HaudGo!
HaudGo! is an educational augmented reality (AR) mobile application that allows users to travel to different locations to learn more about indigenous culture and history. Users are encouraged to travel to various locations across the province of Ontario and scan Indigenous landmarks with their phones to see the augmented reality designs and read the significance of the area. Throughout the early stage of development of HaudGo!, our UX team used the five stages of design thinking to create a user-friendly and desirable application.
Design Problem
Design a user-friendly start-up mobile application that is both engaging to users and respectfully represents Indigenous culture and history. Our client wanted the application to have similar mechanics to the well-known mobile game Pokémon GO.
Our Solution:
Emapthize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
01
Empathize
The first step in our design process was to empathize with our users and understand their wants and needs within the augmented reality mobile application. To do this, we collected data using both interviews and surveys. When reviewing the data we collected during the interviews, the most substantial evidence we discovered was that 3 out of 5 Laurier students had prior experience with augmented reality, and the experiences differed from participants. This information is essential because it proves that if augmented reality is not implicated properly, it has a higher chance of negatively impacting the user’s experience with the service.
02
Define
The second step within our design process included identifying the main issue that our users encounter when interacting with similar applications and taking these into consideration when implementing future designs. A user persona was created to target the specific concerns identified in our initial research.
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The majority of users describe themselves as either kinesthetic or visual learners
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The majority of users know little information about the Indigenous culture and history but would like to learn more
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The main frustration users encounter with mobile applications is advertisements
03
Ideate
Low-fidelity prototype
After understanding what our users desire for a mobile augmented reality application, a low-fidelity prototype was designed on Figma. The wireframe allowed us to get a first glance at what the application interface might look like and discover areas for improvement.
User survey
When the wireframe was complete, we sent out a survey to participants willing to contribute to our study to understand if they had issues with the navigation or any concerns with the early development design. 75% of participants claimed the wireframe was very easy to navigate, and 25% claimed it was easy to navigate. This information allowed us to move forward with the design.
04
Prototype
05
Test
After completing the medium-fidelity prototype, testing was required to understand how users navigate throughout the platform. The three usability metrics: time on task, direct success rate, and error rate were monitored throughout this phase of the study.
Task 1: Navigate from login to play
Task 2: Navigate from home to profile
Task 3: Access external Indigenous resources
When completing the test and reviewing the results, there were no major usability issues with the medium-fidelity prototype. These statistics informed the team that we were ready to present our design to our client to get their opinion on what we had created.
Conclusion
Through developing HaudGo!, we learned the importance of user empathy, iterative design, and effective testing to create a user-friendly and respectful AR application that educates users about Indigenous culture and history. These insights will guide us in future projects, ensuring we build engaging and impactful applications that meet users' needs.