Solution

HOSHI: an AR assistant streamlining lunar workflows and navigation to safely enhance astronauts' autonomy

Informed by extensive research with past astronauts and mission data, HOSHI enables its users to confidently complete tasks and respond to unexpected comlications.

Contex

NASA selected us to develop an AR interface supporting astronauts during lunar missions

After submitting our proposal, my team was 1 of 11 student organizations selected to compete in the 2022 SUITS Challenge.

Process

Our flexibility and iterative approach enabled us to develop a successful end-to-end experience amid extreme ambiguity

Generative Research

With my research background, I helped my team create a plan to explore the problem space, assumptions, and opportunities

Only a few of us had designed for AR/VR, but none of us had designed for the moon. Leveraging several methods helped us build knowledge and refine interview protocols to maximize our time with experts.

Pain Points

We unearthed 3 key pain points created by astronauts' dependence on Mission Control and outdated tools

Our desk research revealed that extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is highly regulated to ensure crew safety, but this creates extensive friction and hinders astronauts' autonomy.

Design Tenets

We determined that our solution must be assistive, enabling astronauts to maintain their focus on real-world interactions

Our research revealed that AR interactions should be secondary to real-world mission tasks. With limited user access, we created these tenants using our research insights to stay aligned to this goal.

Personas and Scenarios

Then we organized persona workshops with engineering to align our teams on scope and narrow product direction

Since we built the team from scratch, we wanted to foster a strong partnership and begin identifying technical constraints.
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Ideation

These persona scenarios kept us focused on user goals as we ideated on potential features and interactions to implement

We started with sketches to quickly explore a breadth of solutions. Many of these ideas weren't included in the final solution, but since we hadn't spoken to target users, this phase was key for revealing our early assumptions and questions.  

Converging Ideation

Engineering wasn’t ready to build designs, so I helped my team quickly test concepts with lo-fi physical prototypes

During my VR internship, I learned how to test concepts using lo-fi physical prototypes. I helped my teammates layer interface elements to create low-cost, but accurate testing tools. We ran hallway usability testing with the engineering team for feedback and to determine viability.

Key Design Decision

But this couldn't fully replicate an AR device's field of view, so we increased fidelity using the HoloLens' design system

We needed to determine how engineering would deploy concepts on our HoloLens. After consideration, we opted to use a pre-built design system to help engineers dedicate more time to learning.

Mid-fi Ideation

Increasing fidelity helped me assess how potential solutions impacted users' cognitive load and environmental awareness

Below is an example of how I analyzed concepts for navigational support. Ground-level trails and meshes could provide astronauts with environmental guidance, at the cost of limiting their real-world visibility. In contrast, eye-level solutions were less intrusive and distracting, but didn't provide context.

Mid-Fi Testing and Iteration

With limited access to astronauts, we supplemented user feedback with hallway usability tests to strengthen decisions

I ran remote usability and concept testing on Figma to give astronauts a flexible way to share feedback and validate decisions. But 2D interfaces couldn’t replicate 3D elements in the real-world, so our devs deployed weekly to fix bugs and usability issues

Final Design

NASA judges praised our final design decisions and product during testing at the Johnson Space Center

Our presentation and testing session received overwhelmingly positive reviews from judges, including the Manager of NASA EVAs and a Director Specialist from Microsoft.