AR Scavenger Hunt for Earth Fest 2024 @American Museum of Natural History.
zzzz An AR Scavenger Hunt designed to educate participants about the carbon cycle and enhance environmental awareness.
Officially launched at the Earth Festival at the American Museum of Natural History on April 27, 2024.
Product Manager: Eozin Che, Lead Creative Technologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Eric Chen
UIUX Design: Yuling Zhou, Vicky Yang
Engineers: Marsha Fabiola, Lexin Xiong, Samia Menon
Writer: Laura Moustakerski
zzzz An AR Scavenger Hunt designed to educate participants about the carbon cycle and enhance environmental awareness.
Officially launched at the Earth Festival at the American Museum of Natural History on April 27, 2024.
Product Manager: Eozin Che, Lead Creative Technologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Eric Chen
UIUX Design: Yuling Zhou, Vicky Yang
Engineers: Marsha Fabiola, Lexin Xiong, Samia Menon
Writer: Laura Moustakerski
The Challenge
Design the American Museum of Natural History's first-ever Augmented Reality (AR) experience within 10 weeks, pioneering AR design in its 155-year history.
Our project goal was to design an AR scavenger hunt experience for Earth Day 2024 in the Hall of Ocean Life. We aimed to bring the museum's dioramas to life with augmented reality(AR) and show how marine animals help store carbon in the ocean ecosystem.
Our high-level goals were to:
Create playable interaction to show the users what roles animals play in carbon cycle.
Make it fast and easy to scan and experience for everyone who comes to the event.
Incorporate educational content into the experience in an intriguing and captivating manner, allowing users to absorb environmental knowledge effortlessly and engagingly.
Timeline
My Role
I led the design of the AR Scavenger Hunt experience between February 2024 and May 2024. I collaborated with two other designers on the Landing page, menu, AR scan features, and payoff animations.
In addition, I worked alongside two Product Managers, three Engineers, and a Content Writer.
The experience launched on the Earth Festival at the American Museum of Natural History on April 27th, 2024.
“It’s so lucky to have you in our team;)”
--- Samia Menon @Squarespace
Kickoff: Early insight of the field
Initially uncertain about AR's compatibility with museum dioramas, I collaborated with the product manager to pilot AR technology on the Hall of Ocean Life dioramas using The 8th Wall. We chose six diorama stations to design and develop the AR Scavenger Hunt Experience: Blue Whale, Manatee, Tuna, Coral Reef, Sea Otter, and Sargasso Sea.
First testing version created by 8th wall
After the field test, we redesigned all the experience prototypes, including landing pages, the main menu, and AR interaction prototypes.
To enhance interactivity, we designed an experience where users can drag around the ocean animals after they scan chosen dioramas to explore their roles in the carbon cycle. For instance, Manatees contribute to the carbon cycle by consuming seagrass. They eat up to 150 pounds of seagrass a day. The seagrass grows back, absorbing more CO2.
First Version of User Flow of Manatee Diorama Station
Core Interaction:
Manatee eat seagrass. More seagrass grow back and absorb more CO2.
However, we found users don’t want to read long text about the carbon cycle without animations and pictures, and the AR experience cannot effectively educate users.
Moreover, users prefer not to read texts after the gameplay session. Instead, they tend to proceed to the next station immediately.
“I don’t feel I’m learning when I play with the Manatee, and I just skip long texts, especially after I finish the gameplay process.”
Said one of our teammates after he had experienced the first version.
Second Iteration of User Flow of Manatee Diorama Station
We enhanced the AR learning experience by presenting scientific content through concise text and animations before gameplay, ensuring users engage with educational material.
This setup prevents users from skipping the learning phase and integrates fun animations to maintain interest and improve comprehension.
We designed the Sea Otter and Tuna stations in the same way.
Second Iteration of User Flow of Sea Otter Diorama Station
Core Interaction:
Sea otter consume sea urchins to help carbon cycle.
Sea urchins eat kelp and destroy the kelp forest, while Kelp forests absorb a lot of CO2.
