JMU Virtual Reality Tour
Overview
In my role as a UX Designer for the James Madison University Virtual Reality Tour, I had the privilege of shaping a seamless journey through the campus's vibrant world. Through meticulous attention to user needs, I cultivated a user-friendly environment within the 360-degree experience, ensuring that prospective students and visitors could explore James Madison University's campus with unparalleled ease and engagement. Join me in delving into how I harnessed UX principles to create an immersive virtual reality encounter that captures the spirit and essence of the university.
Problem Statement
As a potential student, visualizing James Madison University (JMU) can be a bit of a challenge if you have never stepped foot on campus. While James Madison University does offer tours of the stunning campus, not every individual wants to or is able to walk around the large, dynamic campus. This virtual reality tour is an enhancement and revamp of the past James Madison University Virtual Reality Tours. Our goal was to re-organize content, create strong user experience design, and involve intuitive usability. In addition to that, it was important for us to keep up with the growing campus and film new parts of the campus to add to the Virtual Reality Tour.
Users and Audience
The James Madison University Virtual Reality Tour is designed to cater to a diverse audience, including students, family members, and friends. This immersive experience, available within Madison Hall, JMU's admission building, offers a unique chance to explore the campus from a 360-degree perspective. Whether individuals are unable to explore the campus physically or simply hold a curiosity for a virtual adventure, this VR tour provides an engaging and inclusive way to experience the JMU campus.
Roles and Responsibilities
In this project, I took on the role of a UX designer and content curator. My responsibilities included capturing numerous virtual experiences using an Insta360 camera and seamlessly integrating the content using Adobe Premiere Pro. I sorted the information architecture, structuring the content in a user-friendly manner. My tasks extended to enhancing the visual appeal of the experience, where I redesigned and strategically positioned buttons to ensure they didn't hinder the immersive 360-degree viewing experience.
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Scope and Constraints
This project aimed to expand the existing experience by incorporating more content, refining the buttons to enhance the unobstructed viewing of the 360-degree environment, and exploring the integration of a Leap rig with the Oculus Rift S. The goal was to eliminate the necessity of nunchucks or controllers, providing a more seamless and intuitive interaction for users.
The Process
The project followed a structured procedure, beginning with an assessment of the existing JMU VR Tour, followed by the pinpointing of user pain points and subsequent ideation of solutions. The recognized pain points encompassed several key areas: the prevailing UI significantly obstructed the immersive 360-degree experience; campus content was insufficient; the arrangement of information and navigation functions was perplexing; and lastly, there was an issue of frequent misplacement of the Oculus Rift controllers.
Old Version
Ideation: Logo & Button Redesign
Beta Testing:
The Result
The outcome of this endeavor is a captivating 360-degree virtual reality setting that artfully encapsulates the charm and allure of James Madison University's campus. Visitors to Madison Hall can now relish this immersive encounter during their forthcoming visits. The arrangement of content is seamlessly intuitive, accentuated by sophisticated and futuristic buttons. The expanded array of content enriches the viewing experience, while the incorporation of the Leap Rig eliminates the necessity for controllers, further enhancing user interaction.