IBM Virtual Conference Activity

Fall 2020

Designing a Virtual Conference Activity

For this project, I and 4 other designers worked together with IBM as a client. IBM wanted a digital interaction designed to address the digital conferencing space in hopes of improving user interactions and gaining customer feedback.

Sep - Dec 2020
UX Researcher & Designer
5 members

Duration
My Role
Team

The Problem

Tech company designers need an attention-grabbing activity that is five-minutes long, immersive, and engaging to elicit feedback from virtual conference attendees to understand users and their pain points

After identifying the problem scope, we used research methods such as competitive analysis, and conducting interviews. We analyzed that data through affinity mapping and personas. We then started ideating on what this virtual conference activity might look like (process outlined below), and delivered a final high fidelity animated prototype as well as a design specification document.

Our final design is a website based virtual activity involving a gamified and delightful, question and answer based interaction with features such as social connecting and chatting included as well.

IBM is currently discussing our project outcome internally in the hopes of bringing our virtual conference activity to fruition.

Design Objectives

1. Design in a way that engages attendees

2. How to collect feedback designers/researchers can use

3. Identify/explore pain points of virtual tech conference attendees

4. Design an experience that engages users in a virtual setting:
High-quality feedback & High level of user participation

5. Explore ways on how to incentivize users to participate in virtual activities

Reflections

What I Learned

  • Rapid, iterative design thinking while collaborating with others

  • Business goals/constraints in face of user needs

Areas for future direction

  • How might we reduce friction in our activity?

  • Other features (team-based, asynchronous interactions)

  • More user testing

Social Implications of the design

  • Physical representation of activity

  • Research participation more fun for end-user

  • Shifting online engagement into a gamified experience