We conducted A/B testing at the Tuna station, comparing two groups distinguished by the number of flying fish present. One group experienced a scenario with just one flying fish and one tuna, while the other group had a school of flying fish alongside a tuna.
Tuna Diorama Diorama Testing Station A
Tuna Diorama Station Testing Group B
Core Interaction:
Yellowfin tuna eat a lot of flying fish.
Carbon in the smaller fish get stored in the bigger fish.
Core Interaction:
Yellowfin tuna eat a lot of flying fish.
Carbon in the smaller fish get stored in the bigger fish.
Yellowfin tuna eat a lot of flying fish.
Carbon in the smaller fish get stored in the bigger fish.
Iterations of MENU
Given that there are five stations, we designed the main menu to resemble a treasure map, enhancing playability and encouraging users to explore the entire experience.
First Version:
Lightened Progress
Second Version:
Button and Map
Icons illuminate once users complete exploring each station, and a segment of the progress bar lights up after every two stations experienced.
We use lighting-up icons, and the progress bar motivates users to explore all stations.
We use lighting-up icons, and the progress bar motivates users to explore all stations.
Enhanced the "Start AR" button to appear more clickable and updated the Hall of Ocean Life map with detailed stairs and station locations to encourage users to explore further.
Third Version:
Responsive Click
Final Version:
Cut Redundancy
Added location hotspot to indicate users’ location. Updated the progress bar and added a visual bubble behind coins to indicate a station selection. Additionally, the name of each station now appears above it when selected.
We removed the location hotspot to make the experience more challenging. We also removed the redundant progress bar, eliminated the Sargasso Sea station, and deleted the name bubbles to increase the exploration challenge. Additionally, the generated icons were replaced.
Test and Refine: User Testing
On March 27th, 2024, we conducted user testing at the American Museum of Natural History, engaging 13 adults and 6 children to evaluate the Manatee, Sea Otter, and Tuna stations. This session aimed to refine our design and gather actionable insights from our volunteers. We got valuable feedback from the user testing.
Photo of the user testing day
An adult participant expressed confusion during the session, stating,
"I don't know how to proceed to the next page or interact with the AR animal models. I even tried dragging the progress bar to move to the next step."
Introductory Instructions:
- Users were unclear about needing to swipe to proceed through instructional pages;
- they also lacked clear instructions on how to properly interact with the AR elements, specifically needing guidance on mechanics like press, hold, and drag.
Usability Enhancement:
- Users feel a need to refine model sizes and placements for better diorama alignment.
- Need to enhance colors, contrasts, and size for easier interaction and improve the detection of smaller creatures like small fishes.
- Prefer featuring a school of flying fish rather than just one, as a single small fish can be difficult to click on. A school of flying fish not only adheres to natural behaviors but also facilitates easier interaction and more accurate responses.
“What is Carbon?”
Asked by a fifth grade girl almost in the end of the user testing meeting.
Nobody realized that users may even don’t understand what is carbon.
Technology Issues:
-
There were several challenges with AR elements not appearing after scanning, being overly zoomed-in, or misaligned with the intended scenery. Additionally, smaller elements like flying fish were difficult to spot due to poor color contrast and size.
Instructional Content and Terminology:
-
There is a need for clearer definitions and possibly simplifying complex scientific terms for better user understanding. Visual aids might also be beneficial in helping users identify and understand specific marine life and ecological concepts.
Refinement: Final Versions
After user testing, we refined our design in the month leading up to the launch. Our focus was on enhancing usability—this included adding intuitive instructions, refining colors, fonts, and model sizes, addressing technological issues, and improving the instructional content. We also finished developing blue whale station and coral reef station.
Landing pages: Make the interaction intuitive.
Making users awarethat swipes lead to the next page.
Blue Whale Station
Manatee Station
Tuna Station: We decided to use a school of flying fish
instead of a single one.
Sea Otter Station
Coral Reef Station
The Launch Day:
Earth Fest 2024 @ American Museum of Natural History
Over 2,000 users experienced our project on launch day, predominantly parents and children. Seeing the joy on the faces of both children and their parents was incredibly fulfilling. We also captured some valuable photos from the event.
