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About me

📍 Amsterdam, NL

Contact

Portfolio

About me

Contact

Portfolio

About me

📍 Amsterdam, NL

Contact

Portfolio

About me

Contact

Augmented reality platform strategy

Making digital fashion more meaningful.

Process

In reality many of the steps were done in parallel. For the sake of this case study I simplified the process as below.

Process

In reality many of the steps were done in parallel. For the sake of this case study I simplified the process as below.

Process

In reality many of the steps were done in parallel. For the sake of this case study I simplified the process as below.

Research

Vision

Strategy

Customer journey

Prototyping

Minimum viable product

Project goal

Raise adoption & increase user spending


Project goal

Raise adoption & increase user spending


Project goal

Raise adoption & increase user spending


Problem statement

"Why would I use AR filters?"

Metaverse is lagging behind
Digital fashion currently has few meaningful applications. While wearing it on avatars in multiplayer games appeals to some, integration is costly and user engagement in ecosystems where integration is feasible remains low.

Can it be more than fun
Wearing AR filters for content creation or fun in video calls can seldom compare to the importance of choosing one’s physical garment in real life, which can have serious social and practical consequences. This has made physical fashion meaningful and incredibly valuable throughout history.

Useful like IRL fashion?
Digital fashion has to redefine itself in order to remain relevant and valuable by finding its role in the intrapersonal digital space, where a growing portion of our communication takes place.

Problem statement

"Why would I use AR filters?"

Metaverse is lagging behind
Digital fashion currently has few meaningful applications. While wearing it on avatars in multiplayer games appeals to some, integration is costly and user engagement in ecosystems where integration is feasible remains low.

Can it be more than fun
Wearing AR filters for content creation or fun in video calls can seldom compare to the importance of choosing one’s physical garment in real life, which can have serious social and practical consequences. This has made physical fashion meaningful and incredibly valuable throughout history.

Useful like IRL fashion?
Digital fashion has to redefine itself in order to remain relevant and valuable by finding its role in the intrapersonal digital space, where a growing portion of our communication takes place.

Problem statement

"Why would I use AR filters?"

Metaverse is lagging behind
Digital fashion currently has few meaningful applications. While wearing it on avatars in multiplayer games appeals to some, integration is costly and user engagement in ecosystems where integration is feasible remains low.

Can it be more than fun
Wearing AR filters for content creation or fun in video calls can seldom compare to the importance of choosing one’s physical garment in real life, which can have serious social and practical consequences. This has made physical fashion meaningful and incredibly valuable throughout history.

Useful like IRL fashion?
Digital fashion has to redefine itself in order to remain relevant and valuable by finding its role in the intrapersonal digital space, where a growing portion of our communication takes place.

My responsibilities

  • Research

  • Prototyping

  • Workshop facilitation

  • Vision & strategy

  • UXUI

Responsibilities

  • Research

  • Prototyping

  • Workshop facilitation

  • Vision & strategy

  • UXUI

My responsibilities

  • Research

  • Prototyping

  • Workshop facilitation

  • Vision & strategy

  • UXUI

Team

  • Product owner

  • Product designer

  • 3 developers

  • Business students team (UVA & VUA)

  • Data analyst

Team

  • Product owner

  • Product designer

  • 3 developers

  • Business students team (UVA & VUA)

  • Data analyst

Team

  • Product owner

  • Product designer

  • 3 developers

  • Business students team (UVA & VUA)

  • Data analyst

Let the user take control of the image to broadcast

Let the user take control of the image
to broadcast

Research

How to test a thing that doesn't exist yet?

We had many ideas initially, but it was crucial to base our work on empirical observation while keeping a development pace suitable for web3 and the tech startup environment. The experience of using AR filters in real life situations are very hard to reproduce without actually building them.

Surveys

  • To navigate assumptions and prioritize valuable hypotheses.

Interviews

  • Deep one-on-one sessions to build empathy with customers and identify key problems.

Competitors

  • Testing direct and indirect competitors with our target audience and focusing thing that were relevant to our hypothesis.

Prototypes

  • Used in conversations to validate more specific user behaviours.

Research

How to test a thing that doesn't exist yet?

We had many ideas initially, but it was crucial to base our work on empirical observation while keeping a development pace suitable for web3 and the tech startup environment. The experience of using AR filters in real life situations are very hard to reproduce without actually building them.

Surveys

  • To navigate assumptions and prioritize valuable hypotheses.

Interviews

  • Deep one-on-one sessions to build empathy with customers and identify key problems.

Competitors

  • Testing direct and indirect competitors with our target audience and focusing thing that were relevant to our hypothesis.

Prototypes

  • Used in conversations to validate more specific user behaviours.

Research

How to test a thing that doesn't exist yet?

We had many ideas initially, but it was crucial to base our work on empirical observation while keeping a development pace suitable for web3 and the tech startup environment. The experience of using AR filters in real life situations are very hard to reproduce without actually building them.

Surveys

  • To navigate assumptions and prioritize valuable hypotheses.

