Augmented Angler

November 2022 - December 2022

We were challenged to use the principles of user-centered design to create a high-fidelity design for the Meta Quest 2 in Figma.

The Idea

I decided that I wanted to create an experience that mixed virtual reality and augmented reality seamlessly, beginning the brainstorming process. After a good amount of deliberation, the concept that was landed on was to create a mixed reality fishing experience that would let users fish wherever and whenever they like. Users would be able to create a fishing spot in real space using a VR headset and controller. After creating the spot, users would be able to select between different fishing poles and types of bait. They would then toss their line and bait into the water by pressing the button and swinging the controller. With their bait now in the water, the users must now wait for a fish to bite and, when one does, they need to rotate the other controller in order to reel it in. If they are successful, the fish will be caught and added to their fish index if it is a new catch. In the index, users will be able to see all of the fish they have previously caught and view facts about them like their average lifespan and whether they live in freshwater or saltwater.

The Audience

This mixed reality experience is designed for a few different groups of people. Firstly, it is for people who already enjoy fishing and wish for another way to partake in the passtime. They will find it to be a good way of practicing their patience and reaction time without physically needing to go out and fish. It will also be appealing to newcomers who are interested in going fishing, but simply lack the time or money to do so. They will find it to be a good way of learning the ropes and will hopefully get them interested in going out and fishing for real when they are able. The experience is being designed in a way that will make the experience enjoyable and relaxing for both pros and newcomers alike. It may also appeal to those who wish to learn more about fish in a fun way through the use of the fish index.

The Process

The Research

The process of creating this experience began with doing research on any similar applications to it. After a good amount of searching, it became clear that there were not any other experiences that came close to matching the one that was being planned, as most were very basic fishing applications made for the phone rather than headsets.

The User Interviews

The next course of action was to interview potential users of the application to gauge interest in the experience and its features. For the most part, the interviewees all had good experiences with AR and VR which shows that they would likely be comfortable with the mixed reality nature of this experience. All of them had gone fishing before and, with one exception, all of them expressed interest in going again, showing that they would likely be interested in this experience. This was confirmed, as when asked if they would be interested in the concept of the experience, the majority of them had said they were interested in it due to its convenience and novelty. The users expressed interest in additional features like haptic feedback when fishing, location based fishing, and the fish index.

The First Iteration

With the research and user interviews out of the way, it was time to create the first iteration of the Augmented Angler experience. Since the experience takes place in real space, the interface design for the application had to reflect that. All of the windows within the app are partially transparent so that you can see what is behind them and not have to worry about running into anything. The buttons were designed with the controller in mind, with them being very large to make them easy to click with pointer controls. The entire flow of the app had been completed for the first iteration, though it had to be greatly simplified to fit within Figma’s prototyping limitations. Still, the general concept remained the same.

The User Tests

Despite the limitations, the users who tested the experience found it to be enjoyable and found the visuals to be appealing. The users particularly enjoyed the part where they got to reel in the fish. Even still, the users still had feedback on how the experience could be improved. The first iteration lacked a means of accessing the index page outside of the ending screen after catching a fish, making the navigation of the index needlessly annoying. The color palette was also mentioned as being boring, with the black windows and white buttons not standing out much. Lastly, several users struggled to recognize when the fish bit onto their line, so they wished for more indication for when that occurred.

The Final Iteration

The criticisms of the first iteration were taken when moving onto the second and final iteration of the experience. The first change that was made was adding a button in the bottom left that takes users to the index page. This button was added to nearly every page of the experience to make it much easier to access the index than before. Colors were added to each of the buttons to make them more visually appealing, with green being used for all positive buttons and red being used for all negative buttons. To fix the issue with it being easy to miss when a fish is on the line, exclamation points were added above the fish to give an extra visual indication in addition to the text at the top changing. Lastly, animations were added to the prototype in order to add some additional visual flair to the experience.

The Results

In the end, the final iteration of the Augmented Angler application turned out quite well. It allows for users to get a taste of the experience that it could eventually become. User’s get to create a fishing spot in a real space, they get to cast their rod out into the water, they get to reel in a fish, and they get to learn more about the fish that they catch. The visuals are all designed to work well within the context of mixed reality, with the partially transparent panels and the big buttons suiting the platform well. While the prototype doesn’t give the full experience of fishing in your home, it serves as a good basis for further expansion by developers who can make the vision a reality. In that sense, this project was a great success as the goal was to create a high-fidelity design for a VR headset and this final iteration is just that. With proper development, this prototype could go on to be something even greater than originally envisioned, and that would not have been possible without this high-fidelity design and prototype.

View Prototype