTube to figure out how to use VR by myself for my VR class assignment."

"VR is pretty difficult for first-time users to learn. It took so much time."

"I can’t see doing anything serious on VR. It’s just for fun."

"I needed to explore YouTube to figure out how to use VR by myself for my VR class assignment."

"VR is pretty difficult for first-time users to learn. It took so much time."

"I can’t see doing anything serious on VR. It’s just for fun."

PROBLEM STATEMENT

How might we make creatives more enthusiastic about VR?

CHALLENGE

Make it self-introductory and use the school resources.

We designed for the Pratt Institute School of Design. We had the following challenge in this project.

Make the kit self-introductory, requiring no assistance of school staff

Take into account students use the school headsets

Use resources that Pratt Institute has access

USER TESTING

Engaged over 50 students for testing prototypes. We kept iterating.

We created prototypes and tested them with over 50 students in total both in the classroom and 1on1 context. The major questions we aimed to solve for phase 1 were the following.

What is the most inspiring format for the starter kit?

How do we make the kit feel seamless and easy to use?

FINDING1

The students preferred Google Sites because of its straightforward scroll-through format.

We created and tested 3 prototypes that have the same content but use different platforms: Google Sites, Milanote, and Miro. We expected designers would prefer visual tools but they actually wanted the straightforward scroll-through format when they learn new things.

Milanote

Popular tool among students at Pratt. used to organize information

Google Sites

Standard web page format

Students' choice

Miro

More visual tool that allows for freeform exploration

FINDING2

The students preferred to have multimedia instruction. They also needed a guide while they were inside of VR.

We prepared text-base, image-base, and video instructions for usability testing. We found students enjoyed being able to see the instructions in different ways. Also, students wanted audio-based instruction because they could not see the websites while wearing VR headsets.

Image-based

Text-based

Video

Audio-based

FEATURE 1

The kit requires no prior knowledge and teaches users step by step.

The first-time users can encounter many obstacles, such as controller use, and how to exit the experiences. The kit guides them step by step.

Controller use

Wearing headsets

Boundary setting

FEATURE 2

The kit guides students to the 5 easiest and most inspiring VR experiences.

The kit includes experiences that help students understand the characteristics of VR. We tested 22 apps and mapped them based on how inspiring they are, and what their learning curves are. The kit guides them on our top choices through rich instruction.

See how VR can feel real very quickly

See how VR alters emotions

See how VR evokes the senses

Let VR transport to new places

Explore creativity in VR

FEATURE 3

Rich troubleshooting tips included.

We prepared extensive troubleshooting, including a tutorial for minor issues that standard tutorials don’t cover but users are likely to encounter, as VR is a completely new experience for them.

IMPACTS

The kit was launched and used in classrooms. 100% of students answered it expanded their understanding of what's possible in VR.

“The experiences were very impressive!”

“Once I figured out how to use it, it was intuitive and easy.”

“Now I am curious how I can use VR to create something.”

100%

of students answered

This VR Starter Kit has expanded my understanding of what is possible in VR.

85%

of students answered

Based on my experience today, I would encourage other designers try out these VR starter experiences.

70%

of students answered

I find myself more interested in designing in/for VR after completing the starter experiences.

WHAT I LEARNED

Introducing users to new technology is vital in delivering the value it offers.

Preferred learning styles differ from person to person.

During testing, I noticed that users have different ways of learning new things. Some participants watched the whole tutorial video first, while others skipped most of it and went straight to hands-on experience.

In VR, designers should cover both physical and digital experiences.

During testing, many students encountered physical issues, such as discomfort from the VR headset's heaviness, poor fit, and difficulties with controller usage. As a UX designer, I find VR requires more work across a broader range to improve the user experience, which is very exciting!

Persona

We created persona based on these insights.

Journey map

We also created the journey map.

Style Guide

We made a style guide to keep the consistency of the product.

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