Designing for Depth

Project Overview

A VR-based training module was being developed to simulate real-world scenarios for safety and operations training in industrial environments.

My role involved designing the core user interface and interaction flow that felt intuitive in a 3D immersive setting.

Role: Lead UI/UX Designer

Team: VR Developer, 3D Artist, Product Owner

Duration: 4 months

Tools: Figma, Unity (for prototyping).

Problem Statement

The client wanted to make VR training more usable and engaging for first-time VR users.

The existing prototype was unintuitive, causing user frustration and poor task completion.

Spatial UX Challenges

Designing for VR meant unlearning some 2D interface conventions and embracing the depth, motion, and spatial placement of UI elements. Key challenges included:

Depth Perception: UI elements needed to be placed at a readable, comfortable virtual distance (typically 1–2 meters from the user) to avoid strain.

User Orientation: Elements were anchored to the user's gaze to ensure menus and instructions remained accessible no matter the head movement.

Interaction Clarity: Users often struggled with precision using hand gestures. We solved this by designing larger hit zones and providing animated gesture tutorials.

Clutter Management: We reduced on-screen elements by introducing progressive disclosure — revealing only what's necessary at each step.

Design Goals

• Simplify interactions through visual cues and gesture-based triggers.

• Provide feedback for every user action (visual, haptic, or audio)

• Maintain spatial clarity to avoid clutter in the VR environment

Design Process

• Embrace Spatial Design Thinking

• Design for Gaze, Gesture, and Voice

• Progressive Disclosure

• Provide Real-Time Feedback

• Test in Context, Iterate Rapidly

• Ensure Comfort and Clarity

  
  

Storyboarding

User Journey

User Journey: Training in VR

Enter VR

 🕶️ The user puts on the headset and is transported into the immersive training environment.

Receive Instructions

 📘 An onboarding screen or voice assistant welcomes the user and explains the upcoming task using minimal text and clear visuals.

Complete Task

 👐 The user performs the task using hand gestures or gaze input — like operating virtual machinery or navigating a checklist.

Get Feedback

 ✅ Upon completion, the system provides feedback via visual cues (e.g., green checkmark), subtle haptic responses, or voice confirmation.

VR Prototypes

Designed key UI elements like:

Step-by-step instruction cards

Voice and gesture onboarding overlay

Usability Testing in VR

Conducted usability testing with users using a VR prototype in Unity along with VR headset

Feedback led to key changes:

Reduced information density per screen

Added auto scrollable in instruction menu

Introduced 90deg field of view to avoid head rotation