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Listen "2 - A More Delightful Future, with Annie Eaton"
Episode Synopsis
The second episode of A More Delightful Future features Annie Eaton from Futurus, a futures technology company, and Ameoba Labs, an immersive gaming studio. You can check out their services at Futurus.com or connect with Annie on her LinkedIn. Be sure to check out their first game coming out in 2021 @LoamGame on Twitter and Instagram.
Check out the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/irF4CTpTwEo
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Show Notes (TL;DL)
1:25
Q1) What makes your company delightful or impactful?
A1) Futurus is delightful to work for because they adapt to the situation and always challenge themselves to do more than the minimum. "People aren't afraid to ask questions and bring ideas to the table"
Clients are delighted to work with them because they do their best to educate clients about the why, the process, and the technology's ability to make an impact. "The best part about this is learning about the technology along with you. When you learn something new, we learn something new."
4:42
Q2) Do you have quantitative and/or qualitative feedback metrics for your projects?
A2) They have more qualitative feedback usually, but they measure impact in context with the project. They pay attention to what ROI looks like for the customer (users, money, downloads, impact, etc).
7:30
Q3) What does your team look like? How is the design team organized? How do you think about diversity?
A3) ~70% is Art, Design or Development. Everyone does multiple roles, so there is a visual artist who also does industrial design, a designer who can code and a developer who does interaction design.
In terms of diversity, they are over 50% women and ~30% people of color. They are always trying to do better and think long term by going to under-served schools to teach/speak about this technology and show that it is an option for them.
13:35
Q4) What is your research process? How do you cut assumptions and get design critique?
A4) They have an iterative process where they test a new game every week both with non-developers on their team, as well as with customers. They focus on usability and always try to figure out why people gave that feedback.
16:57
Q5) Do you have some type of lo-fidelity stage for testing and getting feedback before developing?
A5) There is no easy way to build lo-fidelity designs in AR/VR, but they develop simple wireframes with no textures and minimal lighting to quickly get it out to customers for testing. Sometimes they do paper prototyping as well.
19:45
Q6) How do you make sure your innovations are solving the right problems?
A6) Because they are completely bootstrapped company with no investors, they can choose what projects to take and what clients to work with. So they only work with people they want to work with on projects they have expertise on. Furthermore, when starting a project, they pay attention to what the client needs (e.g. sales vs exposure) to decide what direction to go.
"We look at what isn't there in VR, and what can make an impact, and how we can bring that to the table."
24:45
Q7) How do you create a very user-centered approach at your company?
A7) They are always open to changing their design and never blame the user for not understanding the technology or design.
"We do a lot to think about how to design experiences like you would a physical experience (unlike a computer or phone-based experience)."
28:05
Q8) How do you invent magic?
A8) "There is no difference between technology and magic... In VR, its whatever our minds can come up with. Actually inventing that magic is all up to your brain and the team's brain."
Check out the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/irF4CTpTwEo
--
Show Notes (TL;DL)
1:25
Q1) What makes your company delightful or impactful?
A1) Futurus is delightful to work for because they adapt to the situation and always challenge themselves to do more than the minimum. "People aren't afraid to ask questions and bring ideas to the table"
Clients are delighted to work with them because they do their best to educate clients about the why, the process, and the technology's ability to make an impact. "The best part about this is learning about the technology along with you. When you learn something new, we learn something new."
4:42
Q2) Do you have quantitative and/or qualitative feedback metrics for your projects?
A2) They have more qualitative feedback usually, but they measure impact in context with the project. They pay attention to what ROI looks like for the customer (users, money, downloads, impact, etc).
7:30
Q3) What does your team look like? How is the design team organized? How do you think about diversity?
A3) ~70% is Art, Design or Development. Everyone does multiple roles, so there is a visual artist who also does industrial design, a designer who can code and a developer who does interaction design.
In terms of diversity, they are over 50% women and ~30% people of color. They are always trying to do better and think long term by going to under-served schools to teach/speak about this technology and show that it is an option for them.
13:35
Q4) What is your research process? How do you cut assumptions and get design critique?
A4) They have an iterative process where they test a new game every week both with non-developers on their team, as well as with customers. They focus on usability and always try to figure out why people gave that feedback.
16:57
Q5) Do you have some type of lo-fidelity stage for testing and getting feedback before developing?
A5) There is no easy way to build lo-fidelity designs in AR/VR, but they develop simple wireframes with no textures and minimal lighting to quickly get it out to customers for testing. Sometimes they do paper prototyping as well.
19:45
Q6) How do you make sure your innovations are solving the right problems?
A6) Because they are completely bootstrapped company with no investors, they can choose what projects to take and what clients to work with. So they only work with people they want to work with on projects they have expertise on. Furthermore, when starting a project, they pay attention to what the client needs (e.g. sales vs exposure) to decide what direction to go.
"We look at what isn't there in VR, and what can make an impact, and how we can bring that to the table."
24:45
Q7) How do you create a very user-centered approach at your company?
A7) They are always open to changing their design and never blame the user for not understanding the technology or design.
"We do a lot to think about how to design experiences like you would a physical experience (unlike a computer or phone-based experience)."
28:05
Q8) How do you invent magic?
A8) "There is no difference between technology and magic... In VR, its whatever our minds can come up with. Actually inventing that magic is all up to your brain and the team's brain."
More episodes of the podcast A More Delightful Future
1 - A More Delightful Future, with Daryl Roy
02/12/2020
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