The Ideal Experience Of Identity In The Metaverse
User Research | Human Centered Design Research
This research was published alongside the Identity Litepaper by Lamina1 (a blockchain company optimized for the open metaverse). Access the Litepaper here.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Lamina1 asserts that as we enter the next online era, avatars are no longer just a simple digital representation in a game or visual placeholder for a social media profile — they are quickly becoming the de-facto standard for personal identity, identifiability, and self-expression in an increasingly decentralized online world.
According to WGSN, Consumers will increasingly spend as much on products for their avatars – their personal digital twins – as for their physical selves.
Digital identities are becoming our primary identities.
Lamina1 asserts that as we enter the next online era, avatars are no longer just a simple digital representation in a game or visual placeholder for a social media profile — they are quickly becoming the de-facto standard for personal identity, identifiability, and self-expression in an increasingly decentralized online world.
According to WGSN, Consumers will increasingly spend as much on products for their avatars – their personal digital twins – as for their physical selves.
MY CONTRIBUTION
As the lead UX Researcher, I co-led key research acitivities including devising interview & survey questions, designing the cultural probe and sensory cue workshops.
TIMELINE
Sep - Nov 2022 (10 weeks)
As the lead UX Researcher, I co-led key research acitivities including devising interview & survey questions, designing the cultural probe and sensory cue workshops.
TIMELINE
Sep - Nov 2022 (10 weeks)
RESEARCH METHODS:
Contextual Inquiry, User Interviews, Participant Observation (Remote), Cultural Probe, Focus Group, Affinity Mapping
RESEARCH TYPE:
Generative UXR (Attitudinal + Behavioral), Ethnographic Field Study
Contextual Inquiry, User Interviews, Participant Observation (Remote), Cultural Probe, Focus Group, Affinity Mapping
RESEARCH TYPE:
Generative UXR (Attitudinal + Behavioral), Ethnographic Field Study
RESEARCH GOAL & QUESTIONS
To understand what motivates users to use the metaverse and how it helps them.
- What is the metaverse? What are the different ways to access the metaverse?
- What motivates users to use the metaverse?
- How do users create their virtual identity in the metaverse?
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How does having a curated identity in the metaverse help users?
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What are the differenced between real life and virtual identites of users?
- How do these differences shape social interactions in different virtual environments and contexts?
THE OPPORTUNITY
Why metaverse?
Mckinsey & Co. reports that the metaverse will significantly impact our commercial and personal lives.
Why metaverse?
Mckinsey & Co. reports that the metaverse will significantly impact our commercial and personal lives.
>15%
of corporate revenue is expected to come from the metaverse in the next 5 years
79%
of consumers active on Metaverse have made a purchase
STAKEHOLDER MAPPING
We created a stakeholder map in order to get a bird’s eye view of the metaverse ecosystem and key players influencing the sector.
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We created a stakeholder map in order to get a bird’s eye view of the metaverse ecosystem and key players influencing the sector.
TARGET USERS
We narrowed down to Gen Zs and late Milennials as our target audience as they are digital natives and would have the highest adoption rate for metaverse products. According to Deloitte, experiences in digital spaces are important for socializing and community building for Gen Zs and Millennials.
We narrowed down to Gen Zs and late Milennials as our target audience as they are digital natives and would have the highest adoption rate for metaverse products. According to Deloitte, experiences in digital spaces are important for socializing and community building for Gen Zs and Millennials.
Yet, along with limited widespread adoption of immersive services, a majority of users are hesitant to leverage the potential of their digital identity in the metaverse.
USER RESEARCH
We conducted generative research through 13 semi-structured interviews involving open ended feeling based questions and a cultural probe to gather insights from a wider, diverse user base. Our interviewees included 4 experts and 9 metaverse enthusiasts.
KEY INSIGHTSBarriers to an ideal experience in the metaverse
Barriers to an ideal experience in the metaverse
- Metaverse platforms are designed for gamers and users familiar with the interfaces of VR/AR games and are not catered towards new users.
- Creating avatars is a tedious process and time consuming process.
- New users lack clarity on the potential of using the metaverse. They simply do not have enough information about the scope of usage and the breadth of possibilities in terms of expressing themselves and creating content in the metaverse.
- The current avatar options in major metaverse platforms are not inclusive of user preferences (including culture, gender, aesthetic elements, appearance, etc).
CURRENT EXPERIENCE"I think creating avatars is time consuming because it has too many options"
-Casual Metaverse user (Engineer)
"I think creating avatars is time consuming because it has too many options"
-Casual Metaverse user (Engineer)
RESEARCH WORKSHOPS
We conducted a cultural probe - a public research workshop, in order to derive qualitative data from a larger, diverse sample set of participants through creative tasks.
