About
Candytopia merges the wonder of Candyland with the whimsy of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory into a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. Visitors are invited to explore both physical and virtual realms through cutting-edge technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality, capturing the imaginations of tech-savvy, social media–focused generations.
Project Goals
Candytopia requested a creative AR application that would empower young audiences to capture eye-catching, imaginative photos directly within the app. My strategy focused on delivering an intuitive user experience paired with a modern, minimalist interface that inspires and facilitates creativity.
Process
By analyzing Candytopia’s social media channels—Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—we gathered customer reviews and feedback to inform both the preliminary and final design phases. Our research highlighted that many visitors treated Candytopia as a dynamic backdrop for social media content, transforming the space into an interactive photographic playground that encouraged creative exploration and engagement with the environment. To embody this ethos of playful experimentation, our design emphasized the intuitive discovery of AR features, ensuring seamless integration into diverse settings. Our team further aimed to amplify visitor interaction by developing AR avatars and graphics directly tied to specific exhibitions identified in our research, fostering deeper connections between guests and the museum’s installations.
Strategy
With museums and experiences like this, the main focus of the app should be to allow the users to be present and use the app with ease. The app should be integrated with the experiences seamlessly and not distract the user from all the work put into Candytopia. To achieve this combination of simplicity and functionality, we oriented the buttons for relevant functions of the app in easy-to-access and intuitive ways. For instance, the placement of the camera button was obviously of supreme importance. To clearly provide access to the camera, we placed the AR camera button on the top right corner, a location that has been shown to capture the attention of most mobile users.
Final Delivery
Design Goal
Our design considered the two major stakeholders of this app, Candytopia and the customers of Candytopia. With our app, users of Candytopia AR can explore the exhibits and seek out markers for their AR app that provide them with AR experiences, a sort of AR token expedition or treasure hunt.
Target: 15-25 years old – American high school to college age students.
Features at a Glance
1. AR Camera
Experience the magic of Augmented Reality firsthand during your visit to Candytopia.
2. AR-Enabled Candytopia Drink Coasters
Extend your Candytopia adventure at home. These interactive coasters let you continue your AR journey, prolonging user engagement well beyond the initial visit.
