How to Design for Augmented and Virtual Reality

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Course Description

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are quickly becoming huge areas of technology, with giants like Apple, Microsoft and Google competing to provide the next big AR or VR experience. Statista predicts that the worldwide user base for AR and VR will reach 443 million by 2025¹, meaning that it is becoming increasingly important for UX designers to know how to create amazing VR and AR experiences. Designing for 3D experiences will require completely new ways of thinking about UX design—and the question is, are you well equipped to tackle this new field of design?

The good news is that while AR and VR hardware and software is changing dramatically, UX principles and techniques for 3D interaction design will remain consistent. It’s just that new opportunities and sensitivities will present themselves to designers and developers. This course will give you the 3D UX skills to remain relevant in the next decade and beyond. You’ll be able to create immersive experiences that tap into the novel opportunities that AR and VR generate. For example, you will need to bring together key UX concepts such as emotional design, social UX, and gamification in order to create an immersive AR or VR creation.

AR and VR need to be easy to use in order to provide users with experiences that wow. Avoiding common usability mistakes and applying the principles of storytelling will help you carefully craft 3D experiences that delight, intrigue, amuse, and most of all evoke the response you intended. You’ll need to engage users in first-person narratives by making use of spatially dynamic UI’s, including gaze, gesture, movement, speech, and sound—often used in combination.

During the course, you will come across many examples and case studies from spatial and holographic interface designers. You will master how to create immersive 3D content for AR and VR that provides rich user experiences. The course offers exercises and challenges throughout, all aimed at helping you and/or your team practice your emerging or existing AR/VR skills. You will be taught by Frank Spillers, who is a distinguished speaker, author, and internationally respected senior usability practitioner with over 15 years of experience in the field.

What you will learn

How to design for AR and VR from novel and unique perspectives
The three keys to designing for this new medium: Storytelling, Imagineering, and Improvisation
How to enhance immersion in order to improve your users’ experience
How to create 3D personas to improve spatial navigation, layout, and content
How to incorporate the brain’s responses to 3D interfaces by taking visual, auditory, and kinesthetic interactions into account
Practical tips to avoid known UX problems when designing for AR and VR

Who should take this course

This course is aimed at designers, developers, and content creators who are looking to learn or enhance their skills when designing for AR and VR. Despite this being one of our advanced courses, it contains beginner, intermediate, and advanced material. Unlike other AR and VR design courses that dwell on introductory content, we quickly move beyond the basics in order to give you strategies and techniques to develop your 3D UX design skills.

This course will appeal to:

UX designers, interaction designers, and 3D UI designers keen on learning how to create immersive 3D content
Unity developers and 3D developers who want to to create user-focused experiences
Product managers interested in, or working with, the development of AR/VR products
Storytellers, content creators, and filmmakers who want to use their storytelling abilities to create engaging AR/VR content
Marketers interested in taking advantage of AR/VR technology in their marketing strategy
Creative designers, artists, and entrepreneurs who are looking to set themselves apart by tapping into the new market for AR/VR content

Courses in the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.

Learn and work with a global team of designers

When you take part in this course, you will join a global multidisciplinary team working on the course and the exercises at the same time as you. You will work together to improve your skills and understanding. Your course group will be made up of an incredibly diverse group of professionals, all of whom have the same objective—to become successful designers. It’s your chance to learn, grow, and network with your peers across the planet.

¹Statista, Forecast user base of the augmented and virtual reality (VR) software market worldwide in 2020 and 2025, by segment (in millions), 2018

Lessons in this course

Note: Lessons become available at a schedule of one lesson per week. Once a lesson becomes available, it is open for you forever — you can take all the time you want to go through each lesson. There is no time limit to finish a course, and you always have access to your classmates, course material, and your answers.

The estimated time to complete this course is a total of 15 hours 38 mins spread over 7 weeks.

Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 43 mins.

0.1: Welcome and Introduction (4 mins)
0.2: An introduction to IDF courses (14 mins)
0.3: Meet your peers online in our discussion forums (6 mins)
0.4: Meet your peers offline through IDF Local Groups (1 min)
0.5: Gain Timeless Knowledge Through IDF Courses (11 mins)
0.6: How to earn your Course Certificate (4 mins)
0.7: Mandatory lessons vs. Optional lessons (2 mins)
0.8: A mix between video-based and text-based lesson content (2 mins)

Lesson 1: Getting in the Space (3D UX)

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 15 mins.

