Team

2 people (PD, VisD)

Role

Product Designer

Deliverables

Research Insight

User Flows

Prototypes

In the fall of 2023, my team created a Virtual Reality (VR) experience that allowed users to visit and play a fun game in Morris House, an architectural marvel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943 although it was never constructed.

Project Brief: Design an Exciting VR Experience

In 2023, my team stumbled upon an archived architecture, Morris House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943. Unfortunately, the project was never completed due to the high cost, construction difficulties, and material shortages related to World War II. To pay homage to Wright's ingenious design, my team decided to create a VR game, providing its users with an opportunity to explore the architectural design in an exciting three-dimensional experience.

Challenge

Our primary goal was to represent Wright's design as authentically as possible. However, due to the lack of documentation on Morris House, as it was never built, embodying Wright's vision and design details posed the biggest challenge. Additionally, sparking the audience's interest and creating a believable immersive experience were critical to the success of the project.

Research

In order to better understand the design language, form, and materials that Wright intended to use for the Morris House project, we organized all of his built projects in a linear timeline. We then identified some of the most relevant projects, such as the V.C. Morris Gift Shop, Fallingwater, and the Guggenheim Museum as reference points based on time, location, style, and client similarity. The timeline and reference projects will help us gather valuable data and benchmark how we should represent our VR experience.

Design Proposals

To ensure an engaging and playful experience, we have designed a user flow that allows users to freely explore the house. They will be asked to complete small tasks in each room to focus on the design details. The experience utilizes various forms of interaction such as seeing, hearing, searching, touching, and picking up items to fully immerse users in the three-dimensional space. With the help of virtual reality technology, users can be transported to a different time and space.

User Testing

Before we shipped the VR experience design, we conducted over ten rounds of user testing using fully functional prototypes built in Unity and Meta Quest 2 devices. This allowed us to gather valuable user feedback on our user interface design, interaction design, storytelling, and game performance. The feedback was instrumental in helping us improve the experience's playability, feasibility, and immersiveness.

Things to improve

• Add interaction to instruments to increase playfulness

• Add contrast to the UI for easier readability

• Add voice introduction to increase impressiveness

• Reduce polygon counts to ensure smooth play

Final Design

The final design is a fully immersive VR game that allows users to imagine themselves as the owners of Morris House. They freely roam around the house to collect all the necessary items before heading out to fish, which is a perfect hobby since the house is located near the San Francisco Bay. By exploring every space inside and outside the building, the users gain a deep understanding of Wright's generous use of materials such as concrete, stone, and fabrics. They are also amazed by the placement of the windows and the carefully designed lighting effects by Wright. The experience is both delightful and enlightening.