Overview
A unique research opportunity
In June 2022, SHRM had its second Annual Conference & Expo after the pandemic. As the lead designer for this event, Our Creative Director offered me and 2 additional designers the opportunity to visit the event for research purposes. During our time there, we were able to observe how attendees interact with our designs, and bring back our notes for possible design improvements in future events.
At a glance
- 4 days of qualitative research
- Participant observation
- Covert observation
- Interviewing selected booth vendors.
Being at the event in person, we gained a better understanding of the all the parts, teams and companies involved in making a large scale hybrid event. We are just a small part, which happens to collaborate on how the event looks, and actually getting people to attend. So after getting an overall view, we focused on areas we can help improve without disrupting the work of the organizers.
While studying how the attendees use the space, one recurring observation was that attendees like posing at photo ops. It serves as proof of their attendance, and content to share on their social media profiles. The event space had multiple backdrops with small signs asking to take photos, and share in using a specific hashtag, which helps with the company’s social media presence.
Out of the different photo ops, we observed more engagement with the video wall. The motion and light emitted from the screen helped drive more attention towards it. Ideally there would be more motion graphics around the venue, but the cost to have more screens would be higher than the budget would allow. Oh, how we wish we could add more video walls.
More than just backdrops
Out of the multiple ways we could help increase attendance, photo ops are one of the simplest ways with overlooked potential. Here are some of the benefits when attendees share their photos in social media.
Sharing their experiences on social media, or PfP (Picture for Proof) verifies their attendance and proves their commitment with the HR cause.
Attendees sharing their experience with their peers can lead to more buzz and word-of-mouth marketing, while increasing the perceived value of the event. This potentially helps influence the attendance of future events.
User-generated content helps the marketing effort by increasing brand awareness and exposure.
When attendees share pics from branded photo ops, the event’s "reach" extends to their social media followers and beyond. UGC helps promote the brand and event, wether shared by influencers or regular people.
Overall, photo ops can be a valuable addition to events, providing attendees with a fun and engaging experience while also providing event organizers with a variety of marketing benefits.
The Problem
It’s hard to get a good pic to share!
More than an inconvenience for attendees, SHRM misses out on exposure from attendees sharing their experience.
The space had a dim, colored lighting, which provided a relaxed mood away from the busy expo floor. However, it was not ideal for photography. Skin colors looked strange, the backdrop colors looked different, and the people where backlit, so the cameras did not capture the faces. As a result, people were not participating as much as I would expect. A poor image reflects badly on the perception of a company.
Pain Points
- Extra effort to share in social media by typing hashtag
- Low Light = hard to capture faces in photos
- Confusing color perception
- No reliable way to measure engagement
Opportunity
Let’s increase attendee engagement and further extend our reach
Upon returning to the office after a nice weekend in New Orleans, we gave some thought to how to improve on-site engagement and make the conference experience more memorable for attendees. Our goal is to make users enjoy the experience, make it memorable, and have them share and advocate for us, ultimately converting them into returning groups next year.
Our Proposal
Site-specific Immersive AR backdrops
After brainstorming cost-effective alternatives to installing more video walls, a clear and innovative solution emerged. Our proposal: an interactive, Augmented Reality filter which on-site attendees be able to access on their phones and share in social media. Our in-house team of designers is capable of building the filter without any additional impact to the event budget.
AR filters can make the photo op more shareable and can help the event content stand out in social media feeds.
AR filters can be interactive and engaging, encouraging users to spend more time with the photo op and generating more shareable content.
Measurable metrics provide data that the event organizers can analyze for future marketing efforts.
Photo ops can provide sponsorship opportunities for brands, which can help to offset the cost of the event.
Additionally, implementing the AR filters would be non-disruptive to the event team’s planning and production efforts and budget, as it works with the same kind of photo ops they regularly install.
User Journey
Point, record & share.
A linear flow using familiar apps.
To use the filter, attendees aim their phone cameras at the photo op, which would track the image of the wall and display immersive graphics commemorative to the event. As the person moves around the physical space, the graphics would stay in place.
The filter can be used directly from Instagram or Facebook, allowing attendees to record and share their experiences online from the apps they know. Those without these social media platforms could still photograph the walls as they normally would with their camera.
Process
Prototyping and Testing
When designing an experience, and the concept seems abstract until people get to try it out themselves. For this, we built 3 prototypes that allowed us to present the initiative and identify any user pain points.
In detail...
To demo the concept, we took used graphics from the upcoming conference Inclusion 2022.
This was the technical process:
Findings
Insights and iterations from our testing
We built prototypes at both small scale and full size, and during testing had some relevant findings.
When a person covered a portion the image being tracked, it would not trigger the AR effect.
We assigned the area to be tracked to just a portion of the background image that was unlikely to be covered, usually to the top and one side.
If the image being tracked was symmetric or not wide enough, the effect would flip or get disrupted.
We used tracking elements wide enough to remain visible to the camera, and asymmetric so it is easier to track and anchor the AR scene successfully.
The full-screen solid background color covered the camera view, making it hard for the user to see where to point the lens to the trigger image.
We removed the color to make it map only the space the real wall has in the physical space. This is not necessary in the secondary version that tracks the face.
Outcomes
Achievements and learnings
For this initiative we researched, prototyped, and developed a novel hybrid option for our event attendees to engage in social media. We built a functioning Augmented Reality effect, although at the moment I left the company it was yet to be implemented at an event. Before working on this, I never considered how a simple photo backdrop could have the potential to extend a company’s reach and brand awareness, all while being fun to the users.
Most digital interactions can be measured with different metrics. To measure success, we need to define which ones would bring value to the organization.
To make this an intuitive experience, we needed to have multiple points of access (QR code, NFC tag, beacons), have a single app work with multiple experiences, and having a fallback for people who run into unexpected problems.
While I have some experience with AR, I love that every project has unique challenges. With this project I learned how to mask a person’s silhouette in video (which is a 2d plane object), in order to make other elements look as if they are behind.
This project served as a creative catalyst, and with some guidance my colleague designers were soon motivated to prototype their own creative ideas in Augmented Reality.