1.1: Imagination Is What It's All About (5 mins)
1.2: The Challenge for 3D Interaction Design (7 mins)
1.3: AR/VR/MR Distinctions (12 mins)
1.4: Designing for Presence (19 mins)
1.5: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)
1.6: First 30 Seconds Experience (10 mins)
1.7: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)
1.8: Exploring Spatial Interfaces (21 mins)
1.9: Storytelling Essentials (13 mins)
1.10: Improv Essentials (18 mins)
1.11: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)
1.12: Imagineering Essentials (15 mins)

Lesson 2: Getting familiar with 3D UI’s

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 44 mins.

2.1: Specifying Your Experience Design Plan (14 mins)
2.2: Discussion Exercise (6 mins)
2.3: The Reality of Your User's Brain in 3D (18 mins)
2.4: The Reality of Your User's Brain in 3D: Gaze & Gesture (15 mins)
2.5: The Reality of User's Brain in 3D: Voice (8 mins)
2.6: Your Designer's Brain in 3D: What You Need to Know? (12 mins)
2.7: Transitioning From 2D UI's to 3D UI's (27 mins)
2.8: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)

Lesson 3: Designing 3D Story Flow

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 2 mins.

3.1: Storytelling in VR & MR: 7 Essential Musts (22 mins)
3.2: Exercise (15 mins)
3.3: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)
3.4: Use Narrative Essentials (29 mins)
3.5: Plotting Asynchronous Narrative (18 mins)
3.6: Developing Your Personas (20 mins)
3.7: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)
3.8: Designing Around Hardware and Technology Limits (7 mins)

Lesson 4: How to Wireframe 3D Interactions

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours 36 mins.

4.1: Developing Your Interaction Models for VR, MR, AR (25 mins)
4.2: Holographic Interface Storyboarding Techniques (22 mins)
4.3: Wireframe Example: The Document Reviewer (4 mins)
4.4: Wireframing Immersive Interactions (56 mins)
4.5: 3D Wireframing Tools (18 mins)
4.6: 3D Prototyping Activity (26 mins)
4.7: Open Discussion (5 mins)

Lesson 5: Social VR and Collaborative Virtual Environments

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 16 mins.

5.1: 5 Important Social UI Characteristics (22 mins)
5.2: Communication, Coordination and Collaboration (19 mins)
5.3: 3 Tips for Better Social UX (14 mins)
5.4: Social VR: Facebook Case Study (15 mins)
5.5: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)

Lesson 6: Bringing It All Together

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 3 hours 36 mins.

6.1: Designing Your 3D Experience (59 mins)
6.2: Defining Spatial Interactions (30 mins)
6.3: Spatial UI Considerations (25 mins)
6.4: 3D Navigation (22 mins)
6.5: Designing Immersive Content (15 mins)
6.6: Holographic UI Design (36 mins)
6.7: Gamification for Any Immersive Experience (23 mins)
6.8: Discussion Exercise (5 mins)

Lesson 7: Validating Your 3D Experience

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour 26 mins.

7.1: Evaluating Your Design (19 mins)
7.2: Discussion Exercise (6 mins)
7.3: Measuring Presence (23 mins)
7.4: Tools for Evaluating VR/AR Experience (15 mins)
7.5: Inclusive Design: Accessibility, Gender, Localization (24 mins)

Lesson 8: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up

To be scheduled.

8.1: Course Evaluation (1 min)

Industry-trusted UX Course Certificate

You earn an industry-trusted Course Certificate once you complete the course - even if you finish the course after the official end date. In other words, as long as you have enrolled in the course you will always be able to finish it and to get a course certificate. You will also have permanent access to the course material, your answers and the discussions.

Course Certificates from the IDF are verifiable and trusted by industry leaders. You can highlight them on your resume, CV, LinkedIn profile or your website.

