2024 / Research, UX & UI Design, Prototyping
Role:
Lead Designer
2024 (1 month)
- Created and led the design for the mobile prototype in Figma
- Edited the final presentation video
- Worked with graduate students
Tools:
Figma / Miro / Canva / Adobe After Effects / Google Search & Icons
About the Project
Meet AR Bud – an Augmented Reality (AR) app, featuring a digital pocket pet – designed to be a paw-sitive mood-booster in mental health issues and promoting wellness in young adults. Inspired by research on the benefits of emotional support animals (ESA), we hope to cultivate healthy wellness habits with our digital pet in AR Bud (Carter & Egliston, 2018; Jau, 2014). The research informed our design decisions such as: connecting with other users in app, prompts for breaks such as getting outside and into nature, along with daily wellness activities.
It is an academic project for the Master of Digital Experience Innovation (MDEI) program at the University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, owned and designed by a group of graduate students. The challenge was to create an app that would apply the different studies and mediums of storytelling.
Visit my teammates’ LinkedIn profiles: Amrit Kaur Klair | Andre D.J. | Betty Alemayehu | Elijah Robert | Juan Barahona
Behind-the-scenes
In our research, key insights highlighted a demand for social interaction for remote workers, the benefits of breaks in the workplace, and the emerging mental health challenges among college students and graduates as well as young professionals entering the workforce (Koehne et al., 2012; “Breaks during the workday”; American Psychiatric Association, 2023; Mary Christie Institute, 2023; Nava, 2023).
My responsibility was the design of the mobile app and presentation assets. I collaborated with the team and applied their research to the app in completing all user flows and features.
Its core function was to become companions that motivate users to take care of their mental, emotional and physical health. Other features included pet matching, mental health checks, alerts through connected devices such as smart watches, AI chat messaging, pedometer, food and activity tracker, playdates with other players, pointing systems, in-app games, and more.
Download the project statement for more details, work citations, references and media citations.
Results
I enjoyed applying different media into one product. It allowed me to touch base with AI and AR more, which greatly improved my knowledge with designing using said tools. We got an A+.
Gallery
Disclaimer: AR Bud is an academic project. Project details and citations are found in its project statement. This is not intended for commercial use.
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