About the Project 🎯

Context

I took up this project at the Interaction Design Studio while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree. I wanted to create an Interactive Experience for Zoo’s in India making them more educational for kids and more accessible for general audiences.

Problem Statement

Zoo visitors spend less time with animals and more time navigating the zoo. How might we ensure learning and engagement for users to learn at zoos using interactive technology

Contributors

I was the sole designer on this project.

Outcome ⭐️

I got to learn how to make prototypes with new emerging technologies like AR! This helped me realize that technology has great potential to solve real world problems
This project helped me secure a 10 CGPA in this semester! I was also awarded a scholarship during this semester!

I only want to see the final experience

The problem with Zoo’s in India

With lack of funds it can be hard to revamp and take care of the infrastructure at the Zoo’s. A good way to solve this problem is to bring in more customers to bring up revenue

The cardinal principle of any modern zoo is to serve the needs of the creatures it exhibits. But zoos in India are on tight budgets and lack new infrastructure & technology. They are poorly designed, with no understanding of animal behaviour

Conducting on field primary research

I visited Bannerghatta National Park to conduct my primary research. My objective was to shadow users and aim to observe pain points and bad experiences. I talked to many stakeholders and visitors which included children, the elderly and even foreigners! I gained variable insights and pain points from conducting this research!

User Persona’s

To segregate my thoughts better I decided to narrow it down to 2 personas.

Brainstorming and Quick Prototyping

BRAINSTORMING SOLUTIONS USING AFFINITY MAPS

Using affinity maps I generated various ideas and selected the most optimal solutions. I used sticky notes and markers for this process.

During this excersice I ensured to brainstorm all kinds of solutions and then picked the ones which were most optimal to this problem statement.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

I created an IA Chart to help me organise content of the application.

WIREFRAMING AND PAPER PROTOTYPING

I converted paper wireframes to low fi wireframe prototype to generate feedback and incorporate them onto the final designs.

Refining lo-fidelity wireframes with style guide

Inter

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

I spent a decent amount of time building a visual pallete to help make this application usable and aesthetic for the user, I choose a colour pallete which resonates with wildlife and nature, using these set of colours would also induce emotions such as postivity and trust. I choose a minimal font with high font weight variations which would help establish heirarchy

The all new zoo experience

Onboarding experience

Learn more about animals

Adding this plethora of information could make visiting zoo’s more exciting, especially for kids. With an AR charcter coming on the screen and talking about the animal could make it more engaging and informative for kids

Prototyping AR Characters

Since signages at the zoo are not readable, scanning the code could create this magical experience of the animals coming out of your phone and with the help of voice could talk about the animal in detail. I decided to make a rough prototype using Unity, android studio and Maya for creating the 3D Model.

Misc Screens

Learnings and Future plans going forward

CONDUCTING USABILITY TESTS HAS GOOD INFLUENCE ON DESIGN DECISIONS

Gaining feedback from real users helped me validate pain points user addressed and helped create a better experience

PITCHING THIS TO ZOO’S IN THE FUTURE

With India being on the rapid rise of smartphone accessibility, zoo’s can create these interactive experiences to boost revenue and start bringing in more customers. This could benefit a lot of stakeholders involved in the process

View my other projects

I’m not lazy I swear!

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