ImmerseVR
Extended Reality
Web
B2C
Want to skim through this case study? I got you covered.
Here’s a 1 min TL;DR version
My Role
👩🏻💻 Solo UX Designer leading research → interaction design → validation
🤝 Collaborated with a small XR team to translate educator needs into spatial workflows
Solution
Designed a no-code VR lesson builder that enables educators to create immersive, interactive 3D learning experiences without technical expertise.
The Impact
Won Indigo Design Awards 2026
Awarded in 4 categories: UX, Interface & Navigation, Apps for Digital Design, Virtual Reality (VR) Design, Interactive Design
Nominated for UX Design Award 2026
Nominated for excellent user experiences in Web/XR (500+ submissions, 49 countries)
Signed MoU with Indiana University Hospital
Awarded funding and signed MoU with Indiana University Hospital to further develop the platform for medical training
Here’s a quick walkthrough of the product
Diving deeper into the project
Let’s start from the beginning
During my time working as a Product Designer at Emergent Technology Lab at Indiana University, I was collaborating with K-12 educators and university professors to understand VR based teaching initiatives.
Early conversations with the educators revealed that...
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
Media Arts and Science, Luddy School of Informatics
RESEARCH
To find out, we conducted research across three user groups to understand where VR lesson planning breaks down:
Survey
36 Responses (19 instructors, 17 students)
Goal: Understand attitudes toward VR, current tool usage
Findings: 73% interested in VR teaching, only 12% succeeded
User Interviews
12 Participants
Goal: Deep understand their workflows and mental models
Findings: Users are more focused on the lessons and if the students can understand and perform well. Used to building lessons on slides.
In-person Observations
4 sessions
Goal: Analyze real behavior vs stated behavior and drop-off points
Findings: Most educators felt uncomfortable and stopped when they saw the 3D interface. The problem was the lack of guided progression for non-technical users.
Screenshots from user interviews
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Next, we analyzed 8 VR platforms educators repeatedly mentioned in interviews:
Main Finding:
Every platform was designed for content creators (3D artists, game developers). Not for educators who think in learning objectives, not polygons.
Competitive Analysis
KEY INSIGHTS
The problem was the complexity of existing VR lesson creation platforms for non-technical users
Drop-offs happened at first contact as the 3D interface was too intimidating and learning curve was high
my learning: The barrier was at the start of the product. Educators never got far enough to experience value. All the tools and mechanics was unfamiliar for non-technical users.
Market research showed that existing VR Tools nudged the users to think about the 3D space more than the learning outcome
my learning: Existing tools were designed for 3D artists and game developers. They required a high learning curve and increased their cognitive load.
Even completed lessons failed as students got lost without structure: getting lost in open environments, not sure what to interact and progress wasn’t measurable
my learning: Even when educators did create VR lessons, the lack of structure made learning ineffective.
HOW I APPROACHED THE PROBLEM
I treated this as a mental model problem, not a usability one
Most VR tools try to make 3D interfaces easier with better tutorials, simpler controls, guided onboarding. But the research told me something different: educators weren't struggling with complexity. They were struggling with unfamiliarity.
IDEATION
With these questions in mind, I explored two different approaches to VR lesson creation to test my assumption
USER TESTING
I asked 8 educators to complete the same task with both prototypes
We created quick, low-fidelity prototypes for both directions and tested it against the same task:
“Create a 2 step VR lesson on your subject that you can teach this week.”
scene first- mental model A
Educators felt intimidated on where to even begin
They hesitated at the blank canvas
Better onboarding doesn't fix an unfamiliar starting point
Where confidence broke: The moment they saw the 3D environment
lesson first- mental model B
Started stronger, educators liked defining goals first
The interface still felt unfamiliar and learning curve was high
Lacked visual anchors they trusted
Where confidence broke: When translating goals into VR structure
THE PIVOT
Slides don't just provide a familiar interface, they provide structure and progression, which is the backbone of building every lesson.
100% of educators used slide-based tools (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote)
Slides are how they plan, teach, and think
Every lesson follows the same structure: Context → Content → Activity → Assessment
THE SOLUTION
Phase 1: Build
User pain point
“I know what I want to teach, but when I open VR tools, I don’t know where to start.”
Solution
In Build, each step is a self-contained unit like a slide. They have:
A scene (3D environment selected from presets)
Content overlays (2D text, images, prompts)
A defined purpose (context, exploration, reflection, assessment)
Phase 2: Interact
User pain point
“I don’t know how to make my VR scene interactive, and I don’t understand technical logic.”
Solution
The Interact phase uses simple, guided interaction cards that let educators define what happens when a student touches or selects an object. These interactions become reusable flow cards that can be applied to multiple objects across the lesson.
Phase 3: Assess
User pain point
“I can’t tell if students actually understood the lesson in VR.”
Solution
The Assess phase allows educators to insert built-in assessment blocks directly into the VR lesson. These blocks helps instructors test the students while immersed in the experience.
Supporting Features
Beyond the lesson builder, we designed supporting interfaces: Instructor and Student Dashboard
These dashboards give instructors and students one place to create, manage, and access VR lessons, turning the platform into a LMS
Instructor Dashboard
✅ Centralizes lesson creation, editing, and publishing in one workspace
✅ Enables easy reuse and iteration of lessons across classes
✅ Controls student access and lesson distribution like an LMS
Student Dashboard
✅ Gives students a clear entry point to access assigned VR lessons
✅ Explore 3D immersive lessons on desktop as a backup; exit VR space anytime
✅ Supports guided, self-paced exploration of VR lessons
Next Phase
That’s a wrap!
The project has been awarded funding from Indiana University and has signed a MoU with IU Health to further develop this platform to train medical students. This is an exciting step for us to lead this project to deployment!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Taking the time to reflect
Culturally, I fit high-energy teams
If this sounds like you, I’d love to talk!
Always open to talk!
Learn more about my experiences!
