Neutrinoscope
Product Context
Durham University’s Centre for Particle Science was preparing to exhibit at The Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition with a focus on the Neutrino particle. One key element of the stand was to include an immersive, digital experience to convey concepts and facts relating to the Neutrino. It was also a desire that such a digital experience could take the form of an app so that attendees of the fair could continue to engage with it after the fair and lecturers could continue to use it for the Centre’s STEM outreach activities
The Problem
With many varied, detailed and complex concepts that relate to these invisible Neutrino particles, the team at Durham University were unsure how to bring such particles to life in an informative and engaging experience.
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From different forms of Neutrinos, to the mysterious behaviour of Neutrinos being able to change from one type to another, through to different sources of Neutrinos and their different properties, the challenge was conveying enough information to be captivating, but not so much the experience was overwhelming
My Process Overview
My role and work
• Lead designer
• Workshop facilitation
• Scope definition
• Concept generation
• Usability testing
• Understanding AR frameworks
• Communicating AR behaviour
• Supporting front-end development team
Scope
After background reading and through workshops with the team at Durham University it was clear that there was a vast array of facts and ideas about Neutrinos that we might want to use. It was equally clear that including all such information risked overwhelming and alienating target users.
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Our main focus became the careful definition of scope that ensured accuracy as well as accessibility, provided information but inspired further learning. Defining this scope was done in conjunction with the Durham team, through workshops, grouping of information and wireframes.
The conclusion of which was the collation of two main themes; “Neutrinos are everywhere” and “Neutrinos have many sources”.
Designing for Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality was deemed perfect for our needs offering huge potential to convey the concepts identified in an engaging way. The development team started to explore how to work with AR and its limitations, whilst I and the junior designer pulled together initial designs. Close collaboration was required to make sure that the design and develop streams were in harmony.
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As we moved into more detailed designs we were able to utilise all that AR offers, such as animation and depth, to represent further information. Designing such behaviours meant changing the types of specifications and artefacts shared with development team to best support communication of the design intent.
Final Solution
After testing the coded prototype with target users and iterating the main areas to more clearly communicate specific Neutrino concepts, the designs could be finalised and supplementary information incorporated.
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The App had two main areas, "Interact" would allow users to place objects into the AR environment and see how they each emitted neutrinos differently. "Explore" placed users at the centre of the experience, using their location to show nearby neutrino sources, highlighting that they are all around.
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The copy content was written by the Durham team with a final edit from myself to ensure consistent tone of voice. I also designed accompanying diagrams for the copy that followed the same visual threads as in the AR experience. This was all done in close collaboration with the development team.
Further design strategy has been conducted, outlining additions to the product that include; visualising multiple results alongside their KPIs, exposing global settings that currently reside in the database to the UI to make initial setup simpler and further visualisations to help with assessment of the AI proposals
Summary
This product was great fun, providing the opportunity to learn not just about a new subject but also Augmented Reality. Getting the chance to learn about what AR can do, applying this to an interesting and complex application within a passionate development team was a brilliant opportunity.
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Our involvement with the project concluded after the App had been released on the App Store and we were lucky enough to be invited to The Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition as a finale. It was particularly rewarding to see the children at the fair engaging with Durham’s stand and the Neutrinoscope App, seeing their excitement and wonder was certainly a highlight.