Design Principles

#MixedRealities

This week we learned about design principles and how to design for different systems.

I found it really interesting looking at all of the different areas you have to take into consideration when designing for mixed reality. I will be talking about 3 that we learned from in Mark Billinghurst’s lecture, which are: Designing for humans, Designing for different user groups and Designing for the whole user.

Design Considerations:

Designing for Humans

When designing for people, you have to consider how people process information. In an earlier blog I talked about perception and fooling someone's perception so they feel present in a virtual space.

Another important thing is to design for cognition. Thinking about what a user needs to remember short-term and long-term such as muscle memory.

Helping a user understand their environment can help improve situational awareness. Applying cues such as landmarks or procedural cues that are intuitive as well as a map from a bird’s eye view help with way-finding are done through egocentric and exocentric views.

Egocentric- shot from first person, looking through someone’s eyes. This is where you take in your local environment, interact with objects, characters etc.

Exocentric- Exocentric views can help you be more situationally aware on a wide scale through an object such as a map.

Designing for Different User Groups

When designing a game or a product, you have to take into account your target audience and different possible user groups. Different user groups could be rated on things such as:

• Age

  • Different ages have different needs. A child needs different Interface design to an adult as they may not be able to read or have any experience. They may also have different physical characteristics, a child will have a shorter arm reach than an adult.

• Prior knowledge and experience

  • Skill levels can vary, especially within the VR/AR space. Not a lot of people have prior experience with using VR equipment and may need further instructions for using it.

• Physical differences

  • Mentioned earlier, people have different physical characteristics, different arm reaches, their hand spans. Face shapes and sizes need to be taken into account as well when wearing a VR headset.

• Perceptual differences

  • People see things differently, colours and obstacles.

• Mobility

  • Some people may not be able to move around in a space, simply because they don’t have a big enough space or they may have a motor disability which could stop them from moving around.

Designing for the Whole User

When I talked about designing for humans, I focused on how humans process things through their perception and cognitive awareness. When designing for the whole user, you have to take into account more than this. You are designing with emotional, cultural, social, and physical effects as well.

• Emotional

  • Does the user feel good using the interface? Do they feel in control and want to continue using the product?

• Cultural

  • Does the product follow cultural norms? Is the interface intuitive for the local culture?

• Social

  • Does the user look stupid when using the product? For example, is the headset big and clunky? An uncomfortable user will not come back.

• Physical

  • Is the user physically able to use the product or interface? Are people of all heights and physical differences able to use it the same?

To conclude, when designing in mixed reality, you have to take into consideration who you’re really designing for and if anyone and everyone can use your design. You need to know your audience and your audience's needs. I think a really incredible design is one that can take into account these 3 areas when taking on a user-centered design.