Interviews

  • Deep one-on-one sessions to build empathy with customers and identify key problems.

Competitors

  • Testing direct and indirect competitors with our target audience and focusing thing that were relevant to our hypothesis.

Prototypes

  • Used in conversations to validate more specific user behaviours.

Vision

A tool for privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression

To create our product vision, we embraced radical creativity and ideation. I developed numerous versions of our product’s core, focusing on narrative and visuals to gauge emotional responses.

We redefined digital fashion, realizing it encompasses the entire self-image, not just digital garments. Video calls, being the most relatable to real-life dressing, became our focus. We formulated our vision for AR wearables as follows.

Latest vision statement:
“Daily video call users find more fulfilling human connections using the Fabricant Lens to control their presentation. Driven by privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression, people use our rich filters in ever-changing styles, creating frequent waves of demand that fashion brands love to satisfy and drive through our platform.”

Vision

A tool for privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression

To create our product vision, we embraced radical creativity and ideation. I developed numerous versions of our product’s core, focusing on narrative and visuals to gauge emotional responses.

We redefined digital fashion, realizing it encompasses the entire self-image, not just digital garments. Video calls, being the most relatable to real-life dressing, became our focus. We formulated our vision for AR wearables as follows.

Latest vision statement:
“Daily video call users find more fulfilling human connections using the Fabricant Lens to control their presentation. Driven by privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression, people use our rich filters in ever-changing styles, creating frequent waves of demand that fashion brands love to satisfy and drive through our platform.”

Vision

A tool for privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression

To create our product vision, we embraced radical creativity and ideation. I developed numerous versions of our product’s core, focusing on narrative and visuals to gauge emotional responses.

We redefined digital fashion, realizing it encompasses the entire self-image, not just digital garments. Video calls, being the most relatable to real-life dressing, became our focus. We formulated our vision for AR wearables as follows.

Latest vision statement:
“Daily video call users find more fulfilling human connections using the Fabricant Lens to control their presentation. Driven by privacy, enhanced representation, and self-expression, people use our rich filters in ever-changing styles, creating frequent waves of demand that fashion brands love to satisfy and drive through our platform.”

Examples of layered filters (color + texture + overlays + effects)

An example of interactive overlay elements achievable without frontend resources.

Strategy

Laying the groundworks for the strategic bet of "Rich Filters"

Investigating the market, users, and the context of digital fashion wearability and AR deepened our understanding of the opportunity space and helped us find our niche.

We shaped our product strategy by:

  • User research: To gain inspiration and empathy.

  • Expert interviews: To gain insights from technology and business leaders.

  • Competitor research:  To map how others addressed similar problems.

  • Strategic forecasting: Considering four scenarios based on user adoption of digital fashion and technological advancement with a focus of bigger tools integrating solutions to wear.

  • SWOT analysis: To create a shared understanding of our position.

  • Strategic bets: Prioritized and selected to shape our vision, allowing for agile interpretation and frequent validation as our roadmap progresses.

Strategy

Laying the groundworks for the strategic bet of "Rich Filters"

Investigating the market, users, and the context of digital fashion wearability and AR deepened our understanding of the opportunity space and helped us find our niche.

We shaped our product strategy by:

  • User research: To gain inspiration and empathy.

  • Expert interviews: To gain insights from technology and business leaders.

  • Competitor research:  To map how others addressed similar problems.

  • Strategic forecasting: Considering four scenarios based on user adoption of digital fashion and technological advancement with a focus of bigger tools integrating solutions to wear.

  • SWOT analysis: To create a shared understanding of our position.

  • Strategic bets: Prioritized and selected to shape our vision, allowing for agile interpretation and frequent validation as our roadmap progresses.

Strategy

Laying the groundworks for the strategic bet of "Rich Filters"

Investigating the market, users, and the context of digital fashion wearability and AR deepened our understanding of the opportunity space and helped us find our niche.

We shaped our product strategy by:

  • User research: To gain inspiration and empathy.

  • Expert interviews: To gain insights from technology and business leaders.

  • Competitor research:  To map how others addressed similar problems.

  • Strategic forecasting: Considering four scenarios based on user adoption of digital fashion and technological advancement with a focus of bigger tools integrating solutions to wear.

  • SWOT analysis: To create a shared understanding of our position.

  • Strategic bets: Prioritized and selected to shape our vision, allowing for agile interpretation and frequent validation as our roadmap progresses.

Rapid AR adv

Slow AR adv

High consumer acceptance

Scenario 1: Mainstream AR fashion

Scenario 3: Gradual adoption

Low consumer acceptance

Scenario 2: Niche adoption

Scenario 4: Limited market

Scenario planning starting points

Rich Filters concept

Technology meets human behaviour

"Rich Filters" emphasise the importance of the multiple layers included in our AR filters and that the user gets to decide which one to use. It is a term we started to use internally.