The goal was to understand what users truly desire in terms of creating an ideal digital identity in a platform that allows for boundless imagination.
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Additionally, we also conducted a virtual sensory cue workshop to understand the user's emotions, barriers, ideal experiences and preferences in terms of how they would want their virtual identity to look, feel and act.
Read about the process and activities here.
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We conducted a cultural probe - a public research workshop, in order to derive qualitative data from a larger, diverse sample set of participants through creative tasks.
The goal was to understand what users truly desire in terms of creating an ideal digital identity in a platform that allows for boundless imagination.
Additionally, we also conducted a virtual sensory cue workshop to understand the user's emotions, barriers, ideal experiences and preferences in terms of how they would want their virtual identity to look, feel and act.
Read about the process and activities here.
USER EXPECTATIONS
-Metaverse Enthusiast (Advertising student)
"Avatars allow me to express myself however I want to try things that have no purpose in the real world"
-Metaverse Enthusiast (Advertising student)
Our workshops gave us more insight into the motivations, needs and ideal user experience desired by metaverse users. We understood that users tend to use metaverse platforms as a way to bypass immediate judgment on personal appearance and other social barriers that come with real world, in-person social interactions. The immersive nature of the metaverse enabled users to fulfill desires and dreams that were otherwise not accessible or plausible in the real world.
Digging into the purpose of creating an identity in the metaverse revealed a desire to express themselves more freely, creatively and project an ideal, more powerful version of themselves.
TRANSLATING INSIGHTS VISUALLY
The Framework
We brainstormed several ways to represent the key insights and the associations and connections between key attributes included in the framework. Our team decided to organize the framework into two sections—Metaverse and Avatar—after acknowledging the differences in the attributes associated with the two categories in terms of users' experiences in the Metaverse and their experiences of developing a virtual identity in the form of an avatar.
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The Framework
We brainstormed several ways to represent the key insights and the associations and connections between key attributes included in the framework. Our team decided to organize the framework into two sections—Metaverse and Avatar—after acknowledging the differences in the attributes associated with the two categories in terms of users' experiences in the Metaverse and their experiences of developing a virtual identity in the form of an avatar.
Framework for the Ideal Future Experience of Identity In The Metaverse
The framework represents user’s critical emotional need of balancing freedom, safety, creativity and empowerment to achieve their ideal experience of using their Identity in the metaverse. The emotions and benefits acquired from using the product or service in the metaverse are represented in the voice of the user. The infitinty symbol design embody the essence of infinite possiblities within the metaverse.
The framework represents user’s critical emotional need of balancing freedom, safety, creativity and empowerment to achieve their ideal experience of using their Identity in the metaverse. The emotions and benefits acquired from using the product or service in the metaverse are represented in the voice of the user. The infitinty symbol design embody the essence of infinite possiblities within the metaverse.
Emotions
Emotions are at the core of an experience. The ideal emotions that user’s desire while interacting with the metaverse and creating their identity in that environment are at the centre of the framework.
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Emotions are at the core of an experience. The ideal emotions that user’s desire while interacting with the metaverse and creating their identity in that environment are at the centre of the framework.
Benefits
The benefits are a direct link between the product o service and the emotion. These are benefits that the users gain by using the product or service and are the attributes that enable them to feel the core emotions.
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The benefits are a direct link between the product o service and the emotion. These are benefits that the users gain by using the product or service and are the attributes that enable them to feel the core emotions.
Features
The features are the medium through which users have their benefits delivered.
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The features are the medium through which users have their benefits delivered.
Client Magazine
The Client magazing provides an in-depth view into all findings and insights from our research by visually translating the framework in the voice of the user.
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The Client magazing provides an in-depth view into all findings and insights from our research by visually translating the framework in the voice of the user.
Challenges and reflections
Access to Metaverse-natives or users who frequently use the metaverse was limited which impacted our survey data collection process resulting in recieving a low quantitative data output. Due to being new to the world of metaverse ourselves, we found it difficult to narrow the scope of the project and focus a more in depth research into one specific area.
The interview questions and research workshops could include prompts that would have garnered more quantitative responses.After discovering how professional and social identities differ, the research could have been altered to dig deeper into one of these areas.
Access to Metaverse-natives or users who frequently use the metaverse was limited which impacted our survey data collection process resulting in recieving a low quantitative data output. Due to being new to the world of metaverse ourselves, we found it difficult to narrow the scope of the project and focus a more in depth research into one specific area.
The interview questions and research workshops could include prompts that would have garnered more quantitative responses.After discovering how professional and social identities differ, the research could have been altered to dig deeper into one of these areas.