Introducing new products and services is bringing a big change to the modern world. The innovation of new digital platforms and the latest tools has brought new opportunities for designers to create interactive products, thus transforming the user experience. The difference between Reality and the virtual world is being reduced by providing a highly immersive experience for users. Mixed reality and extended reality are helping designers to create the best experiences for the users.
Now we know AR UX design and VR will succeed in digital interaction design. VR creates a new virtual environment where the users get involved and AR on the other hand uses the environment to increase the user experience.
Here we will see how AR is used to create an environment. A UI/UX designer should have a good understanding of AR UX design. This will help them to understand the latest market trends and will help to design projects in the future. Having a good AR portfolio will help you work in an AR design firm, where you can learn more.
Now let's understand what AR UX design is all about.
Understanding AR
AR is the practice of using real-world elements, combining them with virtual elements, and creating an immersive experience. AR is becoming popular in digital products because of its impact on user engagement. AR environment is used in games and the interaction helps to improve overall experience.
Understanding AR UX design
In AR UX design, designers create an experience that combines a real experience with a virtual one. Designers use real-world elements to create immersive experiences for the users. AR elements can be of various types such as sound or video.
AR offers a lot of opportunities to UI UX designers. AR helps to enhance the level of user engagement and creates a multimodal experience, holding the full capabilities of digital environments. AR UX design carries a lot of promise as organizations are looking to create mixed-reality experiences.
Advantages of augmented experience
AR has lots of effects on the user experience. The immersive experience enhances user satisfaction thus improving the overall experience. Modern digital platforms are attracted to AR design.
Benefits of the users’ context
AR uses real-world contexts. Now designers don’t have to create a new environment as it is done in VR. The user’s context can now be used to create an augmented experience.
2. Reduced Cognitive Load
If the cognitive load is reduced, it is good for designing user interfaces. This is where AR plays an important role. When designers create immersive experiences in the real-world environment, if they are familiar with the context, then the level of familiarity throughout the experience increases. This will make the user feel comfortable in their environment.
3. Multiple Sources of information
AR experiences give a lot of facilities to both designers and users. Designers can make the best use of multimodality. They can use the resources to improve the experience. They can use pictures, 3D objects, and sounds. From the user’s point of view, the information comes from different sources, and the entire environment serves as a whole unit, encouraging the creation of a unified experience.
Important AR UX design elements
UX design principles such as aesthetics, and visual hierarchy are applicable in augmented environments. These principles and their importance can be different from each other when AR experiences are created. UI/UX designers should know how the basic design elements are applied to AR design.
To know more about AR UX design, let us look at the following elements that are crucial for the success of an AR experience.
How do UX design principles work in AR?
The elements that are important when designing an AR experience are:
Environment
Movement
Onboarding
Interaction
User Interface
Environment
The design of AR experiences highly depends on the environment. The environment’s problems should be understood from two points of view. One is the creation of virtual elements that are included in the real world. These parts can be controlled by the designers. The other perspective is the user’s environment where the interaction takes place. This aspect cannot be controlled by the designer and varies from context to context.
As the user changes his place, the nature of UI design elements changes, and there is an impact on the overall experience. The difference between public and private environments should be figured out where the comfort of users can determine their satisfaction level with the overall experience.
2. Movement
The design of an immersive experience must be aware of the changing nature of the interaction. When a user uses an AR product he is always on the move. For example, when a user uses his mobile, he might be walking to complete some tasks. Since interaction happens in AR, the limits between virtual and real environments are not well defined. The user interacts with both real and virtual worlds. The user’s movements and the movements between real and virtual movements have to be considered while creating an AR experience.
3. Onboarding
In the case of web and mobile applications, it will be beneficial to treat users as learners. The overall experience should be taken as a learning experience that guides the users throughout their interaction. This guidance is very crucial in onboarding. When the user interacts with an application for the first time, it will be difficult for him to understand the interaction.
Onboarding is helpful in such situations. It is absolutely important in AR apps where users have to know how to adapt to a new environment. So, UI/UX designers should give importance to the onboarding process to create augmented experiences.
4. Interaction
For a complete experience, interaction is necessary. When a user interacts with a product, then affordances and features get more importance. This is also important in AR environments. The nature of the interaction is quite different and experience is only its feature. In interaction design in AR, the designer should focus on both micro and macro levels. In AR a user needs physical input to complete his tasks.
5. User Interface
The design of the user interface is important for any AR environment. All the elements of design such as typography and visual hierarchy are very important. When AR user experiences are designed, the interface becomes dynamic, so special attention has to be given. The designers should focus on the environment and design of virtual elements that become a part of the user’s real-world experience. Therefore, the design should be comprehensive.
AR UX design guidelines
For a better project design, it is always better to start with AR UX design principles. AR applications and experiences are common to us. The entire immersive AR experience is dependent on the comfort and satisfaction of users. The interactions should be created in a way that the needs of the target audience are always at the center of the experience.