Layers include:

  • modular 3D garments

  • skin retouch

  • animated avatar

  • animated background

  • blurred background

  • color overlay

  • camera off visual

  • audio filter

Each of these layers respond to a deeper user need identified during research and have options for customisation.

Technical strategy:
A great advantage of leaning in on this is that we provide value to the user without creating complexity on the traditional development side. All of these layers are developed by our team of amazing 3D and AR artists and can easily be integrated into the frontend by our standard Unity pipeline and shown to the user as simple and consistent toggles.

Rich Filters concept

Technology meets human behaviour

"Rich Filters" emphasise the importance of the multiple layers included in our AR filters and that the user gets to decide which one to use. It is a term we started to use internally.

Layers include:

  • modular 3D garments

  • skin retouch

  • animated avatar

  • animated background

  • blurred background

  • color overlay

  • camera off visual

  • audio filter

Each of these layers respond to a deeper user need identified during research and have options for customisation.

Technical strategy:
A great advantage of leaning in on this is that we provide value to the user without creating complexity on the traditional development side. All of these layers are developed by our team of amazing 3D and AR artists and can easily be integrated into the frontend by our standard Unity pipeline and shown to the user as simple and consistent toggles.

Rich Filters concept

Technology meets human behaviour

"Rich Filters" emphasise the importance of the multiple layers included in our AR filters and that the user gets to decide which one to use. It is a term we started to use internally.

Layers include:

  • modular 3D garments

  • skin retouch

  • animated avatar

  • animated background

  • blurred background

  • color overlay

  • camera off visual

  • audio filter

Each of these layers respond to a deeper user need identified during research and have options for customisation.

Technical strategy:
A great advantage of leaning in on this is that we provide value to the user without creating complexity on the traditional development side. All of these layers are developed by our team of amazing 3D and AR artists and can easily be integrated into the frontend by our standard Unity pipeline and shown to the user as simple and consistent toggles.

Preferences

Fundamental but not frequently used features on the top right for fine tuning image, account handling, and more.

Write on screen

A unique feature to put temporal text on screen as overlay

Emoji pump

Make ANY emoji fly across the screen for example to communicate feelings while on mute.

Media capture

Capture the magic and use the footage anywhere.

Customer Journey

How does wearing filters lead to revenue?

Among others we used the pirate metrics (AARRR) and growth loop frameworks to connect a delightful user experience to tangible business goals that can be measured.

Customer Journey

How does wearing filters lead to revenue?

Among others we used the pirate metrics (AARRR) and growth loop frameworks to connect a delightful user experience to tangible business goals that can be measured.

Customer Journey

How does wearing filters lead to revenue?

Among others we used the pirate metrics (AARRR) and growth loop frameworks to connect a delightful user experience to tangible business goals that can be measured.

Prototyping

Privacy and self expression to connecting wallets, and purchasing flows

Phase 1
Replicating the interaction of wearing an AR filter is quite difficult so first we tested existing solutions of direct and indirect competitors with our recruitees.

What we learned

Users find it hard to discover all filter options (ex: image improvement) but find those useful once they get to use them.

Blurred background is not entirely satisfying solution for privacy protection because of technical and aesthetic reasons.

Users are concerned about professionalism and seriousness not only in at work but other settings as well.

Phase 2
After having a deeper understanding of how people wear filters we focused in on the smaller interaction details. I created and tested several prototypes to research different iterations of purchasing flows and account operations related to exclusive filters.

What we learned

Users need to have different options to stay engaged and taste vary greatly between individuals of different personas.

Exclusivity as a concept is not immediately understood so it needs to be introduced gradually

Minimum Viable Product

Developable in a single sprint

Parallel to research & design technical discovery was in progress. By the time our engineers were ready to start developing we consulted extensively and we were both aware of the other domain's goals and limitations.

Learning about how much resources will be allocated and knowing the priorities of our users & business I designed the first version that can be delivered by the developers as quickly as possible.


  • Recognisable look and feel, different from our competitors

  • Prioritised content and immediate wearability

  • Fullscreen option to be used with screen capture instead of complex recording functionality.

Minimum Viable Product

Developable in a single sprint

Parallel to research & design technical discovery was in progress. By the time our engineers were ready to start developing we consulted extensively and we were both aware of the other domain's goals and limitations.

Learning about how much resources will be allocated and knowing the priorities of our users & business I designed the first version that can be delivered by the developers as quickly as possible.


  • Recognisable look and feel, different from our competitors

  • Prioritised content and immediate wearability

  • Fullscreen option to be used with screen capture instead of complex recording functionality.

Minimum Viable Product

Developable in a single sprint

Parallel to research & design technical discovery was in progress. By the time our engineers were ready to start developing we consulted extensively and we were both aware of the other domain's goals and limitations.

Learning about how much resources will be allocated and knowing the priorities of our users & business I designed the first version that can be delivered by the developers as quickly as possible.


  • Recognisable look and feel, different from our competitors

  • Prioritised content and immediate wearability

  • Fullscreen option to be used with screen capture instead of complex recording functionality.

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