Create XR Applications for Furniture Shopping
Exploring User Interaction with 3D Furniture Models in XR Shopping Apps
The rise of extended reality (XR) technologies has opened up new possibilities for enhancing the online shopping experience by by creating virtual simulations for users to interact with a product.
As a XR Designer, I embarked on a journey to investigate user interaction with 3D furniture models in an XR environment, focusing specifically on user behavior when browsing through a saved items list on a furniture shopping app.
My team and I aimed to leverage XR as a tool to interact with 3D models and information, applying real-world interactions and visuals. Ultimately, the study investigates mental models about interaction in XR and tries to align user expectations by reducing the gap between 3D models and real product.
If you want to read the full case study, please visit medium below.
Notable contribution
User Research Participation
Contributed to the development of research protocols and tasks
Facilitated think-aloud sessions to gather real-time user feedback.
XR Design Development
Created innovative XR interfaces for furniture shopping experiences
Designed intuitive 3D interactions for product browsing and selection
Team
Jiho Kim(XR Designer)
1 UX Researcher
4 Designers
Duration
9 months
Tools
Figma
Spline
Duration
Literature Review
Qualitative Interviews
Rapid Ideation
Rapid Prototyping
Evaluative Research
Spatial Design
Context
Establishing Mental Models for XR Interactions
Determining whether to use augmented reality (AR) is a complex decision for any business. Factors such as development costs, finding appropriate use cases, and maintaining the technology have dissuaded many brands from creating AR experiences.
However, 56% of shoppers surveyed by NielsenIQ said that AR gives them more confidence about the quality of a product, and 61% said they prefer to shop with retailers that offer AR experiences.
Despite the potential for immersive exploration, novice users often encounter problems such as navigating through their list and searching for a specific item when using AR applications for browsing saved items during online shopping[1].
"The Challenges of User Experience Design for Augmented Reality in eCommerce" by Eleonora Ibragimova (2020).
Research
Analyzing the Competition
To understand how existing products function in the market, we conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis. We examined the unique solutions offered by each company, ranging from virtual showrooms and LiDAR scanning to XR camera integration and floor plan templates.
Detailed Competitive Analysis can be found here↗️
Mapping Out the Issues
I utilized the Affinity mapping and 2x2 matrix.
We approached the problem statement by reframing it as questions to brainstorm study design. This method enabled us to concentrate on specific aspects of the problem statement.
Narrowing down 3 main problems
Through background research with competitive analysis and affinity map, we identified three main problems of furniture shopping services:
Research Question
Asking the Questions
To tackle these challenges head-on, I formulated two key research questions.
01
How do users perceive and navigate the 3D perspective in an XR environment when browsing through a list of 3D furniture items?
02
How can the gap between user expectations (visual design and interaction) and the actual representation of 3D furniture models be minimized in an XR environment?
Ideation
Bringing Ideas to Life
With these questions, I deep dive into the prototyping phase. Using Spatial.io, I created medium-fidelity prototypes that brought my designs to life in a 3D environment.
Browsing a 2D item list
Adapted top-opened stair design to show both 3D models and information UI.
Browsing a 3D item list
Perceiving detailed information
User test
Testing with Real Users
To validate my designs, I facilitate usability testing sessions with participants who had no prior experience with XR glasses.
we set up an test sesstion that our participants navigate and interact with our XR prototypes in a 3D environment using meta quest, providing them with a hands-on experience of our designs.
Think-Aloud Sessions (Digital Mockup)
During these sessions, participants were encouraged to verbalize their impressions, thoughts, and experiences while viewing the prototypes in the 3D environment.
A Two-Part User Challenge
Participants were given two specific tasks to complete:
1. Explore and compare our 2D prototype and 3D furniture list, allowing us to assess the usability and effectiveness of our designs.
2. View detailed information about 3D furniture, enabling us to evaluate the clarity and comprehensiveness of the product information provided.
Post-Interview
We conducted semi-structured interviews to uncover their expectations and desires by diving deeply into participants' past furniture shopping experiences.
Participants shared their thoughts on the ease of understanding and navigating our prototypes.
data analysis
Uncovering Insights
With the thematic analysis, we grouped data via affinity mapping. The process included data familiarization (interview review), coding (data breakdown), and theme identification.
Our thematic analysis from notion
The process resulted in two main themes:
3D interaction design in the XR environment
3D and UI design in detailed pages
findings
Leveraging the Power of XR
With the thematic analysis, we grouped data via affinity mapping. The process included data familiarization (interview review), coding (data breakdown), and theme identification.
01
With the thematic analysis, we grouped data via affinity mapping. The process included data familiarization (interview review), coding (data breakdown), and theme identification.
The research shows that users want to place 3D models within their surroundings in an XR environment unlike existing 2D furniture shopping.
Users expect to see the realistic size and material of the 3D furniture to match them to real surroundings.
Implement a UI that demonstrates the actual size of the furniture through simple interactions (tap, swipe, etc.). & Displays the measurements of ratio scales in numerical value
We saw that when a user with no prior experience using AR headset shops, they tend to use familiar hand gestures (e.g., zooming or swiping) in order to locate 3D models.
02
We identified several key points to display the detailed product in an XR environment
Provide product details such as texture or color that users expect to see from the 3D model.
Align the information in the order of importance from
(1) center (2) top (3) bottom; users showed a pattern of scanning the center of the contents first, then looking at the top and then the bottom.
Reflection
Takeaways
Realistic representation (e.g., texture and color) matters to perceiving 3D models in the XR environment.
Size demonstration with numerical value helps users’ understanding.
Users use mobile-based interactions such as swiping to control XR elements.
Due to the field of view, the center objects are noticed faster than the outer ones.
