The Problem
MeowWolf is a fast growing immersive art exhibition that needed a new product that could extend the experience of customers beyond the visit to the space itself and serve as an introduction to the organization who might not otherwise have heard about them. Attendees of the space typically go once and may not ever have another experience with the brand ever again.
The goals of the project as set forth by Meow Wolf were to:
Create a product that marries the digital with the physical world.
Add value to the products purchased from the stores
Further extend the content and storyline from the exhibit (a memento that ties back to the exhibit)
Drive foot traffic to the exhibits and/or web traffic to the site
Drive sales from stores and develop more brand notoriety.
Roles
Devin Anderson - Product Design Lead
Bin Gao - Product Designer
Mathias Moslehi- Project Coordinator
Christian Suarez - Project Manager
Juan Zitara - Industrial Designer
Process
Our team began by conducting a netnography of Meow Wolf to determine what the most promising avenue for product development was. Once we had a better understanding of the Meow Wolf exhibits and what their customers appreciated most about the experience we created a series of frameworks to hone in on how we could best address Meow Wolf’s goals with the product including: POEMS framework; From-To exploration; offering-activity-cultural map; flow chart; and user journey map. Synthesizing our research with these tools allowed us to decide on our concept and begin iterating designs for the product. This started with sketches of both the apparel art as well as the UI before moving on to low, mid and high fidelity mockups.
Journey Map
Our team detailed both the physical and digital product journeys in order to understand how these work individually as well as in tandem with each other.
User Flow
Flow chart showing the experience that a user would go through when encountering physical product: how they would interact with the wearer, the apparel itself, and the app.
Physical Product
The final design was prototyped using: glow in the dark, heat transfer vinyl that was applied to shirts and hats using an iron for the ‘physical’ portion; a mobile app prototype built using Figma that featured an onboarding process, user wardrobe, and scanning screens. We used these deliverables to demonstrate to our stakeholders how we could generate a new MeowWolf experience using existing technologies and sustainable materials that stayed within the realm of possibility of their financial and technical capabilities.
Low FIdelity
Initial sketches to concept how we could highlight art and QR codes into the apparel.
Mid Fidelity
We decided to make the QR codes more noticeable for daytime environements.
Final Design
High-fidelity design that incorporates art pieces from the exhibits.
Digital Product
The app gamifies the apparel line and extends the Meow Wolf experience beyond the exhibits. Unique QR codes embedded within the designs of the clothing are scanned by players to collect items in their digital closet, earn points and increase their in-app level. Promotional rewards are tied to the point level of users in order keep user engagement high even after the intial Meow Wolf experience has ended.
Apparel Scan
Scanning the apparel leads users to the landing page or app if they have it downloaded.
Onboarding
Users are shown how the experience works, supports artists, and gives them the ability to interact with others.
Collectible Closet
Owned and scanned apparel are stored within their closet, containing their point value, artists and item info.
The Result
The final design was prototyped using: glow in the dark, heat transfer vinyl that was applied to shirts and hats using an iron for the ‘physical’ portion; a mobile app prototype built using Figma that featured an onboarding process, user wardrobe, and scanning screens. We used these deliverables to demonstrate to our stakeholders how we could generate a new MeowWolf experience using existing technologies and sustainable materials that stayed within the realm of possibility of their financial and technical capabilities.
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