WOWlab_UX/UI for XR(VR/AR) Med Tech Startup “Amplifier AI”

Hello. My name is Pavel Sovushkin. I am the head of UX at WOWlab.

— — In 3 steps, I will show the process of working in WOWlab — —

For 5 years we in the WOWlab team have been creating UX / UI design exclusively for VR / AR projects.

In a recent PwC study, global revenue from VR content increased by about 30% compared to 2019, surpassing the growth rate of movies, video games and music.

In this post I will talk about UX / UI design for a medical tech startup Amplifier AI

The VR amplifier is a tool for viewing MRI images in VR.

The images are analyzed through AI trained to find pathologies. Radiologists and surgeons at Israeli medical centers work with the VR Amplifier.

In virtual reality, doctors planning real operations.

Dr.Dana Egozi about Amplifier VR

The best experience for doctors is saving lives. We help doctors through clear and convenient UX / UI design.

Amplifier AI is a Silicon Valley startup with Israeli roots. In projects for the medical sector, doctors and their experience are the main expertise.

Real radiologists and surgeons use the VR Booster tool to work with MRI scans. How quickly the project will be launched in new medical centers depends on how effective the experience of using the new instrument will be. For many doctors, virtual reality is a new way of working. We need to simplify the experience of using new XR technologies.

The Amplifier AI team had its own designers, but the team in the XR market does more expertise in how to make a convenient and understandable UX / UI design for XR projects. Finding new XR specialist UX / UI designers is expensive and time-consuming. There are few XR UX / UI specialists. The industry is growing. Expertise is valuable because it is rare.

There are 22 designers in the WOWlab team. More design expertise, only in teams like Apple, Oculus, Magic Leap, Hololens.

Our team is distributed. Clients pay for work, not office rent. The pandemic has shown the world that the ability to work does not allow offices.

At WOWlab, we forge years of UX / UI design expertise into a methodology. A systematic approach to design makes the result understandable and emotional.

So startups like Amplifier AI and big corporations come to WOWlab.

Step 1: UX

For startup Amplifier AI to raise the next round of money, they needed to complete UX / UI design tasks:

1. (UX) Simplify custom scripts. At the beginning of the project, all the tools and hypotheses that radiologists might need in their work were added. Hypothesis testing is a smart step that startups go through.
2. (UX) Make meetings comfortable. When new tools appeared, they were assigned to the joystick buttons that were still free. The free buttons ran out and in the end, it was necessary to press several buttons at the same time. For the next stage, it was necessary to bring all the tools to uniformity and simplify the actions of users to activate them.
3. (UI) Make it beautiful. The startup has confirmed its effectiveness. In order for the project to look good on the pitch, investors need to replace the entire time schedule with the final one.

At the beginning of work, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the project. In order to act clearly, you need to see the field of activity.

For a schematic representation of the project, we use User Flow. The diagram shows the connections of all screens and functions.

The project outline helps to make a user-friendly experience. So for example, VR Booster has two types of menus:

(1) Tools.

(2) Settings.

Each type of menu is assigned to a different joystick. Because the use cases for the menu are different. Through the diagram, such links between categories are easier to see.

The project is born through Thinking.

User Flow helps the team to clearly see the full power of the project. When user scenarios are complex, it can be seen in the diagram. In those places of the diagram where there are difficulties, we put hypotheses for simplification.

For example, in the Amplifier VR project, there are 4 different rulers: straight lines, curves, rulers drawn over the image or over the plane. Four instruments are needed for the different operations of the radiologist.

Thanks to the clarity of the User Flow diagram, we can see in which scenarios exactly which measurement method is required and combine all the rulers into one instrument.

Now the project has one ruler that changes its function depending on the scenario.

In medical projects, it is important to see the end-user — the doctor. Surgeons and radiologists work with instruments for hours, so every simplification of actions that need to be done by hand ultimately simplifies daily work.

By reducing 4 to one, we simplify the use of the tool.

Helping the doctor save lives.

Step 2: UI

UX / UI for Virtual Reality is primarily about spatial design. The design needs to be assembled spatially. We use programs: Gravity Sketch, Tvori, Tilt Brush for spatial design.

Design is a solution to functional tasks. You constantly have to make a choice between options for how exactly a design can work. The choice is made based on the arguments based on the UX / UI methodology for XR.

On the example of the task of the menu. tool, let’s see the layout options and think about which design will work best and why.

Let’s think together. In the course of thinking, we use the word “let’s say”. When describing a hypothesis. In order not to tie your mind to specific ideas.

Let’s say the elements will be arranged in two rows of element icons. OR

Let’s say the arrangement of the elements will be in a circle.

Which Spatial Design location would you choose for the surgeon’s tools menu?

We collect layouts right away in Virtual Reality. In the early stages of the project, the client can see the layout in VR. Layouts provide insight into the layout and usability of elements.

As a result of design thinking, we come to convenient and understandable solutions in UX / UI design.

Step 3: RnD — — Interactions

Assembling interaction mechanics right away in Unreal and Unity allows us to embed our solutions into the final XR product.

Speed up iteration of design work — allows you to test more hypotheses, test a project with real users, and make the project better with more feedback.

If you are working with XR projects, we will be interested to know about your experience with design:

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