HeadBox 3D Studio
3D Studio is an award-winning web application I designed at HeadBox, allowing venues to combine interactive 3D tours with AI-generated narrator videos to create guided tours of spaces.
Key Challenge: Designing an MVP that can be developed within a short timeline and be commercially successful immediately post-launch.
Key Impact: An international hotel group using 3D Studio saw an increase in event enquiries by 35%, in average booking value by 50%, and in booking conversion by 12%.
Technical proof of concept combining 3D images with AI-generated narrator videos as starting point
As an Event Tech company, one of HeadBox’s core offerings is 3D photography to create interactive tours of venues, allowing bookers to get a detailed impression of an event space before visiting or booking it. Based on this, the CTO had developed a technical proof of concept that combined a 3D tour with an AI-generated avatar video.
Designing an MVP for a big business opportunity with a short timeline
Combining an existing product with a large user base with an innovative new technology to create a completely new product was an exciting business opportunity that was quickly prioritised. I joined the project to refine the concept and design an MVP, including the three product areas shown on the right.
Due to the widespread attention on innovative uses of AI, the product was supposed to launch as soon as possible, with sales activities starting in parallel with design and development, creating a short timeline and the need for close collaboration between design, sales, and development.
MVP product areas
3D Studio Tour Builder
An interface for venues to create and manage their 3D Studio tours
3D Studio Tour Viewer
An interface for bookers to view and interact with the 3D Studio tours
3D Studio Admin
An admin interface for internal users to manage users and contracts
Refining and communicating the product concept
To start, I focused on the language of 3D Studio tours and their elements and their relationship to each other. This made the product's workflow of combining a 3D space with an AI-generated narrator video to create a scene and combining multiple scenes to create a tour easy to communicate and understand.
Design, prototyping and user testing process
After planning out the necessary MVP features for the product areas, I mapped out and scribbled rough user flows before moving on to low-fidelity wireframes. Using these, I created prototypes to run quick internal user testing sessions to spot and address usability issues before moving on to high-fidelity UI designs.
User testing flagged an easily addressable problem with the presentation of the credit system for the AI video generation that could have negatively impacted the usage of the product.
MVP Designs
The intuitive tour builder for venues
I designed the builder with key stakeholders in mind:
Venue user: Uses product on a day-to-day basis
Buyer: Makes purchasing decision at venue
Sales: Use prototype for demos and sales calls
Customer success: Provide training for venue users
Development: Working with very short timeline
I focused on creating an intuitive interface by using visual representations like the scene preview alongside informative empty states and helpful copy. This ensured that the tour builder was easily understood by prospective customers and new users alike, requiring little to no training.
To allow for speedy development, interface components from the MUI design system were used where possible, while still ensuring the interface looked appealing to aid with sales efforts.
The responsive tour viewer for bookers
Most users would have no prior experience of the product when interacting with a 3D Studio tour, so it was crucial to design an intuitive and easy-to-use viewing experience.
The design had to look harmonious with the photography of any venue's 3D tour while also blending in with the venue's corporate identity. Therefore, I focused on a clear, consistent, and minimalistic design so the tour remained the star of the show.
The tour viewer was optimised for multiple browsers across all breakpoints to ensure all users would have a great experience.
The admin pages for the CS team
To enable the internal customer success team to easily manage contracts, narrators, and tours, I designed an admin interface. Initially, it only provided the most crucial functionalities and was later upgraded to ensure no tech involvement would be needed for the ongoing setup and support of clients.
MVP Evolution & Impact
Post launch strategy day, MVP evolution to full product and international rollout
3D Studio launched on time, only 6 months after the initial proof of concept, thanks to a big effort on the development side and my close collaboration with them.
Afterwards, I facilitated an internal interdisciplinary strategy day to discuss our strategy to evolve the MVP into a fully fledged product. Over the following months, I designed the prioritised features, using feedback from live users and the CS and sales teams, which were delivered in continuous releases.
This allowed for continued sales success and for the product to be sold in international markets, including Europe, Australia, and the US.
A/B testing results
35%
More event enquiries
50%
Higher average booking value
12%
Higher booking conversion
International CX Awards 2024
Gold Award
Best Innovation in Customer Experience
3D Studio’s positive impact on conversion rates and innovation award recognition
Live A/B testing of 3D Studio with a big international hotel group demonstrated that the use of 3D Studio tours increased the number of their event enquiries by 35%, the average booking value by 50%, and the booking conversion by 12%.
The product won multiple awards, including “Best Innovation in Customer Experience - Gold" at the International Customer Experience Awards 2024.
My Personal Learnings
Prioritisation is key
Due to a short timeline, this project was a great exercise in prioritisation while considering all stakeholder groups:
Which features do users need for the MVP to meet expectations and deliver value? What features are important to facilitate sales? What is just a nice to have?
Some user testing is better than none
Time and budget constraints meant that it wasn't possible to do user testing with end users. Instead, testing sessions were run with event professionals working at HeadBox. These sessions still provided valuable insights and allowed me to easily address usability problems during early design stages.
The art of the compromise
The short timeline highlighted the importance of making compromises between design and development and focusing on the user: Will this issue negatively impact the user experience, or is this only an aesthetic problem? Can we easily address this later, or is it more efficient for development to fix it now?
Datum Dezember 2023 - Mai 2024
Arbeit des Product & Tech Teams mit Ellen Schmucker als Product Designerin und Managerin
Endstanden bei HeadBox
Tools Figma, Figjam, Jira
Methoden Requirement Management, Priorisierung, MVP Design, User Flows, UX Konzept, Screensketching, Wireframing, interaktives Prototyping, User Testing, Design System (MUI), UI Design, Ticketing, manuelles Software Testing, Release Management, A/B Testing, Workshop Organisation