Our courses and Course Certificates are trusted by these industry leaders, who have taken up company memberships with the IDF:

Practical Info

Price: Free for members

You can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs, once you become a member.
Self-paced online course

Once this course starts, you will get access to a new lesson each week. There are no deadlines, so you can move through the lessons at your own pace.
Number of course participants

We maximize professional networking during the course by limiting the number of course participants.
Permanent access to course material

You will have access to your course material, answers, and classmates for the entire duration of your membership.
Online lessons with optional physical meet-ups

You have the flexibility to learn from anywhere with our online courses. Optional physical meet-ups may take place in your city via our Local Groups initiative.
Testimonials and reviews

View our student testimonials below, or read what people are saying about us.
Estimated time required

The estimated time required to complete this course is a total of 15 hours 38 mins spread over 7 weeks.

How IDF courses work

Attend lessons at your own pace

Each week throughout the course, you get access to a new lesson, but you can move through the lessons at your own pace. This means you can learn before you leave for work, or in between breaks — in as little as 15 minutes per day.
Network online and offline

Network with your fellow course-takers online, through discussion forums inside the lessons. You can also connect with your peers offline via IDF’s Local Groups. Local Groups connect you with other designers around your city who share your passion for UX design.
Advance your career

Get a verifiable and industry-trusted Course Certificate once you’ve scored at least 70% on a course. Highlight your Course Certificates on your résumé, your LinkedIn profile, or your website to showcase your newly mastered skills.

Student testimonials

Laura Gieco, Australia

The course was a great introduction for me to the world of VR/AR. The instructor is very engaging, knowledgeable and gives lots of examples from the real world and his own experience. I also enjoyed doing the in class exercises and little challenges. Definitely helped me to learn how to think when designing VR/AR.

Phillip Dodson, United States

I wanted to thank you! IDF is just the best thing ever. Just ever! Making this information accessible and available at the high level of quality. Just awesome!

Vera Dragilyova, United States

It is an honor to be part of your organization, and I am looking forward to growing and contributing to the field, thanks to the information, courses, and advice that your organization provides.

See other reviews of the IDF

IDF members can take unlimited courses

All members of the Interaction Design Foundation are able to take unlimited courses with no additional costs. Once enrolled into a course, all members also have lifetime access to course materials, their answers and all discussions within lessons.

Join now and start learning

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Can I take more than one course at a time?

Yes, you can take all the courses you would like. For example, if there are 30 active courses, you can enroll in all 30 courses at the same time and move from one to the other as you please.

There are no further charges once you’ve paid for your membership.

Please note: If you have a student membership, you can take a maximum of three courses at the same time. As a student, you can thus still take all the courses you would like – free of extra charges – just as long as you finish them (or drop them) so that you don’t have more than three ongoing courses at the same time.

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I missed the enrollment date and now the course is closed. Will I have any opportunity to take the course in the future?

Don't worry if you missed the course. We will re-run it shortly. One of the reasons we continually open and close courses is to be able to control the classroom size.

Networking is a large part of our value proposition, so we want just the right number of people inside the courses. That is also why we display the "XX % percent booked" on our course icons.

We’ll re-schedule the course and make it available for sign-up on https://www.interaction-design.org/courses in only about a week (or perhaps a little bit longer). The actual start date of the course will be a few weeks after sign-ups begin too. We’ve found that this is the best way to maximize flexibility and convenience for everyone, especially you as you put your course program together.

Do I have to be online at an exact time to study?

No. You can set your own study schedule. There are no "live sessions" or "webinars" since our members are from all timezones around the world. We are a truly global community – with members in every single corner of the world.

Thus, once you are enrolled, you can take all the time you want to complete a given course. Every "classroom" in each course will never close, so you’ll have permanent access to your classmates and your course material (as well as your own answers).

Will I receive a Course Certificate?

Yes. Every time you complete a course, you get an industry-recognized Course Certificate. There is no limit to how many Course Certificates you can earn during your membership. You will also receive a 3-step guide on how to include your Course Certificate on LinkedIn and in your résumé/CV.

You can see an example of a Course Certificate at the bottom of the Course Catalogue.

How can I drop a course?

You can simply go to the course page and click on the “Drop Course” button — please bear in mind that this will also erase all your course progress and answers.

I have answered questions in a lesson; when will they be marked/graded?

We do the marking/grading in so-called "sprints," where we sit down and do all the marking/grading in one go. Your answers will be graded approximately one week after you submit your work.

