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A talk on the design process for VR, AR, and Mixed Reality — presented at the International Investment Forum in VR/AR/MR (#IIFVAR 2017) at Technopark Zurich, organised by the Swiss Society of Virtual and Augmented Reality (SSVAR).
In 2017, VR/AR development was technology-first. Teams knew how to build experiences but lacked a design framework specific to immersive media — how to structure story, interaction, and production without falling into "app template clichés" or getting lost in platform constraints.
Mark Melnykowycz developed and presented a layered design framework for immersive experiences, drawing on three converging disciplines: film/theatre story structure, game design interaction patterns, and UX/interaction design methods. The process — concept mapping, interaction design, platform selection, build/test — was adapted specifically for the non-linear, embodied nature of VR/AR.
The talk argued that VR is not yet a defined medium (analogous to cinema's silent film era) and that designers have a responsibility to shape what "quality" means in immersive experiences before audience expectations calcify around the wrong models.
Presented at IIFVAR 2017 at Technopark Zurich. The talk was recorded and published by SSVAR (The Swiss Metaverse). Part of a broader series including a 2016 talk at Zurich FrontEnd and an ISMAR 2014 workshop on designing location-based experiences.
2017
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