Spatial UX: Designing a VR Medical Training and Sales Experience for a Global Electronics Manufacturer
Recently, I teamed up with the superheroes 🦸 at M-Brain Entertainment (no capes, just VR headsets!) to whip up an immersive VR training and sales experience for a global manufacturer. It was like joining a thrilling adventure already in progress, with existing builds as our starting point. Racing against the clock and navigating technical intricacies were part of the journey, but who doesn’t love a good challenge? I know I do!
About the Project
VR training and sales experience for a global manufacturer. Our goal was to motivate clinicians to acquire patient monitoring equipment by showcasing the benefits and features of a patient monitoring system in a virtual training environment. I led the UX process, and it was a magnificent team effort involving user testing and multiple iterations.
I was excited to present this project as it deviates from the usual UX case studies that typically involve research, surveys, personas, and sketching. Instead, my focus was on usability, end-user experience, business objectives, user goals, and adherence to spatial design best practices.
Challenge
Our task was to create an immersive experience that allowed clinicians to interact with medical equipment across different modules or environments. The manufacturer’s equipment ecosystem spanned the entire patient cycle from the Emergency Department (ED), and Operating Room (OR), to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). After interacting with each module, clinicians could request a quote directly from the VR headset and WebGL experience, all built in Unity.
Discovery
During this phase, I tested the existing build and went through the current assets in Figma. Upon joining the project mid-term, I conducted an immersive heuristic evaluation to identify critical issues.
In the early stages of the project, there existed basic wireframes and an independent voice-over. These initial elements were more suited for a WebGL experience and lacked the immersive characteristics of VR.
We realized that the touch targets were positioned at a considerable distance, making interaction challenging. The use of hands was required, but it was unclear if the user had successfully interacted with the interface.
The steps were not clear; forcing the user to click through the arrow in order to navigate without any prior instructions to do so. There was no clear way to exit to the lobby or navigate through modules. A key UI factor in immersive experiences (XR, AR, and VR) or spatial UX is to keep the content and visual design of UI focused on the essentials, not let unnecessary elements distract users from the information they really need, and prioritize the content and features to support primary goals. To optimize this, we turned to several key principles of spatial design.
After I identified the critical elements that needed attention from a UX perspective, I proceeded to write the corresponding documentation, including technical design doc, and user flows, develop wireframes, and craft a user interface style guide.
Wireframes
In this case, our wireframes were a little different since we had actual environment scenes and imagery so we used screenshots of each and overlaid the UI upon it in Figma. Since this was script-based and had a linear storytelling style, I opted to adjust our Figma wireframes to the script.
We had multiple pages of script per environment; I broke out each screen into voice-over and when there was an action required it was clearly outlined for the dev team to complete with notes on where there should be a sound effect and where there is a voice-over pause and an action to complete.
This allowed us to keep an organized linear experience and quickly identify where there were gaps in our experience.
Key Elements for Internal Pilot
Upon establishing the wireframes, user flows, and visual design style guides, we embarked on a collaborative journey with our development team. Our mission was to finalize the internal pilot for a global electronics manufacturer. Our primary objective was to create an unparalleled experience for clinicians that would encourage them to request a quote and invest in the comprehensive medical equipment ecosystem. We were committed to optimizing the user experience in a VR environment, with our focus centered on several key elements.
Optimizing On-demand and Reactive UI Elements
In spatial UX, it’s crucial to have clear navigation steps. Users shouldn’t be forced to click through arrows without prior instructions. Visual signals should be added to indicate successful clicks. This approach highlights the need for reactive UI elements, such as signals that show a click, and on-demand elements, like clear steps that appear when needed. These elements enhance user interaction and experience.
Having a system response for any interface is crucial, particularly in VR hand tracking. It’s essential to emphasize when an object is interacted with, such as when it’s grabbed by hands. This underlines the significance of system response, a key principle in all types of interface design.
Avoiding Occlusion
VR applications rely on the user’s ability to efficiently explore the virtual scene. In complex scenes, occlusions limit what the user can see from a given location, and the user has to navigate the viewpoint around occluders to gain a line of sight to the hidden parts of the scene. When the dis-occluded regions prove to be of no interest, the user has to retrace their path, making scene exploration inefficient.
Since we had a voice-over guided experience that required users to take action, we provided solutions. Subtitles were cluttering the experience; having these chunks of text took away from the immersive experience. By ensuring minimalism, we made the experience more immersive.
We made the following changes to the subtitles to ensure best practices for closed captions:
- They were programmed to appear in sync with the voice-over.
- They were positioned at the bottom of the user’s field of view.
- They were attached to the head and followed head rotation to ensure constant visibility.
- To resolve occlusion and other depth conflicts, we placed the subtitles slightly closer to the user compared to the gazed-on object.
We carefully considered the movement speed of the subtitles. If they moved too quickly, readability was reduced. If they moved too slowly, they couldn’t resolve depth conflicts in time.
We paused the voice-over when user action was required. If a user didn’t complete an action, we repeated the instruction after a certain amount of seconds. Once a user completed an action, we resumed the voice-over and subtitles.
Transitional movement
In our project, we encountered the challenge of navigating between different environments such as the Operating Room (OR), Emergency Department (ED), and Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Each of these environments required interaction with unique equipment. The ‘next’ button was frequently used but lacked automation, which could potentially disrupt the user experience, particularly when there was nothing else to explore.
To address this, we employed transitional movements, a form of movement in VR that involves shifting from one location to another within the virtual environment. This is distinct from rotational movements, which involve changes in orientation or direction without changing location. By using transitional movements, we were able to create a seamless and immersive experience for the users as they navigated through different modules.
We also introduced an on-demand UI element in the form of a menu to enhance user interaction. This menu served as a visual cue and provided a clear call to action for the users, giving them control over the interface and enabling them to decide their next course of action.
User’s FOV and visual cues
It’s crucial to keep UI elements within the user’s field of view (FOV). This ensures that users can easily access and interact with these elements without having to unnecessarily move or adjust their viewpoint keeping visibility on points of interest (POI).
If certain actions are required from users, provide them with clear and intuitive hints. This can guide users on what steps they need to take next and can greatly enhance their experience and interaction with the VR environment.
Sound can also be used effectively as hints in VR. Different sound effects can be associated with different actions or events, providing users with auditory feedback that can help them understand and navigate the VR environment better.
Conclusion
Embarking on this journey of spatial design has been nothing short of transformative. It’s a realm where creativity meets technology, and the possibilities are as vast as the virtual worlds we create. Our project with M Brain Entertainment was not just about crafting an immersive VR experience; it was about pushing boundaries, challenging norms, and redefining what’s possible.
We navigated through complex challenges, time and technical constraints, and iterated tirelessly to bring the customer vision to life while maintaining user experience. In the process, we didn’t just create a VR training module; we created an experience that has the potential to redefine how clinicians interact with medical equipment.
If you’re interested in learning more about our work or embarking on a similar journey, don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact M-Brain Entertainment or connect with me on Linkedin. We’re always excited to share our experiences and help others discover the thrilling world of spatial design.
Remember, in the realm of VR, the only limit is your imagination. So why wait? Start your journey today and let’s shape the future of spatial design together!
