LEGO® BuildAR
The Lego Group - makers of the iconic LEGO® brick - is seeking new, digital ways for children to engage with making and the built environment. I worked on a team of 3 to develop an iOS concept game that integrates Augmented Reality (AR) technology with classic LEGO® building.
For this concept project, I led the research and prototyping.
March 2018
Research, Prototyping
Sketch, Principle, Photoshop
iOS iPad
Our challenge was to design for the LEGO® Juniors customer (ages 4-7) and bring something new to the traditional LEGO® experience by integrating Augmented Reality. The final form this took was up to our group to decide.
AR technology animates real life by overlaying virtual information on physical surroundings. The technology is delightful, but how do we make it useable, fun, and educational for kids?
I researched best practices when designing for children drawing on academic journals, conferences papers, and UX thought-leaders.
We interviewed kids in our target age group to get a better feel for their play style and spoke to parents to understand what screen time is like with their kids.
We analyzed kids building apps, the popular AR app Pokémon Go, and other LEGO building games to understand the market and standard features.
I conducted a three-pronged lit review so the team could have a solid research foundation underpinning the design phase -
UX For Kids
UX for kids is not UX for adults. Designing for children brings different areas of consideration into the UX picture. For example, from a UI perspective, kids tend to accidentally hit the bottom of screens so most menus and buttons need to be placed up top.
I visualized some of the key takeaways when designing for kids -
Best Practices when Designing for Kids
AR and AR Learning
I researched the basics of location-based AR and looked into how AR has been used to enhance elementary learning.
Education is at the core of the LEGO mission statement, so it was integral to not just incorporate AR but be able to articulate its educational value.
Insights on Pedagogical Learning and Augmented Reality
Our Age Group
Research emphasized that age differences between kids are significant; consider the differences between a 3 and 6 year old. I looked into this age group in greater detail, some key points -
Interviews
Interviewing kids and parents gave us insight into what parents look for in a game and how kids like to play on screens. We found most users had access to their parents tablets and this is where they most often played screen-based games.
Takeaways -
Persona
Based on research and interviews, I created our persona "Tireless Todd."
Key Points from our Persona, Tireless Todd
Our research phase helped clarify our unique offering; an iPad building game. A user could select our digital builder to make a LEGO® brick creation or use real-life LEGO® blocks with RFID technology to build physical creations that would be rendered digital through the app.
They would then use the app camera and location-based AR to view their surroundings and place their building into the existing landscape.
Concept Image of RFID Block Building
Our team ran a design studio where we challenged ourselves to think through what our Minimum Viable Product might look like.
I sketched what I envisioned every essential screen to look like, then the group compared sketches and assessed how we should scaffold the design moving forward. We then turned our sketches into mid-fidelity wireframes ready for testing.
Quick Sketches of Essential Screens During Group Design Studio
We wanted to mimic the real feel of an iPad when testing, so we made our own cardboard version where we could easily pull out paper wireframes and reveal the next screen.
We tested our screens with users in the LEGO® Juniors age range, but also through the eyes of parents. The latter was especially helpful in understanding the kinds of questions kids ask at hesitation points.
Key Takeaways from Usability Testing-
There were too many steps to get to the digital builder; there needs to be less user effort to get to the heart of the experience.
We tired to limit our use of words but testing showed us we needed to make it even more visual and use more literal icons for functions like erase and save.
A 7 year-old-tester let us know our app was boring. Gameifying and being able to really prototype the AR view are key to creating a compelling experience.
Journey Mapping Current Experience
We Journey Mapped Current Experience to see where we could improve.
Click to Enlarge
Revised User Flow
We iterated our screens based on testing feedback, applied high-fidelity design, and were able to revise and shorten our user flow.
Wire Flow Showing Steps from Home to Digital Builder
Testing underlined how important prototyping the AR view of our game was. I have a feeling our app was ‘boring’ because the user couldn’t visualize the games core feature.
I worked to mock up what a creation would look like in AR; I made a LEGO® building, photographed it, and manipulated a series of images to realize a 360° AR view.
Prototyping the AR view
Highlights of key screens -
Digital Builder
Placement Screen
I prototyped our final concept in Principle; check it out below.
