25.7734° N, 80.1902° W
Imagine building your model without the stress of missing pieces or deciphering dense manuals. Gunplan transforms the experience, making it seamless and enjoyable. Our features, including AR part finders, animated assembly steps, and a vibrant community, empower builders at every stage. We directly addressed user frustration with vague instructions by creating intuitive AR-assisted tutorials.
Imagine spending hours assembling a model, only to misplace a small but crucial part. Frustrating, right? For many Gundam builders, this is a common struggle. Gunplan was designed to eliminate these pain points and make model-building a seamless, frustration-free experience.
Here’s why:
Instruction manuals often span 40+ pages, packed with dense, unclear visuals.
Users must decipher cryptic icons and memorize complex color guides, leading to frustration and errors.
Building a model can take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours, often leaving users overwhelmed.
As the Lead Designer, I was responsible for overseeing the design process, ensuring the app's visual and functional aspects aligned with user needs. I collaborated with the team to create intuitive interfaces, interactive features, and engaging visual elements.
2
3 months
UX/UI Designer
I also assisted in UX research, helping to gather insights through user interviews, surveys, and usability testing. This research informed key design decisions and ensured the app addressed key pain points.
We aimed to understand why seasoned Gundam builders stay engaged while beginners often quit. Our goal was to uncover their frustrations, motivations, and the personal significance of Gundam building.
By employing Affinity Diagramming, we uncovered key themes such as the need for simplified instructions for beginners and flexible customization options for experienced users. We then delved deeper into user experiences using an Empathy Map. By segmenting users into beginner and expert categories, we gained insights into their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and pain points. These valuable insights provided a solid foundation for our ideation and user-centered design processes.
Using Affinity Diagramming and Empathy Mapping, we identified key user needs. This led us to design features like clearer instructions, AR support, a vibrant community forum, and advanced customization options.
Join us for an 8-minute walkthrough of our Gunpla prototype. See how we've built a seamless and fun experience for all model builders. We will show you the AR based tutorials, and the part finding feature. With clear AR-based tutorials, users can expect to spend 30% less time deciphering instructions.
I initially proposed an Ikea app but was paired with a teammate working on Gunpla, an area unfamiliar to me. However, my passion for anime helped me connect with the community and develop a personal interest.
User interviews were the biggest challenge due to my lack of knowledge about Gunpla building. Learning the terminology and techniques took time, but overcoming this allowed me to create a more user-centered solution.
This experience deepened my understanding of hobbies and the importance of empathy in UX design. I’m proud of the solution we built, which improves the Gunpla-building experience.