SHARK WEEK AR APP
Overview
Problem
In 2016, Discovery released their first Head Mounted Display(HMD), VR app, and immersive 360 videos. It was well-received but was plagued with bugs and low-quality video content. Since then technologies have evolved and VR headsets/apps have considerably improved.
With the mass adoption of smartphones, introducing Augmented Reality would be a great way to further the customer's experience off the discovery+ platform without asking the participant to spend money on an HMD or VR device. While an immersive VR video would be impressive, it would require a lot of manpower hours, and content to achieve high-quality virtual reality experiences. VR also poses a lot of accessibility issues.
Shark Week is Discovery’s most famous, long-running, and successful marketing stunt. Imagine the customer being able to watch a show, scan a QR code, and place a shark in their living room or classroom! Teachers are able to illustrate the size of a great white shark tooth or stand in awe at the vast length of a whale shark.
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This would be a marketing and product collaboration that can potentially increase retention and return traffic to the streaming app, in addition to delighting customers beyond the content library offering.
Validating the Problem
A Shark Week AR App gives customers another way to experience the content, engage and learn with others, continue the conversation beyond the promotional week, drive customers back to discovery+, and delight our customer experience while creating an accessible educational tool.​
Customer Problems
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Retention and return traffic to the discovery+ app and new content
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After the promotion is complete, the customer needs to wait till next year to experience Shark Week again
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Missed interactive opportunities for customers to explore the vast content library
Customer Solutions
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​Introduce an AR app experience pre-launch of Shark Week
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Develop ways to watch content on discovery+, scan a code and return to the AR app, repeat, thus increasing the retention cycle.
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Gamify the shark content by growing and caring for your own baby shark. Notifications alert the user of the shark's daily needs.
Role, Activities & Duration
In this case study, my role is project lead and AR concept designer. I will develop the AR visually as well as research, interviews, personas, user flows, and work with developers and engineers to create the infrastructure. Furthermore, I would present to the internal stakeholders for the long-term budget and outcomes to maintain and continually develop this app.
Timeline
Discover/
Define
Ideate
Design
Test
Learn
2 months
2 months
3 months
6 months
8 months