Harvard Authentic
Experience real routines of Harvard students with AR
3 - Location Main Page
Real routines of Harvard students
AR Assistance
To give the essential information that users require while viewing this page, I modified the layout and UI of the AR event card to encourage users to try out this function. I did these iterations based on the two of design solution shown on the left.
BEFORE
AFTER
INTRODUCTION
Problem
How can we help on-site tourists at Harvard
to have a more in depth experience?
Designs
Approach
1 Research
Interviews
Affinity Mapping
Pain Points
Problem Statement
2 Design
Brainstorming
Solution
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Mid-fi Mockups
3 Iterations
Guerrilla Research
Accessibility Check
Latest Iterations
My Contribution
Project Information:
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A Group project for a class at Harvard A. Paulson School Of Engineering And Applied Sciences
My role:
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Project Lead & Design Lead, working with 3 other Harvard College students in computer science major (Dania Villafuerte, Tsiyon Geremew, Sergio Jara)
My contribution:
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Led the whole process from problem finding to final design
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Presented updates once a week to the teaching assistants and professor with teammates
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Set up interview plans and detailed information collection sheets
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Organized the brainstorm session and brainstormed together with teammates
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Conceptualized and shaped the AR design solution, and prototyped for AR-related pages
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Expanded the use scenarios of AR technology for tourists
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Implemented the accessibility design
Timeline
Sep. 2022 - Oct. 2022
Feb. 2023 Last Modified
Tools
Figma, Miro
01 RESEARCH
Interviews & Affinity Mapping
In order to truly understand what Harvard tourists need, we conducted interviews during weekends and weekdays in Harvard campus. We interviewed 6 groups of people: 3 families, 2 couples and 1 group of friends, 22 persons in total.
Key Insights from interviews
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Lack of all kinds of guidance: Signs, trash bins, bathrooms, clear maps, parking spots.
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Lack authentic experience: Tourists want to go into Harvard buildings to have an authentic experience but have no idea which opens to the public.
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Limited effort to plan ahead: Most people don’t have clear plans and so don’t know what to explore outside the Harvard Yard. Most interviewees stayed in the yard for the whole tour, taking photos at the statue and sitting in front of the library
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Fixed guided tours are too fast to fully understand and experience the buildings. The guided tours offered are just simple introductions and only a short time for tourists to take a photo with limited languages.
Summary - Pain Points of on-site tourists at Harvard
On-site tourists need more guidance when it comes to self-guided tours because they do not know where to go but guided tours are not tailored for each individual, so they would like the flexibility of self-guided tours with the guidance of a guided tour. Furthermore. due to the lack of information, tourists start and stop at Harvard Yard, not knowing what to see next, thus settling in the yard with so much left to discover. Thus, the tour at Harvard campus only scratches the surface and hardly fulfills tourists' expectation of experiencing the authentic Harvard.
Lack authentic experience
Lack guidance & information in self- guided tour
Lack flexibility
in guided tours
Problem Statement
How can we help on-site tourists at Harvard
to have a more authentic/in depth experience?
02 DESIGN
Brainstorming & Solutions
In order to discover prospective solutions, I organized a brainstorming session with my teammates. As both the organizer and participant, I encouraged them to think outside of the box and get inspiration from apps in all fields. As a result, we came up with a number of concepts that contributes to help on-site tourists and we organized and analyzed by articulating hypotheses related to the value of each idea, creating assumption and storyboard (details are linked below). Finally, we came up with the core design solution.
Core Design Solution
Real routines of
Harvard students
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Provide pre-set routines of "a day of Harvard students" in different schools so tourist can enjoy an authentic experience
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Editable routines based on users preferences
Public Guidance
& Information
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Schedule information: which building or indoor cafe open to public
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Amenities: where are restrooms, trash cans can be found for public use
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Fun traditions and stories of buildings and statues
AR
Assistance
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Experience events that happened in a specific space, like a classroom, theatre etc.
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Help in map guidance to avoid frustration of getting lost in complex school trails
Information Architecture
Design Iterations
On the basis of all past work, we produced 2 iterations: wireframes and a mid-fidelity prototype. we have made improvements based on feedback from peers, teaching assistants and the professor..
Wireframes
The wireframes' primary goal is to demonstrate the fundamental structure for each individual page. I created them quickly by using Figma.
