Digital product & UI/UX
Grave Guide
Project overview
Living near so many historic graveyards, I noticed something. Graveyards contain an immense amount of history, but if you don't already know about it, you’re out of luck!
In comparison, the Grave Guide app puts history at your fingertips, and adds an element of fun and supernatural thrill. Augmented reality allows users to walk around while seeing information overlaid over their phone’s camera view. Gravestones can be tapped for information about the deceased, and “ghosts” appear to hover near their graves.
Details
Company/client: MassArt
Role: Designer
Team: Professor and classmates
Time period: 2020
Goals
The goal of this app was to make exploring historic graveyards more fun, interesting, and accessible to people without prior history knowledge.
Process
Went to Granary Burying Ground in person and interviewed 7 people about their experience there
Noticed that even people with prior history knowledge would like to have more information available in the graveyard, and also that people enjoyed ghost stories
Surveyed peers about interest in the supernatural, including “ghost-hunting” apps and spooky experiences
Created personas to reflect my target audience, 20-35 yr olds with some interest in history or the supernatural
Created wireframes and lo-fi prototypes of the app
Created a prototype and walk-through video, including After Effects animations
Created a podcast ad, since podcasts are a great way to reach people with niche interests
Challenges
Conceptualizing and mocking up the AR portions was tough — I knew how I wanted them to look, but finding the right stock footage and editing everything to look correct was tricky. I first tried to use rudimentary AR technology to visualize it, but it was too buggy to make for a clean prototype.
Interviewing people off the street was also an interesting challenge!
Success
I successfully created a demo video that displayed the app accurately to how I’d want a final version to look. It went over very well with classmates and professors, who were surprised and excited by the concept!
Walkthrough of prototype
(note: if the video does not load, refresh the page)
Book Design & Illustration for Concept Project
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