AR UX design guidelines for designers
The following guidelines will help to create a better AR UX design experience.
Consider different user context
The needs of the users can vary based on the context, and how they are interacting with the app. Therefore, UI/UX designers should be cautious about the environments where the target audience can use the AR UX design experience. Here creating personas can be extremely helpful. The nature of these cases may vary as designers start to consider interactions in the physical world and think beyond real-world environments.
Focus on the holistic experience
It is important to focus not on one interaction but on the overall experience of the users. This is why it is necessary to understand the overall user journey and its breakpoints. The user experience begins a long time before the actual interaction with an AR UX design app or immersion in the environment. It lasts longer than the interaction ends. Therefore, the designer should look at all the aspects of the UX.
Optimize the experience for user safety
In the AR UX design and VR environments, user safety is highly essential. When users connect with an AR application, they might be in danger and can meet with an accident while interacting with the app. The AR UX design must make sure that users don’t get hurt.
Ensure optimized experiences for devices
It is not possible to provide the same level of AR experiences to all devices. The main purpose of a designer is to optimize the experience for different devices. This means one device is preferred over others. It is necessary to be transparent about this so that users know which AR apps work on which platform.
Maintain visual clear space
It is important to maintain visual clear space when designing an AR experience. When physical objects are introduced into the real world, the nature of the physical space around the users is modified. The designers should make sure that users get enough breathing space and also enjoy the overall experience. The principles of minimalist design and aesthetics play an important role in maintaining visual clear space.
Principle of Visual Hierarchy
In visual design in AR, importance should be given to visual hierarchy. However, it is not easy to maintain this hierarchy in augmented or virtual environments where the user’s context is not constant. Visual hierarchy can be implemented in AR environments if the virtual elements are consistent and the personas are perfect.
Provide clear instructions and help
Mobile applications generally provide a learning experience. This is true for an AR app. The clarity of the app’s requirements to the mode and the nature of the interaction requires complete guidance for the users. Sometimes the AR app might get long user sessions, then the user does not require any instructions. Here the instructions should be easily available so that the users can interact with freedom.
Focus on direct interaction
In the AR experience, the immersive and interactive nature is very important. If the users do not get a good immersive experience, then AR might lose its purpose. So, designers should give importance to direct interaction. 3D rotation objects, changing nature of objects about touch can contribute to the overall experience. The presence of direct interaction can increase user satisfaction.
Make good use of audio elements
Sound can be extremely useful for AR experiences. Physical objects, a combination of real and virtual objects, and audio elements can play a significant role in improving the user experience. When audio effects are used in characters and objects, the experience appeals to the users, and thus the level of immersion increases.
Learn from AR designs
UI/UX designers mainly focus on working on AR solutions, existing apps, and other digital products. Many designers create the best AR experiences and publish them on various platforms. When designing UX for AR, these projects can turn out to be useful resources.
AR app examples
Many AR applications serve as the best examples of AR UX design. UI/UX professionals are responsible for creating highly immersive experiences for the target audience which resulted in the success of these AR apps.
Some examples of the AR UX design experiences are:
Google Lens
When it comes to modern technological solutions, Google is the best choice. Google Lens provides a powerful AR experience. It has helped users to achieve tasks such as searching and translation. The use of multimodality helps users detect text and make use of audio elements to get a better experience.
Pokemon GO
Pokemon GO has been a big surprise for the AR world. The game is becoming popular and the quality of the experience has forced everyone to think differently about AR. Pokemon GO has brought a big change in the gameplay experience and now is the most popular mobile game. The game is used in the context of the audience and virtual elements have been included perfectly.
IKEA Place
IKEA Place provides a good AR experience. IKEA introduced a mobile app to allow users to see furniture in their homes. This provides the users to have direct interaction with things that they are looking to buy which will help them to make a decision. IKEA place is one of the best AR experiences that a designer is looking for.
InkHunter
InkHunter is one of the best AR applications that gives importance to the specific target audience. The app allows users to see tattoos on their skin, view them from different angles, and decide whether they want it or not. The user control that the app provides and its ability to allow users to check out tattoos make it a highly interactive and satisfying experience.
Snapchat
Snapchat has adopted AR. The social media application allows users to make images and videos using virtual elements. Snapchat uses audio elements to provide a great experience to the target audience.
AR UX design has a great future together. Modern organizations are growing day by day looking for innovative ways to engage users. Virtual environments are a great platform for user experience and every business wants to take advantage of it. Whether it is the design of games or a learning platform, AR can offer a lot of help. Designers need to be skillful so that their projects are helpful to the target audience.
In this article, we have discussed AR UX design experiences. The guidelines will help you to create effective experiences. Designers can take inspiration from this article.
Conclusion
You need to become a master in AR UX Design to create immersive and intuitive augmented reality experiences. These principles can be applied by learning from Design Clan and ensuring that users engage seamlessly with AR environments that enhance both functionality and enjoyment. Ensure the guidelines for innovative, user-centered designs that set new standards in the Augmented Reality industry.
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