Adolfo Pahissa
Head of Creativity at NTT DATA
We all spend hours and hours of our lives enjoying high-quality content in our favorite streaming or social media platform but when it comes to generating experiences at our own company or brand, we totally forget and settle for much lower standards.
These double standards become even more noticeable when we are involved in B2B initiatives instead of consumer facing ones, assuming that the rigid guidelines, the never-ending layers of feedback and approval processes or complex products and service portfolios will make it near impossible to aim for a top-notch narrative.
Can you relate with these situations? Do you feel stuck when working for your brand?
Great! That means that you are ready to take your branded immersive experiences to the next level.
Let’s go!
First is first, understand your audience:
An employee and user-centered approach
Start by identifying your target audience and their needs. Are these all employees, a specific department, newcomers, or your own customers? Consider conducting surveys or research to gain insights into their preferences and identify any pain points. If it is not possible, at least speak to 2-3 individuals that could potentially be users of your platform and extract qualitative information about what they like, what they need (or think they need) and how they currently spend their time.
This is crucial because, as we have seen before, successful metaverse experiences have an intimate relationship with leisure and entertainment. Then use this information to tailor your VR concept to match your learnings and address these specific needs.
As they say… “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”
Earlier, we were discussing the importance of understanding your audience. In this regard, there is a widespread misconception that the concept of a ‘first impression’ only pertains to B2C products or experiences, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Your employees are essentially your customers when it comes to training, onboarding, or introducing new tools.
Their initial experience is just as crucial as that of your external customers. They are the ones who will be using these tools for hours every day, and this significantly influences their engagement, efficiency, and overall satisfaction.
Every person that enters your platform gives you a one-time opportunity to engage with them, to take control of their emotions and construct a compelling premise that will then frame the user’s experience.
And yes, we all want a good storytelling and immersion
When it comes to making a good impression, we must not forget either the importance of developing a compelling onboarding narrative that immerses users or employees in the VR environment. Create an emotional connection by crafting a unique and engaging storyline. Ensure that the user feels like an active participant in the story.
Do not compare with other corporate initiatives, compare your work with contents that are meaningful in people’s lives (and your own life). Think of how your favorite HBO Show engaged you in the first episode. Understand that nothing was left to improvisation. The content we all see is really good, so the stakes are high!
Protect your user from unnecessary complexity
As opposed to a poster, TV commercial and most branded content platforms, VR allows the user to navigate and discover information in a nonlinear fashion. It is very interesting to understand this unique nature of VR experiences and use it purposefully.
Understand which pieces of information are crucial and which are only nice to have. Create a main path which is suitable for all and condensed and allow branching to accommodate all that content that is not core so that only the users that desire it get in contact with the information.
Video is no longer King in the world of VR
When it comes to making a good impression, we must not forget either the importance of developing a compelling onboarding narrative that immerses users or employees in the VR environment. Create an emotional connection by crafting a unique and engaging storyline. Ensure that the user feels like an active participant in the story.
Do not compare with other corporate initiatives, compare your work with contents that are meaningful in people’s lives (and your own life). Think of how your favorite HBO Show engaged you in the first episode. Understand that nothing was left to improvisation. The content we all see is really good, so the stakes are high!
And of course, remember:
B2B doesn’t necessarily need to mean ‘boring to boring’
Let’s explore more intriguing guidelines when it comes to creating engaging XR experiences. In addition to everything we’ve mentioned before, you might be tempted to think that adding video contents can enhance the perceived quality of a VR experience but it’s not always like that. The user and his ability to move and interact is the star of the show here, so minimize the amount of time the user is not in control and must subdue to any kind of pre-recorded content.
For example: instead of playing a 1-minute video explaining how to grab and drop items, create a live gamified tutorial in which the user has to grab apples from a tree and place them in a barrel. Use a timer and count the number of apples he managed to grab. You will ensure his undivided attention and work towards engagement instead of him feeling confused.
It’s a wrap!
Now that you have a couple of cards up our sleeve in order to craft the perfect VR experience and delight your users and customers, I can only recommend you using NAKA, an enterprise virtual platform that combines pre-built immersive scenes with a powerful design panel allowing the creation of immersive, attractive and boundless experiences.
Do you want to expand your knowledge about extended reality and how to create impactful experiences? Subscribe to NAKA’s newsletter if you haven’t already!
