🏠Context of the user environment

This section will summarize context of the user's environment. Environmental tips and scenario's found throughout the guide can also be found here.

What do I mean by context of the user environment?

One of the reasons I started this guide is the lack of UX guidelines for AR storybooks. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any UX guidelines for AR in general. Google has the AR core UX Design Guidelines. While Google's guide aims more towards generalized AR UX standards and isn't completely comprehensive (even generally), it is still worth a read, especially if you are new to AR. I want to point out a sentence from the environment section of this guide: "Design one experience for many different spaces." Google's guide doesn't really talk about AR interactions with physical mediums (such as books), but this statement could apply to any AR experience. Think of variables that could tie into the users environment such as:

User Location

Location of the book

Time of day

Lighting

Virtual environment vs. reality

Now, think of this in terms of an AR storybook. What environments might your user(s) use an AR storybook in? Does the environment change with multiple users? Think about the fundamentals in this guide and how you can use this to design an experience that will work in multiple environments. If your book is meant for a specific user or environment, make sure those parameters are made clear to the user.

In this photo, a child is playing an interactive game from the early prototype of The Boy by the Sea. In this environment (a convention center) the child sits on the floor and holds the device over the piece of paper. Would this interaction look the same if the child was at home? Or in the back seat of a moving car?

Scale of 3D objects - Environmental context scenario: Remember that the user's environment is not a controllable variable. We can always suggest an environment for optimal conditions, but should plan for as many different environments as possible. Consider this scenario: A parent is getting ready to read their child a story before a nap. The child is tucked into their bed and the parent is sitting next to them with the book and the device. They begin to go through the experience and come across a page where the 3D object is so big that it requires the parent and the child to get up and move away from the book while holding the device. Now, the child doesn't want to take a nap anymore. This would be a poor user experience.

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