I attended a developer event at Apple Park in Cupertino recently and got to hear from the talented Design and Technology Evangelists working on visionOS.

I also met folks from around the world working on some innovative apps for the platform. (That included one developer from Austria who hadn’t flown ✈️ in nearly 10 years, but couldn’t wait to try out the Vision Pro because it wasn’t available in his country just yet!)

We looked at a few companies and the immersive experiences they’re bringing to market, including a talk from the innovation team at Lowe’s Style Studio around home renovation.

We also discussed the current and future state of frameworks and tools 🛠️, as well as design best-practices now that the device has been available in the U.S. for several months. (Several of their learnings have already made their way into visionOS 2.0, BTW.)

Although spatial computing offers a new way to interact with machines using eyes, hand gestures, and voice, a lot of Human-Computer Interaction design best-practices actually translate quite nicely. 

As a matter of fact, what struck me is how much more there is in common with traditional user experience design considerations from established platforms 💻 📱 — versus that which is truly novel.  

(We can’t forget that a lot of these interaction design trails were blazed in the past by the likes of Microsoft’s HoloLens, Magic Leap, and Oculus/ Meta to name a few. Not to mention the pioneering work done by Nintendo way back when.)

Hello World! Lot's of folks made their way from all around the world to attend this event. 

There are of course unique design considerations for the platform. Ensuring user safety in their physical environment and dialing-in the appropriate amount of immersion are just a couple. 

But for the most part, the principles were fairly broad strokes, like: 

  • be familiar;

  • be human-centered;

  • and be authentic.

When it comes to introducing something new to the world, having a degree of familiarity for users is an important touchstone. It allows them to take their existing knowledge and apply it in a new context.

“Technology may change rapidly, but people change slowly.” — Don Norman

As such, the use of windows, toolbars, and traditional interaction elements are all very much still present. Simplicity is encouraged to the point of suggesting the limitation of apps to just one window (unless the content being shown is drastically different from one another, like for data comparison needs).

Being human-centered takes on several new dimensions, not least of which are considerations surrounding eye movements, neck positioning (i.e., it’s easier to look side-to-side instead of up-and-down), and having access to controls within arm’s length, which is an important cue that an affordance is interactive. Proximity really does matter in this environment.

And authenticity means not only respecting the platform’s capabilities (i.e., not everything has to be full-on, pedal-to-the-metal 😵 immersion), but also being true to the product you are creating. In other words, really thinking about how, when, and where your app could shine via the technology’s possibilities.

Keynote, for example, is pretty Keynotey. It appears in much the same way it does on a Mac when you are drafting your presentation. However, when you get into presentation mode, you can rehearse your presentation in a large theatre environment. That definitely enhances the realism and makes it feel like it’s go-time!

Audience Agency

One of the key differences between this platform and say, more traditional user flows on web and mobile, is interactivity. This aspect certainly has more in common with video games in that appreciating audience agency is something game designers understand quite well.

This principle also warmed my heart ❤️.

As someone that installed art exhibitions while working in museum out of college, the first thing I learned is that visitors rarely take the happy path a curator imagines. 

Although museum-goers may all begin at the same place, they inevitably zigzag around an exhibition following what they want to see and what they deem interesting. 

As such, the Evangelists stressed the importance of consistently previewing your designs within the actual device — and user testing early and often. (Another sound UX maxim if you’re keeping score at home.)

Given the choices of using windows, volumes, and spaces, designs you think will work, sometimes fail; and those you think won’t can often surprise you. 

A cool scale model of Spaceship HQ. (Wonder if they used early prototypes of the Vision Pro -- originally kicked off in 2015 -- to envision the architecture?) 

And so even though this is a new, dynamic, and super-exciting platform, it’s also reassuring to know that traditional user experience design principles still hold-up well.

Think through your core product experience and its value propositions. Understand and respect your audience. And know the platform’s capabilities/ constraints.

Sounds like good advice. I guess good design is still just good design. 

Marc