Turning Technical Hurdles into a $1M opportunity
Summary
How I used my technical background to create impact on an unconventional project.
In a whirlwind two-month sprint, I embarked on a high-stakes mission to revolutionize Saudi Arabia's global image through immersive technology.
As the sole UX designer on a groundbreaking project for the $620 billion Public Investment Fund, I wore multiple hats – researcher, designer, and technical liaison – to create a 3D gamified experience that would captivate investors and inspire the next generation of Saudi talent.
Role
UX Designer
Responsibilities
Platform and Secondary Research
User Tasks
Sketches
Wireframes
Accessibility
Technical Prototyping
Timeline
2 months (2023)
The Problem
Creating an immersive digital experience
with a $48bn project at it's heart
Picture a structure so vast it challenges the imagination - a cubic behemoth rising 400 meters into the Riyadh skyline. Now, imagine the challenge: How do you translate The Mukaab - the $48bn crown jewel of Saudi Arabia's urban revolution - into a digital experience that captures not just its scale, but its promise for the future?
This was my monumental task. As the UX designer, I was charged with creating a 3D gamified journey that would showcase Saudi Arabia's grandest visions to the world.
Welcome to my world in 2023, where I wore multiple hats to bring Saudi Arabia's ambitious vision to life, one pixel at a time. The timeline? A mere 60 days.
Navigating complex stakeholder relationships was crucial to our success
Identifying the
business goals
While creating an engaging digital experience was crucial, the true measure of success lay in its ability to drive tangible business outcomes for Saudi Arabia. Our project targeted several key strategic goals aligned with the investment fund's long term vision.
01
Boost investor interest
A project this ambitious required deep investments. By showcasing their adeptness in cutting-edge technologies, PIF aimed to attract global investors and demonstrate Saudi Arabia's commitment to innovation.
02
Showcasing business endeavors
The immersive platform served as a dynamic portfolio, highlighting PIF's ongoing projects and investments, while reinforcing confidence in current initiatives.
03
Engage potential talent for workforce growth
Our immersive experience was designed to captivate young Saudis, encouraging them to pursue careers with the investment fund.
04
Drive Tourism Interest
While not the primary focus, as a government entity, PIF also wanted to pique interest towards the Mukaab as a tourist destination.
The challenges
on hand
Once the web platform (used by brands like Walmart and Vogue) was finalized, I worked with developers and project managers to balance technical feasibility with the client’s brand strategy. However there were a few challenges along the way..
01
No UX researcher on the team
The UX team at the company did not have a UX researcher. This meant navigating research via trusted sources like Nielsen Norman and unconventional platforms like Discord due to a short timeline.
02
Unconventional nature of 3D design
As designers, we get used to designing for 2D screens. However, this project required adapting to new dimensionality and gamification that I had not tackled before.
03
High technicality of prototyping
Even though I had development knowledge in 3D, I was initially unsure of how prototyping (an extremely necessary phase, especially for a 3D experience), would be possible on such a short timeline.
Learning
Final UX Features Implemented
I incorporated some major features unique to the immersive experience that would help it stand out among similar experiences.
User Wayfinding and Onboarding
94% of participants explored at least 2 brand showcases.
I added a real-time map, markers, and progress trackers to guide users effectively while working with art directors to place visual cues to draw users to specific areas.
Design components
In-Experience functionality
Feedback gathering
17% of participants submitted survey feedback
After exploring various feedback options, I designed a non-intrusive feedback button and a post-experience header, so users could easily give feedback without feeling pressured.
Design components
In-Experience functionality
Accessibility measures
All 32 components met AA WCAG accessibility standards
I documented accessibility options but, due to platform limitations, implemented basic standards for color contrast, visibility, and pathfinding with the design team.
Accessibility ratios on components
In-Experience Visual
Multilingual Support
Deferred to future phases
To minimize translation efforts during ideation, I centered text and designed buttons/UI layouts with localization in mind. I also proposed character count limits for visual consistency. However, multilingual UI was costly to maintain and deferred.
Multilingual UI
Testing multilingual UI in-experience
So how did
we get there?
The first step in my design process is understanding the 'Why' behind the issues, allowing me to address the root causes and align my designs with high-level stakeholder goals.
The Discovery
Researching tech feasibility
and user pain points
With no time and personnel for traditional user research, I tackled a quick discovery on 2 fronts. My priority was translating insights into actionable design recommendations.
01
Technical discovery through platform documentation
With my development background, I led the technical discovery phase on the UX front to understand feasibility and constraints.
02
Unconventional research via Discord and engagement studies
With no time for traditional user research, I turned to unconventional methods. I dove into Discord communities and studies, eavesdropping on user frustrations with similar experiences.
I recommended initial user interactions and features based on technical and UX lift along with user value.
The Definition
An exercise in
deep collaboration
Collaborating with product managers, developers, and art directors, I sketched out concepts for finalized company showcases, UI layouts, and interactions. Also working with developers and animators, I recommended optimal camera angles and animations, ensuring the client was highlighted and users were guided naturally through the experience.
The definition phase took about two weeks and involved exploring many concepts, some of which were set aside due to technical, budget, or timeline constraints.
My early explorations directly influenced 7 out of 11 journey steps in the final product.
I took full ownership of all wireframes.
I created key user journey steps to help visualize the storymapping and key interactions
And then I saved
time, money and resources..
Leveraging my development background, I proactively set up and maintained a UX 3D prototyping environment with the help of developers, streamlining the prototyping process and reducing the overhead required.
01
1 week of timeline reduction
By streamlining the prototyping process by cutting out time spent on getting alignment between devs, QA and designers, I reduced the total timeline by ~15%.
02
Improved feedback quality
By making smaller changes by myself and deeply understanding the technicalities, I could improve the quality of feedback passed on to developers to be easily actionable and feasible.
03
Bridging communication gaps
Traditional prototyping wasn’t feasible for this project, which meant potential problems like prolonged meetings and potential misalignments between the developers and designers. I helped bridge those gaps.
A screenshot of the Unity3D space I maintained for the creative team
The Success Story
After two months of intense work, launch day arrived. As stakeholders and target audiences navigated our virtual space, the atmosphere was electric. The reactions? Overwhelmingly positive. The retention rate was ~30% higher than originally scoped (17 minutes instead of 12)
"This is exactly how we had imagined the experience." exclaimed the PIF representative.
But the real victory? We didn't just meet the client's expectations – we shattered them. The client was so impressed that they're already discussing future phases with a $1M budget on the table. An extraordinary end to an extraordinary project!
