The Client: A fifteen year old creative agency that works with a “diverse group of museums, foundations and businesses to create digital experiences that make deep personal connections with their audiences”.
On behalf of their clients, they use virtual reality and augmented reality, as well as websites, apps and videos to tell stories.
The aim was to make my client’s site as impactful as that statement.
The Opportunity: While nibbling on yummy pastries & sipping great coffee, I met with company principal Robin Wright-Owen who gave me a better understanding of the agency, its needs and her vision.
Here are some takeaways from that meeting:
1. Would like more business based on site traffic; however, no current SEO project or strategy
2.Would like to attract more foundations and urban planning companies as clients.
3. Is active on Twitter; however, could have more presence on Instagram & LinkedIn
4. While not mandatory, the work should focus on the MediaCombo website & Newsletter
5. Enable the site viewer to find the newsletter sign up. At the time of my assessment, it was not easy to find.
6. A less “text heavy” newsletter. The thought was that impactful images would enable it to be friendlier on the reading eye.
Length of Project: 5 weeks
Role: Ideated, Researched, Interviewed, created affinity and journey maps, built persona, online survey, wireframes and prototype
Desired Outcome:
1. A revamped front page that features a clearer understanding of immersive media.
2. Easier to find social media activity & buttons.
3. Ability to sign up for the company newsletter.
Personal Desired Outcome:
For some time (forever), I’ve felt daunted by virtual and augmented realities. VR was more familiar, but still felt like an abstract topic left for pop culture. To be honest, I didn’t understand augmented reality at all. For this reason I believe that I’ve avoided learning more about these mediums.
I bet a lot of people feel the same way. In fact, you’ll see that my interviewees were somewhat of the same mind.
When the chance arose for me to work on the MediaCombo project, what initially felt like dread became curiosity. Here was a chance to demystify this technology. And now I’m fascinated!
Competitive Analysis
Methodology: Since Ms. White-Owen specifically mentioned wanting more business from foundations, I interviewed a number of executives to get their understanding of their outreach, how they help others understand what they do, their comprehension of Augmented and Virtual realities.
I was curious about and wanted to get feedback from the general public on their own understanding and usage, if any, of AR & VR. Using the survey to seek out this information was key.
Research
So I interviewed a number of foundation executives with organizations like the NY Irish Center, Sidewalk University, and The York Theater company. They gave me great insight on their organizations and their use of technology. Here’s a snippet:
All had a good grasp of technology and various tools. I did gather though that they regularly consider more effective and modern ways of reaching the public, but can feel that advanced technology and social media can be a distraction from their actual roles, or they are somewhat intimidated by it.
Affinity Map: These interviews gave me material for the following affinity map.
Persona: This then informed my Persona.
Users: To add “body” to my research, I needed to get better acquainted with those who might use AR & VR. I structured a survey where 34 people responded and received the following feedback:
- 53% were aged 25-34
- 60% identified as female; 40% identified as male
Recommendations: Based on the interviews and survey answers, I proposed the following:
Inspiration
In addition to the above thoughts about a improvements, I wanted to stay consistent with MediaCombo’s current visual design scheme – logo, typography and color elements.
My thoughts on adding the video was heavily influenced by the Met Museum’s site. They also use the color red, but take the immersive experience all the way with a video on the home page that draws the viewer immediately into the museum.
Another site that influenced me was Governors Island’s. While its color scheme differs, their site instantly delivers their experience. Their video “takes you there”!
Here’s a look at the Prototype of the front page and newsletter:
I did something a little unorthodox and tested our users with the high fidelity prototypes. That was because a lot of the improvements were visual.
Before and After images:
User Testing: Here are the questions that I asked the five testers.
1. How would you subscribe to MediaCombo’s newsletter?
2. Based on what you see on the front page, tell me your definition of augmented reality & virtual reality?
3. Can you find MediaCombo’s latest social media posts?
User Findings: This was how the testers fared.
1. They had no difficulty finding the newsletter sign-up.
2. Were able to find definitions of augmented and virtual realities very quickly.
3. They also were intrigued by the opening video, with one user stating, “Wow. I feel as if I’m experiencing this rather than just reading about it or just viewing pictures”.
4. They enjoyed the newsletter which was enhanced with more images and sharper text.
Noted Improvements
1. The site now includes the newsletter sign up at the top as opposed to a difficult to find icon at the bottom
2. There is a Twitter feed on the side of the home page where the reader can instantly view posts from MediaCombo
3. Perhaps the most important improvement was the addition of a definition right below the home page video informing the viewer what Augmented and Virtual Realities are. One can hopefully feel less intimidated by these emerging technologies by this site experience.
Feel free to click the below links to get a better visual of the re-augmented site and newsletter.
