GAMIFYING AIRPORT EXPERIENCE USING AUGMENTED REALITY
I researched, designed and created AR mobile game to allow travellers at airports to play scavenger hunt, earn points, and redeem these points for discounts at airports.
This was a thesis project for my master's in Digital Media, supported by my supervisor, a senior Design Lead at Google, MV.
MY ROLE DURATION TOOLS
UX/UI Designer 3 Months Adobe XD, Ai, Id, Ps
UX Researcher Unity 3D/AR, Vuforia
Founder
UX Researcher Unity 3D/AR, Vuforia
Founder
PROBLEM
Rapid growth in the air travel industry coupled with security restrictions and global travel requirements has led to increases in wait times, delays, cancellations and layovers, resulting in “lost time” and negative experiences for in-transit passengers at airports.
After researching airports and traveller experiences, I recognized an opportunity to better understand passenger experiences at airports, and design a potential solution while providing a business model.
MY Contributions
In a team of 2, I lead the design and UX research development and implementation direction for Android Application.
◦ Researched airport passenger experiences, pains and gains
◦ Conducted user research surveys to pinpoint problems and ideate for potential solutions
◦ Created personas, empathy maps, flow charts
◦ Facilitated sketch sessions with peers and presentations to supervisors
◦ Designed application architecture that harnesses the benefits of a native application
◦ Designed logo, brand name and moodboard
◦ Created wireframes and high fidelity prototypes
◦ Conducted usability testing and iterated the prototype
◦ Developed 3 AR games for the mobile app
◦ Conducted user research surveys to pinpoint problems and ideate for potential solutions
◦ Created personas, empathy maps, flow charts
◦ Facilitated sketch sessions with peers and presentations to supervisors
◦ Designed application architecture that harnesses the benefits of a native application
◦ Designed logo, brand name and moodboard
◦ Created wireframes and high fidelity prototypes
◦ Conducted usability testing and iterated the prototype
◦ Developed 3 AR games for the mobile app
DISCOVERY
One of the many essentials of a good design requires two very important characteristics: discoverability and understanding of the user and the problem.
◦ Conducted a quantitative survey of 85 participants
◦ 45.1% of participants travel solo and find the airport experience dull or boring
◦ Discovered key insights into their frustration before their flight departure
◦ Created an empathy map to better understand/feel a traveller's point of view
◦ Then I created a user persona, where its value lies in the specificity of the user’s ........problem(s), representing the ideal target user and giving us insights into what an active ........user’s attitudes and frustrations are
define
How might we create a solution that enhances traveller's experience while waiting at airports?
Create an AR scavenger hunt gaming app where travellers use to explore the airport, stretch their legs, compete with others, collect points and redeem points at airport retail.
I created an application architecture that focuses more on the user’s cognitive efforts and what the structural design would look like (left image below).
In order to analyze the goals and the destination to where the user wants to reach, I created a user flow showing how to deliver that in the most efficient way possible regarding usefulness, added value and creating positive emotions (right image below).
design
Once I had a deep understanding of the user, their problem, and defining a solution, I designed a blueprint of the app, called wireframes. This low fidelity design allowed me to fully grasp what the essential needs and flow of the app can look like.
Wireframes allow the concept and design to exist, whereas prototypes bring this concept to life. Next I built a high fidelity prototype of the app, and considered appropriate User Interface where human interaction with the app can come as naturally as possible.
My goal with the prototype and UI design was to manage user attention and focus, identity and brand of ARport, delivering effective content, eliciting emotions, and helping users interact with the service.
These images show the final prototype, using the above wireframes as the skeleton of the app.
Validate
When it comes to HCD, one of the many techniques used to validate an idea of a product or service, is through usability demonstrations. Products and services are created for and used by humans, so a user’s voice, perspective, drives and needs are the ultimate reason why a design exists.
I conducted a one-on-one usability test with primary users, and iterated the prototype based on these feedback and analytical reviews.
You can watch the video of the final prototype below:
Video Demonstration of the final prototype.
Results & Summary
ARport utilizes augmented reality to gamify the airport environment in an attempt to reclaim this “lost time” for passengers. With the use of a mobile device, travellers can explore points of interest in airports through the use of AR and complete challenges to earn credits. These credits can then be used towards purchases at retailers and restaurants in the airport, resulting in a more engaging experience for travellers and an increase in revenue for airport-based businesses. Not only travellers get to benefit from this, but so do airports and businesses.
Want to work together?
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
yalda.pashai@gmail.com
