user menu design

Designing a user controls menu and design system for a VR meditation application

The Design Story

My Role

Sole contract designer on the project creating end-to-end wireframes and prototypes, conducted extensive research

This project was an industry project for my client, aNuma, for their virtual reality application.

For this project, I focused heavily on being creative, stretching my boundaries and learning about 3d design. I conducted extensive research on other VR applications, focusing on the information design, UI, and most importantly, the immersive user experience.

Timeline

Summer - Fall 2022

Tools

Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop. Blendr

The Problem

How can we simplify and modify the user menu to be easier to navigate, and to be aesthetically compatible with the rest of Anuma’s platform?

The current anuma user menu is confusing, complicated, and includes tools that most users don’t need.

The Solution

Simplified primary user menu with key features that are easily usable with VR controls

  • prominence given to most used function, mute and unmute

  • icons and text for legibility and a user-friendly experience

  • simple and accessible color scheme

Breakout room functionality to allow users to experience multiple rooms at once

  • simple solution to users being able to navigate multiple rooms at once

  • scrollable list and simple UI

what is anuma?

aNUma is a VR app that uses psychological and neurological research to create an immersive meditation experience to help ease participants’ anxiety and stress. The company is still in the very beginning stages of a startup, and so my role was as the primary designer for the project.

RESEARCH

As a beginner to VR design, I had to block out time to do some research on what was out there.

I looked at other user menus, and at similar apps that also focused on meditation and immersive experiences, as well as game apps and other popular apps like VR Chat and TiltBrush that had complex nested and sub menus.

My primary takeaways were:

  1. Mixing 3D elements with 2D elements can help make design more intuitive for a user familiar with 2D design

  2. Radial menus are fast and easy to navigate

    1. Can take control of user’s joystick

    2. Incorporates Fitt’s Law

  3. Pages and tabs (2D design conventions) are instantly recognizable and can be implemented

I also looked at the existing system to gauge pain points.

ROSES

  • consistent color scheme and theme

  • color contrast between text and buttons makes usability easy

  • clearly labelled buttons are easy to use

  • color change on click makes it obvious something is enabled

THORNS

BUDS

  • creating a more consistent and cohesive brand design

  • radial instead of linear menu

  • overall simplification of the menu

  • test for accessibility

  • spacing is very close (against Fitt's Law)

  • linear menus are less efficient to use

  • more buttons than necessary

  • the most important buttons aren't immediately obvious

USER JOURNEY

To help with ideation, I created a few user flows for basic functions that a user would go through in the menu.

I created a user journey based around a user navigating the functions of the primary user menu.

I then created low-fidelity prototypes to help visualize the user journey through the primary user menu.

Ideation

I began by simplifying the user menu to its main components - the mute, quit, breakout, and tools functions.

I further identified that the menu would require a nested secondary menu featuring advanced settings that a user would need access to if needed, but not at all times.

Design Iterations

Based on feedback from team members, I began coming up with design iterations for the two pages we built for the site.

Final Designs

Takeaways

Adapt when the buck stops with you - As the sole designer on the project, I had to learn to take initiative and adapt quickly.

Take charge and learn from feedback - Talking to a developer about the feasibility of my designs was an incredibly eye-opening experience, and helped me understand the limitations and constraints of my creativity.

Present with confidence and justify your decisions - Getting asked questions on my design decisions was a great learning experience, as I learned to reason through all of my decisions, and have practical applications for each one.