The ideal future experience of identity in the metaverse

Published by LA based Blockchain company, Lamina1

A generative research study to uncover insights into the ideal emotional experience of virtual identity in the Metaverse, resulting in a client book highlighting opportunities for improved user experience.

Timeline: 3 Months (September-November 2022)

Team: Cristina Cordova, Disha Shah, Kanika Trivedi, Sneha Shetty

Methods & Tools: Literature Reviews, virtual Participatory Observations, User Interviews, Cultural Probe Workshop, Sensory Cue Workshop, Visual Frameworks

Software: Miro, Adobe Illustrator, Zoom

Role & Contribution: Design Researcher
Created interview guide and co-designed and conducted cultural probe and sensory cue activities. Communicated findings through client book report with engaging verbal storytelling. Presented findings to Lamina1 executives.

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

As an emerging tech enthusiast, I was intrigued by the immersive virtual environment of the metaverse and digital identities and sought to understand it at a deeper level.

THE CHALLENGE

With our lives becoming increasingly intertwined with the digital realm, the idea of identity has expanded to virtual representations of our selves in the form of digital avatars. In this project, we dig deeper into the differences between real world and virtual identities and how it shapes social interactions in different environments in order to uncover the ideal future experience of Identity in the Metaverse.

METHODOLOGY

We adopted Lextant’s principles and methodology for generative research and translating insights through Desired Experience Modeling.

VIEW CLIENT MAGAZINE

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Digital identities are becoming our primary identities.

Lamina1 asserts that as we enter the next online era, avatars are no longer just a simple digital representation in a game or visual placeholder for a social media profile — they are quickly becoming the de-facto standard for personal identity, identifiability, and self-expression in an increasingly decentralized online world.  According to WGSN, Consumers will increasingly spend as much on products for their avatars – their personal digital twins – as for their physical selves.

RESEARCH PROCESS & TIMELINE

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Exploring reports and research portals like WGSN, Newzoo, WSJ Tech and Youtube provided us with data about current developments in the Metaverse and its scope of usage. Some of notable learnings from our secondary research were :
Consumers will increasingly spend as much on products for their avatars – their personal digital twins – as for their physical selves, and the ease and freedom of virtual self-expression will give rise to new aesthetics not constrained by reality-WGSN
Digital Identity is more than just a customized avatar. Metaverse citizens will be interested in Games following the metaverse trend are expected to let players own and customize assets as well, such as pets, vehicles, houses, or real estate.-Newzoo

The metaverse is still in its nascent stages. Although our team shared a keen interest in emerging technology (which led us to choose this area of study), we lacked sufficient knowledge about the technology ourselves and dove into secondary research material to understand how it works, its applications and companies that are creating products in this space. We gained a good understanding of the metaverse ecosystem as we mapped it out through a stakeholder map.

DEFINING RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The metaverse is still in its nascent stages. Although our team shared a keen interest in emerging technology (which led us to choose this area of study), we lacked sufficient knowledge about the technology ourselves and dove into secondary research material to understand how it works, its applications and companies that are creating products in this space. We gained a good understanding of the metaverse ecosystem and decided to map it out through a stakeholder map.

What motivates users to use the metaverse

What is the metaverse? What are the different ways to access the metaverse?
What motivates users to use the metaverse?

How does using the metaverse and creating a virtual identity in the space help them

How do users create their virtual identity in the metaverse?
How does having a curated identity in the metaverse help users?
What are the differences between real life and virtual identities of users?
How do these differences shape social interactions in different virtual environments and contexts?

What challenges do users face pertaining to their virtual identity in the metaverse

What problems do users face when creating/designing their identity in the metaverse?

VIRTUAL PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

Given the virtual nature of the subject of research, we decided to immerse ourselves in the digital environments of the metaverse as users to conduct unobtrusive participatory observations and observe user behavior. Each team member picked the one or two accessible and popular platforms from Decentraland, Roblox, Zepeto and Spatial to record observations. Since not many users were active on these platforms, we also recorded metaverse related user comments and discussions on forums like Reddit, Youtube videos and comments and Discord.

Snapshot of insights mapped on Miro from virtual participatory and unobtrusive observation as a user on Decentraland and Reddit Metaverse communities

Pure Observations:

Metaverse platforms are designed for gamers and users familiar with the interfaces of VR/AR games and are not catered towards new users.
Users tend to use Metaverse platforms as a way to bypass immediate judgment on personal appearance and other social barriers that come with real world, in-person social interactions.
Users were able to fulfill desires and dreams that were otherwise not accessible or plausible in the real world.

TARGET USERS

Secondary research and observations on community forums helped us narrow down to Gen Zs and late Millennials as our target audience as they are digital natives and would have the highest adoption rate for metaverse products. According to Deloitte, experiences in digital spaces are important for socializing and community building for Gen Zs and Millennials. Yet, along with limited widespread adoption of immersive services, a majority of users are hesitant to leverage the potential of their digital identity in the metaverse. 

