TAB launched an Augmented Reality (AR) product for the Spring Racing Carnival 2018 in order to add exciting content to the app, drive visitation and improve brand sentiments of modernity.
PROBLEM / HYPOTHESIS:
As this was the first product of its kind (among any wagering provider), we were unsure about how users would adopt the new feature, what their level of understanding would be and if and how they would personally use it.
RESEARCH:
We decided to conduct research in order to answer the above.
As sole UX researcher, I led all user research related to the product, testing everything from:
Understanding of AR, generally
Understanding of copy/instructions
Icon fit
Usability
Attitude towards product post-use
The first research task we conducted was trialing an existing AR product (in this case, NBA AR) with users and capturing any roadblocks for understanding and usage.
Users trialing an AR product for the first time
This exercise revealed that all users needed at least some assistance during the journey, and AR was not a familiar concept at all. There were hiccups experienced at each step, highlighting many areas for improvement and clarity.
Insights slide presented to stakeholders at first AR debrief
In addition to this, testing also unveiled the types of AR scenarios/environments users were most interested in experiencing.
All users said they would try the experience both at home and socially, though was only seen as a novelty or “try once” experience that they wouldn’t keep returning to.
After testing this for a couple of weeks, the designers were able to mock the TAB version which I tested with users. Questions were drafted around the findability of the feature, understanding of the concept, understanding and comprehension of instructions and the actual AR journey.
Here is a summary of results:
Insights slide presented to stakeholders for first TAB-branded AR debrief
I also tested icons used in the journey and to represent the feature. Questions asked were around brand fit, what best suited the product and what made the most sense to users.
Icons used in product were sense-checked with users
A final round of testing was conducted in order to fine-tune the product and get a sense of interest/attitudes towards the idea.
Testing uncovered a few more areas of confusion with the concept and copy, as well as ideas for future iterations of TAB AR.
In retrospect…
The majority of research conducted was to help uncover roadblocks to understanding and usage, but only in the final stages of testing were we able to uncover more “ideal state” usage scenarios for this technology.
Whilst the product was always intended to improve perceptions of brand modernity, I would also have liked to investigate how to make this product one that was more useful for customers.