Mid-fidelity Mockup
The goal of this iteration is to show the major user flow of all core solutions with modification from the wireframes. I hope to test the usability of this design for further improvement.
We used Figma to create the mid-fi prototype so as to get feedback from peers and teaching assistant. I was responsible for creating the????
03 LATEST ITERATIONS
Guerrilla Research
In order to obtain reactions and input from potential users to inform further design, we presented our demo to a handful of tourists on the Harvard campus and solicited their opinions. Due to the fact that we were presenting a single concept, we were constantly careful in soliciting genuine criticism. Here are some key needs of users found from our field research.
1 - Prefer audio than text information
2 - Need more prior photos/videos
3 - Be able to edit route whenever they want
4 - Love to know more fun facts or antidotes of school
User Flow
1. Select a route
2. Explore around & see your saved routes
3. Start tour & explore different stops with AR
Major Design Challenge - Where to find saved routes and start the tour?
BEFORE
AFTER
Other Design Iterations
I've made changes in detailed, as shown below.
1 - Home Page
s
BEFORE
AFTER
Real routines of
Harvard students
2 - Route Preview Page
s
BEFORE
AFTER
Real routines of
Harvard students
Public Guidance
& Information
3 - Search Page
s
BEFORE
AFTER
Public Guidance
& Information
4 - Location Main Page
s
BEFORE
AFTER
AR
Assistance
Real routines of
Harvard students
5 - AR Event Page
s
BEFORE
AFTER
Real routines of
Harvard students
AR
Assistance
Accessibility Check
In terms of accessibility, I researched about related design solutions and applied 3 basics in this design.
For all design projects, accessibility is an on-going topic that requires further more research..
1
Color Contrast
For Visual Impairment
I used WebAIM Contrast Checker Tool to help check all content has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, mostly 7.5:1.
Colors are chosen from the Harvard archive, including the classic red and supplementary yellow.
Typology is chosen to be the most similar free font as the Harvard Archive indicates. The modern version of sans-serif typeface.
2
Audio & Closed Caption (CC)
For Hearing Impairment
I added audio and closed caption for introduction of locations, and both introduction and recordings of events. The CC is defaulted as on.
3
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
For Visual Impairment
I hope to use SVG images which are flexibly scalable, instead of common-used image, yet, some images still require higher resolution from other resources.
04 FINAL PROTOTYPE
05 REFLECTION
Expanding Audience for Off-site Tour and Inaccessible Building with VR
At now, the target audience is on-site tourists; nevertheless, several buildings are closed to the public for seasonal reasons. By using VR, tourists can avoid frustration in this situation. In the future, Harvard Authentic can offer off-site visitors the chance to experience the authentic Harvard from anywhere in the world with the help of virtual reality. This has been a great asset for both Harvard tourism and its administration as a form of propaganda.
Accessibility in AR
Accessibility design is an important consideration in the development of any technology, including augmented reality (AR). There are still a lot of challenges in accessibility design of AR.
For visual accessibility, it includes offering high contrast modes, the ability to adjust the size and placement of text and graphics, and providing audio descriptions or alternative text for visually-impaired users, which I've tackled with; For auditory accessibility, I have offered audio and closed captions. Furthermore, adjusting volume is worth considering. Audio descriptions may also be helpful for other users; For physical accessibility, it can include the use of voice or gesture commands instead of requiring precise hand movements or small buttons, as well as offering the ability to adjust the size and placement of AR objects.
For cognitive accessibility, it can include simplifying instructions or offering multiple ways to complete tasks like eyeball tracking and touch vibration response.
Gamification
The concept of "a day of Harvard students" is perfect for gamification. It can include a points and rewards system, badges and achievements for completing multiple routes, scavenger hunts and social sharing. In the future, it can also collect more routes like different students' routes in the same school, thus providing more option. Furthermore, it can also emphasize the storytelling of the concept "a day of Harvard students". These elements can create a fun and engaging experience for users, increasing user retention, and building loyalty.
Team work
As the project leader and only designer on our team, I have not encountered significant barriers when collaborating with the help of the "Team Contract", in which all team members identify their needs, schedules, etc. prior to the commencement of work. I would absolutely utilize it for future collaborative projects.