USER INTERVIEWS

User Interviews: We conducted interviews with Twelve participants (4 subject matter experts and 9 metaverse users and enthusiasts) by recruiting strategically screened users and experts that fall into the Millennial/GenZ bracket as users that will have the highest stake in the metaverse economy.

Participant Recruitment: We used personal and university connections to recruit participants who are metaverse users. We leveraged SCAD’s Immersive Reality and Interactive Design & Game Development departments to recruit subject matter experts.

My Role: I conducted three interviews with one XR interaction designer and two novice users and enthusiasts.

One on one user interviews

View interview protocol

CULTURAL PROBE

We conducted a successful research workshop allowing a diverse sample set of participants to share insights on their experience with the metaverse through interactive activities. We held our workshop at Downtown Savannah, gathering responses from more than 65 participants, answering some of our research questions. The goal was to understand what users truly desire in terms of creating an ideal digital identity in a platform that allows for limitless imagination and observe user behavior when designing their own avatars. 

Activities:
Activity 1 : Describe what you would love to be if you could be anyone or anything you wanted given that there are no limitations and judgement. Explain why.
Why this activity: Our observations and secondary research indicated that the primary reason for using the metaverse was to escape the limitations of the real world. This inspired me to design an activity that would tap into the participants' imaginations without being bound by constraints, allowing us to truly understand how they would choose to represent themselves in a hypothetical reality free from judgment and limitations, where they could express their desires however they wished.

Activity 2 : Design your own virtual avatar
Why this activity: Using an easy to use avatar generating platform, we wanted to observe participants actions, thoughts and behavior while they created their own avatar, giving us insights into pain points, needs and desires.

"Avatars allow me to express myself however I want…to try things that have no purpose in the real world"

SENSORY CUE: THE PERSONALITY OF A PRODUCT AT A SENSORY LEVEL

Owing to the Digital nature of the topic, we decided to conduct a virtual sensory cue workshop to understand the user's emotions, barriers, ideal experiences and preferences in terms of how they would want their virtual identity to look, feel and act at sensory lvel.

This activities were designed with the intention of gathering data around these two areas:

Link to sensory cue process

"I don't like the realistic images because the whole point of the Metaverse is to explore an identity which is very different "

Our workshops gave us more insight into the motivations, needs and ideal user experience desired by metaverse users. We understood that users tend to use metaverse platforms as a way to bypass immediate judgment on personal appearance and other social barriers that come with real world, in-person social interactions. The immersive nature of the metaverse enabled users to fulfill desires and dreams that were otherwise not accessible or plausible in the real world.

SYNTHESIZING DATA THROUGH AFFINITY MAPPING

We started out process of affinity mapping to synthesize data after completing all research activities to ensure that data analysis is conducted holistically. There were multiple rounds of collaborative virtual affinity mapping sessions on Miro. Our research generated over 1600 data points that were visually represented through the experience modeling framework and the client book written in the voice of the user.

TRANSLATING INSIGHTS VISUALLY

We brainstormed several ways to represent the key insights and the associations and connections between key attributes included in the framework. Our team decided to organize the framework into two sections—Metaverse and Avatar—after acknowledging the differences in the attributes associated with the two categories in terms of users' experiences in the Metaverse and their experiences of developing a virtual identity in the form of an avatar. 

FRAMEWORK FOR THE IDEAL EXPERIENCE OF IDENTITY IN THE METAVERSE

The framework represents user’s critical emotional need of balancing freedom, safety, creativity and empowerment to achieve their ideal experience of using their Identity in the metaverse. The emotions and benefits acquired from using the product or service in the metaverse are represented in the voice of the user. The infitinty symbol design embody the essence of infinite possiblities within the metaverse. 

EMOTIONS
Emotions are at the core of an experience. The ideal emotions that user’s desire while interacting with the metaverse and creating their identity in that environment are at the centre of the framework.

FREEDOM
“I would like to do things that are quite impossible in real life, like emulate magic, fly and have special abilities. I feel liberated from the constraints of the physical world. I feel free in the metaverse-a space that is the closest embodiment of magic in the real world”

POWER
“I am infused with a profound sense of power and influence, immersing myself in a realm reminiscent of a magical reality free from the constraints of everyday life. I feel powerful being part of a community that includes a network of influential individuals who empower each other”

BENEFITS
The benefits are a direct link between the product o service and the emotion. These are benefits that the users gain by using the product or service and are the attributes that enable them to feel the core emotions. 

FEATURES
The features are the medium through which users have their benefits delivered.

THE CLIENT MAGAZINE

The Client magazine provides an in-depth view into all findings and insights from our research by visually translating the framework in the voice of the user. 