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Kodama 3DGo
Product and UX Design
Overview
I was working on designing the user experience and interaction of three games, primarily for the iPad. The main design consideration is how the touch-screen interaction and 3DGo complement each other.
Role
Designing multimodal interaction model of the the connected product. Defining the list of features, the wireframe of the game’s UX and the interface. Closely collaborating with software engineers.
Details
Kodama is an award-winning start-up supported by BOOSTVC, the leading AR/VR accelerator in Silicon Valley. I was involved in the early stages of the company, from concept ideation to advanced manufacturing test runs. The product was developed over a period of 18 months.
3D Creation Tool For
" Young Creatives "
Challenge
The goal was to design an easy 3D creation games for a new generation who are not 3D software professionals or technical users. As the main challenge, the novelty of the core technology and the tangible interface present a barrier to adoption, so, as a designer, understanding the overall principle of the technology was essential in solving some potential technical barriers for users.
Design Consideration
· The main compatible device is a tablet computer.
· Target users are the young creative generation.
· Designing an easy and accessible interaction is essential
Initial User Test
The main purpose of the initial user test was understanding users reaction to the new type of interaction itself. The way I planed for the test was getting rid of most of hardware parts of the product and displaying the core interaction part which are gaming contents and 3D controller. With participating a public event, I could reach to many potential users and find the friction points in the user flow.
Interaction Of Connected Product
Multi-modal Interaction Model
Based on the user feedback, there was clear needs of defined interaction model. Kodama 3D provides two types of interactions: one is with touch screen and another is with a tangible object which is 3D controller. For building easy to understand system, I differentiated the two interactions with visually and functionally. 2D interaction is for controlling overall system and 3D interaction is for the main game play.
2D Screen Touch
3D Object Touch
Interactive user guide
As the experience targets beginning users of this product, I created a gamified interactive user guide that intuitively engages users in a playful way, from the physical unboxing to the digital discovery of Kodama’s games and ‘Help’ features.
Designing Game Apps
3DGo puts super power in their hands in the digital world.
Build Go
Build organic structures with 3DGo in your hands
Campfire
Be the main character
and tell your story
Crayon 3D
Take a crayon and
colouring worlds in 3D
Detailed Design Process Of Campfire
Concept
The Campfire is where people sit around and tell their stories. The game empowers players to create their own animations and explore magical worlds. With this initial concept for the game, I worked on its design, from the game’s title to its UX and UI.
Game UX Design
Game loop flow
The basic concept of the game involves exploring the open world and finding hidden animated treasures while telling a unique story along the way. The main user flow in playing this game is described below.
Levels
The challenge in designing the levels was to create a feeling of adventure with a limited number of 3D assets. In terms of the process, we made a blueprint of the whole world map at first and built a placeholder version for the user test; after a few iterations of testing, we started to produce the level art.
User Test
We conducted multiple user tests in three forms: guided workshops, testing through public events and beta tests in which users took and played with the Kodama kit for a few days. From each test, we evaluated a usability level and obtained a list of insights and modifications to improve the user experience.
Public Event
Quantitative
− Observation based
− Quick conversation
Workshop
Qualitative test
− Given task
− Detail feedback
2 Days Trial Play
Self engagement test
− Let users keep a kit for 2-3 days
Campfire
Explore worlds and bring stories to life through your own shareable 3D movies !
Discover more than five worlds and their hidden treasures. Tell endless stories with more than 50 characters. Bring a spaceman to a pirate ship and cheerleaders into a space station.
What stories will you tell? Will you be the next Spielberg?
Kodama 3DGo With Game Apps
Press
“ Kodama Pixar Do It Yourself “
“ Easy to Use 3D Mouse, 3DGo “
What I Learned
Designing and testing a product that relies on constantly evolving emerging technology presents many challenges. Flexible and quickly evolving design solutions were required at every stage. Anticipating possible solutions for a variety of use cases and coordinating and prioritising tasks with the rest of the team in response to technological advances gave me a broader view of the design process. Building an interaction around new technologies requires a deep understanding of limitations and possibilities in order to create the best user experience. Developing the design strategy and designing the product validated again the importance of working closely with user communities.