XR Commandment #4 - Make It Feel Like Magic

4️⃣ Fourth post in this series on the 10 XR Commandments, let’s be realistic: nobody sticks around during a clunky onboarding. Users will immediately judge your activation based on the complexity and seamlessness of the experience design.

Remember: The perceived value of the experience must be higher than the perceived friction to start it.

Loading time, Augmented Reality detection, Virtual Reality controls, if any of these steps drags, you lose your audience.

Three principles to keep the magic alive:

1・Decide for your users: remove as many options as possible; streamline the experience from start to end.

2・Then, match the depth of experience to the users’ interests. Audience comes in three flavors (More details here: https://lnkd.in/gnk6ziqp):

- Paddlers just want a taste. Give them instant reward and a quick exit.

- Waders will explore if guided. Offer optional paths.

- Swimmers will try the experiences many times and love hidden options and features.

Design the first 30 seconds for paddlers, let waders branch out, let swimmers discover the activation in all its details.

3・Use only tech that is truly ready.

Unreliable AR tracking, blurry or slow Virtual Reality, or hallucinating AI chatbots… all break the illusion. Skip it except if your audience is knowledgable enough to understand.

Checklist to create magic:

• Don’t assume any technical knowledge or previous experience from your users. guide them at every steps.
• “Borrowed familiarity”: use standard user interfaces or gestures, don’t over-engineer your solution.
• Default to guest mode. No mandatory sign-ups except if necessary.
• Apply all others commandments! Seriously: design for context, don’t replicate reality, don’t make them sick, etc.

Reversal: when friction is the trick. Escape-room installations, fitness challenges, halloween activations. Sometimes the struggle creates value. Make it part of the story, not a side effect.

Building something immersive? If the setup is longer than the show, we need to talk. 😉

LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A7347804342327906304