We do this because it is much more efficient than doing one little step every day. It's part of our lean/agile work philosophy, and that approach to efficiency is one of the factors that keeps our membership prices so incredibly low.

We are doing it to save you money and as part of our mission to lower the cost of high-quality design education.

I have updated my name, but my course certificate is not updated — how can I change it?

Please contact us at hello@interaction-design.org and our member support will regenerate your certificate with the correct name.

I have started the course/lesson later than the specified date, are my answers still going to be marked?

We will be marking answers for as long as there are active members. Therefore, even if you are the only person taking a lesson at that particular time, your answers will still be marked.

How are courses graded?

Multiple-choice questions are automatically graded by our system, whilst open-ended questions are marked by the course instructors.

I started a course after the official start date; for how long will I have access to the course materials?

Regardless of when you have enrolled on a course, you will have access to the course materials for the entire duration of your membership. So, if you pay for a one-year membership, you will have access for one year, renewing your membership for a second year means you will have access for two years, and so on.

English is not my first language so it takes me longer to learn through the course content, will I still be able to answer questions after the course completion date?

Yes, you will be able to submit answers for the whole duration of your membership.

New lessons are starting before I have had the chance to complete all aspects of the previous lesson(s); am I going to be locked out of these unfinished lessons?

No, you will not be locked out of any lesson or course. You will have access to all course materials throughout your membership, so there is no pressure to keep at the same pace as the specified lesson release dates.

All we recommend is that you try to stick to the same schedule as other participants. The reason is they may have moved on to other lessons, thereby meaning you could miss out on the social aspects of the course(s). However, we anticipate that there will be a constant flow of participants working through different lessons and courses, so overall you are unlikely to miss out. We will also be running all courses again — so there really is no rush.

Are course certificates awarded on a specific date?

No; you can generate your certificate as soon as you attain at least 70% of the total course points.

When will I receive my Course Certificate?

Course certificates will be given to participants when they have scored more than 70% or more of the total course points. For example, if a course contains ten lessons each with ten questions, you will receive a course certificate when the instructor has awarded you at least 70 points (70% of the total course points).

There is no specified time that certificates will be awarded — instead, they are given to participants as and when they have answered all questions, even if this is long after the official end date.

How do I add my Course Certificate to my LinkedIn profile?

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your IDF course(s) to your LinkedIn profile:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile page and scroll to your "Accomplishments” section.

2. Click on the plus button and choose “Certification”.

3. In the following fields add:

Certification name – Course name
Certification authority – The Interaction Design Foundation
License number – Your membership ID number (it's written on your certificate)
Time period – Input the date written on your certificate (e.g., May 2017)
Check the button “This certification does not expire”
Certification URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your course page

4. Click on the save button.

Congratulate yourself!
You’ve made a great accomplishment by earning your course certificate, and now the world knows about it!

How do I add the IDF Membership Certificate to my LinkedIn Profile?

Below is a step-by-step guide on how to add your certificate to your LinkedIn profile:

1. Go to your LinkedIn profile page and scroll to your "Accomplishments” section.

2. Click on the plus button and choose “Certification”.

3. In the following fields add:
• Certification name – Membership Certificate
• Certification authority – The Interaction Design Foundation
• License number – Your membership ID number (it's written on your membership certificate)
• Time period – Input the date when you joined our community (e.g., May 2017)
• Check the button “This certification does not expire”
• Certification URL: Input the certificate URL provided on your profile page

4. Click on the save button.

It is as simple as that. Now, anyone who visits your profile can see your certificates!

How much will I have to pay for the courses?

As a member, you can take as many courses as you want with no additional costs. This means you only have to pay our membership fee to take an unlimited number of courses. There will be no further charges on top of the membership fee, no matter how many courses you decide to take.

Do you provide mostly beginners' or more advanced courses?

We provide courses for all levels of mastery and accross the full spectrum. If you’re new to design, you can start from our beginner courses and progress all the way up to our advanced ones. If you’re an established designer, on the other hand, you will find some of our lower-level courses provide a good refresher—and the advanced ones, a bit of a challenge.

How much time is needed to complete a course?

Once enrolled in a course, you will gain access to a new lesson each week, which you are free to complete without any deadlines and no end date, either.

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