Presentation given by Dr. Danya Glabau, Founder of Implosion Labs, at Jump Into the Light VR Cinema on May 15th, 2018.

1. Principles of
User Research
for VR and AR
Dr. Danya Glabau
Implosion Labs
Presented at Jump Into the Light, May 15, 2018

2. What is User Research for
VR and AR?

3. User research for AR and VR:
A growing toolkit
● Usability testing
● Remote usability testing
● Motion tracking
● Eye tracking
● Quantitative surveys
● Interviews
○ Open-ended
○ Directed
● Observation
● VR as a setting for user
research

4. Our focus at Implosion Labs
● Qualitative
● Research-focused
● People-centered
● Open-ended
● Exploratory

5. Why use qualitative data?
● Strength in small numbers
● Depth and nuance
● Generating new questions
● Find opportunities for future research and development
● Discover market opportunities

6. Why use qualitative data?
● Find mismatches between designer & user expectations
● Understand the range of abilities, attitudes,
expectations people will bring to an experience
● “Reality check” that helps drive design for users
● Some will call the above “empathy”

7. Beyond “average”
Qualitative
research is best
when you don’t just
study “average”
users, but include
users at the tails of
variation.

8. Surprise!
Carefully designed qualitative research delivers unexpected
insights and opportunities.

9. The user researcher’s mindset
● Curious about people as unique individuals
● Finding patterns in expectations, attitudes, and
behaviors
● Understanding the meaning of what people do
● Work collaboratively to translate findings into next steps
for development

10. The #1 Priority:
Step back from your
own investment in the
product to genuinely
listen to people.

11. User Research for VR and AR:
Two Techniques

12. Two techniques for qualitative user research
Open-ended interviews
● Guided by protocol
● No predetermined answers
● Information gathered guided
by rapport with participant
Participant observation
(Ethnography)
● “Naturalistic” observation
● Range from hands-off
observation to interactive and
cooperative exploration

13. Open-ended interviews: Strategies
● Questions address topics/themes of interest but do
NOT invite specific responses
● Questions address an overarching research question
● Questions answered through organic conversation,
rapport
● Go deep rather than broad

14. Open-ended interviews: Tactics
● LISTEN
● Start with questions about “what” and “how”
○ Follow up with questions about “why”
● Ask for examples, more information, demonstrations
● Propose connections between different comments

15. Participant
Observation
Approach your
participants as
though they are an
unknown culture.
What traditions,
rituals, identities,
ethics do they have?

16. Ethnographers excel at studying
“the imponderabilia of everyday life”
- Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western
Pacific, 1922

17. Participant observation: Strategy
● Approach research with a “research question”
○ Why do people come to a virtual reality cinema?
● Initial findings may produce more specific questions
○ Why do people come to a VR cinema in groups?
○ What experiences do people prefer based on their purpose for
coming?

18. Participant observation: Tactics
● DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT
○ Notes, audio recordings, video, photos, or a combination
● Often combined with interviews or demographic survey
● Helpful to plan “stages” of research to respond to
surprises along the way

19. User Research for VR and AR:
Interpreting the Data

20. Understanding qualitative data
● Data will be heterogeneous
○ Multiple formats: otes, photos, video, audio, etc
○ Each participant will answer slightly differently
● Analysis will start out frustrating, become rewarding as
patterns become clear

21. Understanding qualitative data
● Qualitative data analysis is time-consuming
● Multiple methods for analysis
○ Tech tools to find and document patterns: Atlas.ti, pivot tables,
automated transcription software, Airtable
○ Design research methods: sticky notes for thematic analysis
○ Thematic analysis by hand: searching for “ethnographic
moments” in the data

22. Thanks for
learning with us!
Danya Glabau, PhD
Implosion Labs, LLC
Brooklyn, NY
danya@implosionlabs.com
Implosionlabs.com