Tag Along
AR SOCIAL 36 HOURS UNITY ARCore
Roles:
Product Design, UX Engineer
Project Timeline:
36 Hours
Team Size:
5 People
Overview
An immersive social engagement tool that fosters close-knit connections with like-minded individuals to prevent social isolation in its tracks.
High fidelity mock-up
Contributions
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Team leadership
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Product Design
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UX Engineering
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Designed & Implemented AR Interactions and UI elements
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Created an art style that matches UI elements
The Problem
In North America, baby boomers are currently the largest generation by population. In the US alone, there are approximately 76 million baby boomers. Human beings are social animals that evolved to thrive in a collaborative network of people. Loss of social interaction can lead to negative side effects that are accelerated during aging. As a result, as the baby boomer generation ages, negative aging side effects will become more prevalent due to social isolation. Numerous studies indicate that this trend is a primary factory in declining health functions. It was concluded that social isolation is directly linked to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cardiovascular disease.
What Is Tag Along?
The Tag Along mobile application is a social engagement tool where users can create and share activities with family, friends or share to the public. Accompanying the functionality of this application, the Augmented Reality (AR) implemented delivers the information to the user in a friendly and immersive way. With this network expanding, any user can open the application and explore nearby activities that can be joined. This platform can foster friendships in a neighboring way.
The in-app experience introduces a minimalistic user interface which removes the overwhelming nature of current social media platforms which seem to have endless variety of options and menus. This is done through:
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Older adult conscious design
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Simplistic UI style
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Solid icon’s instead of outlined ones – for better visibility
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Customizable accessibility button (Can be changed from Google assistant to scrolling)
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Colorblind compatibility
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WCAG 2.0 accessibility compliance
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Minimal gesture based navigation (Easier for elders)
Tag Along encourages users to do things “in the now” and develop hobby building in a safe and gratifying way.
Low fidelity mock-up
Conclusion
The App was very well received and we won 3 awards!
Best User Experience
2nd Place Overall
2nd Place Social Isolation
During this process, I learned a great deal about designing for accessibility in AR and considering physical limitations of user.
