Immersive interaction design informed by user research

The problemAvatar representation can support social interaction or compete for attention; the design needed evidence about comfort and disclosure.

My contributionI designed avatar environments and study flows to examine comfort and self-disclosure across humanoid and abstract representations.

Avatar interaction comfort

89%

Reported comfort for humanoid avatars in the study.

Experience map · conceptual

Avatar representation
Humanoid and abstract
Immersive interaction
Comfort and disclosure
Study observations
Comfort and distraction

My role: UX researcher · Student research
Team: Academic research collaborators
Timeline: 2022⁠–⁠2024
Tools: RStudio, Figma, Unity, Blender, Excel, LaTeX

Graduate VR research exploring avatar comfort and self-disclosure.

Process

The work behind the decisions.

01
Compare representations
Compared humanoid and abstract avatars to frame the relationship between representation, comfort and self-disclosure.
02
Design immersive study flows
Designed VR environments and survey-led study flows to examine participants’ experience of avatar interaction.
03
Interpret behavioral patterns
Analyzed reported comfort and observed disclosure patterns, including avatar-related distraction.

Original graduate-study visual: therapeutic VR room with a humanoid avatar, built for the comfort and self-disclosure study.

Key decisions

Design decisions that shaped the experience.

Decision 01

Treat appearance as interaction design

Compare how representation shapes comfort rather than selecting an avatar on visual style alone.

Trade-off

A representation that feels comfortable may still compete for attention.

Decision 02

Include distraction in the evaluation

Consider avatar-related distraction alongside comfort and disclosure when interpreting the experience.

Trade-off

Comfort and distraction are separate observations, not a single success score.

Design value & supporting evidence