Stabilizing an AR Experience Before Launch

Context

Augify is a mobile AR platform that enables users to attach video experiences to physical cards.

The team was preparing for a high-stakes Mother’s Day launch, where the emotional payoff of scanning a card and seeing it “come to life” was the core value proposition.

However, early signals suggested that first-time users were experiencing friction during creation and playback.

Before scale, the founder needed clarity:

Is the experience intuitive enough to launch confidently?

My role

UX Research & Experience Strategist

I was brought in to:

• Evaluate first-time usability
• Identify structural friction points
• Prioritize risks before marketing exposure
• Provide implementation-ready recommendations

The Core Question

Can first-time users independently create and experience an Augie without guidance — and does the emotional payoff land reliably?

Research Approach

Rather than exploratory feedback, I structured a hypothesis-driven usability evaluation.

Study Design

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• 6 moderated usability sessions (+ 1 pilot)
• Between-subjects comparison:
  • 3 digital content creators
  • 3 non-creators
• Remote mobile screen sharing
• Think-aloud protocol
• Behavioral observation + structured survey

This allowed direct comparison of mental model strength, efficiency, and satisfaction across user types.

Key Findings

1. Emotional Potential Was Validated

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When playback worked smoothly and users understood what they created, reactions were strong.

“This is cool! I get it now.”

The core mechanic resonated.

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2. Ease Did Not Predict Satisfaction

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Some users rated the workflow “somewhat difficult” yet reported high satisfaction.

Others rated it “easy” but felt dissatisfied.

The differentiator was not ease.

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It was:

1. Concept clarity

2. Playback reliability

3. Confidence at key moments

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3. High-Severity Structural Gaps

Three critical issues emerged:

Conceptual Framing Gap
Users completed mechanical steps without understanding what an Augie actually is.

Playback Readiness & Reliability
Inconsistent feedback and unclear states disrupted the emotional moment.

Completion Confidence
Some users were unsure whether creation succeeded.

These issues did not block completion, but they weakened perception and increased launch risk.

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4. Strategic Impact

The study shifted the conversation from:

“Is the UI good enough?”

to

“Is the emotional moment reliably delivered before scale?”

This reframed the product discussion around experience stability rather than aesthetics.

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5. Outcome

I delivered:

• Prioritized usability issues (High / Medium / Low)
• Implementation-ready recommendations
• Launch risk assessment
• Pre-launch stabilization plan

The next phase focuses on operationalizing these fixes before the Mother’s Day campaign.

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