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• META AR WATCH

Generative Research Sets the Stage for AR Ecosystem

OPPORTUNITY

With AR/VR/AI at the forefront of Meta’s business strategy, the Reality Lab was invested in finalizing the industrial design of their smart hardware products. As a research & strategy consultant with Meta Reality Labs, I collaborated with the hardware research team to evaluate customer ergonomics, performance, and their UX perceptions across two hardware prototypes: a smart watch and a handheld input device. For this case study, I will focus on the Smart Watch as it is part of the overall AR/VR/AI hardware ecosystem which includes my Smart Glasses case study.

Our ultimate goal was to understand which mechanism offers the most optimal UX and performance during operations, and why? And, ultimately to use this data to finalize their v1 industrial design from several potential solutions.

APPROACH & STRATEGY

While participants engaged with the watches through planned operations, I observed and captured images and video of customers’ intuitive use of the devices looking to understand performance, affordances and ergonomics as well as self reported ratings of their experience. I also captured ergonomic and anthrometric measurements to understand their impact on the above variables.

PROCESS & METHODS

Research & Strategy
Mixed methods: Experimental research, Correlational research, Benchmarking, AB testing, Clustering qualitative insights, Statistically structured interviews, Contextual inquiry, Usability testing, Concept testing

Following a structured interview guide, I utilized contextual inquiry techniques to assess and understand the performance of 6 different versions of the device, and the experience of the participants. I used a 7 point qualitative scale for participants to rate their experience across 5 sentiments: comfort, control, ease, delight, and quality; and their observations of related experiential variables. And, finally, I collected comprehensive co-variates including anthropometric measurements to understand their effect on the performance and perception of the devices related to fit, usability, and functionality.

Our executive report synthesized mixed method research methodologies based on the moderator’s observations during usability sessions, as well as assessments informed by various statistical methodologies.

Research artifacts are confidential. I am happy to share details in a zoom call.