In this piece I`ll be taking a closer look at various design approaches I like to take for creating user interactions inside Virtual Reality worlds.

I have been designing user interactions for VR for almost five years now and one of the biggest breakthroughs I personally had was when I realized that the user experience is fundamentally different compared to our old flatscreen platforms. When you have technology that, for the first time ever, is capable of tricking the human brain into believing a virtual world is real, everything changes. We used to design interactions around the controller the player is holding, in VR we design interactions around the avatar and the world it is in.

Let’s take a closer look at my 4 principles for VR interaction design:

1. Don’t be lazy

This is actually a common pitfall among the more veteran designers as they tend to quickly grab their trusted go-to design tricks that served them beautifully in the past. But again, VR is a whole different beast so tricks that worked great in flatscreen games often end up being a horrible user experience in VR.

How not to do it : Fallout VR

The way the inventory and game menus work in Fallout VR is a great example. First you press the menu button, a flatscreen style menu pops up, taking you out of the virtual world. At the same time your virtual hands disappear and are replaced with the actual controllers you are holding, even further decreasing the immersion. Operating the menu is exactly the same as operating it on a console: you move around with the gamepad stick and press the gamepad buttons. It works great for flatscreen games, it feels clunky and annoying in VR.

How to do it : Sprint Vector

Now compare that to Sprint Vector where the idea is the same: you press a button and a screen pops up. But this time the screen actually feels part of the world you are immersed in. As soon as your hands come close enough to the screen your hand locks onto it and becomes sort of a mouse cursor. This is a very smooth, fast and enjoyable way of interaction with flat menus in VR while keeping you fully immersed in the world.

2. Use the power of VR to boost the users FUN, not annoy them

When used correctly VR can be incredibly powerful. Anyone who ever felt presence in VR knows what I`m talking about. Sadly I often see designers using VR as a gimmick and as a result you end up with interactions that feel goofy and annoying.

How not to do it: Qyube VR

The objective of this interaction in this game is to use the stick to harvest wood resources from a tree. You are supposed to hit the tree with the stick hard enough until a block of wood pops out. If feels goofy swinging the stick at the tree (imagine hitting a tree with a wet pool noodle and you are getting close). Also, after a while the player will realize that the only thing the game is doing is checking if the stick is touching the tree. So just rub the end of the stick on the tree and bingo! You now discovered a silly but much much more efficient way of harvesting wood then what the designers wanted you to do.

How to do it: VU log chopping

Here is an example of one of my own designs. The objective was to allow players to use an axe and chop chunks of tree into smaller pieces. By making it feel more real and natural it becomes much more immersive to the user and enhances the overall feeling of a real world.

3. Don’t overdo it!

Another common mistake I see a lot of VR designers make is they get too excited about all the cool new possibilities with this technology. Just like anything else in life: balance is key.

How not to do it : The Gallery episode 2

The gallery is a great game full of examples of amazing VR design but often their designer gets a little too excited. Case in point is this area in episode 2 where you encounter a door that is closed. The player needs to solve a puzzle : fit the correct cogs in a box next to the door before the timer runs out and the door will open. Only to lead you to another hallway with another door with another box with the same puzzle… and so on, quickly going from fun to annoying.

How to do it: The mages tale

In the mages tale they came up with a very nifty way of storing an item you picked up into your inventory. As soon as you pick up an item, a magical frog appears from a portal with his mouth wide open sucking in all the air around him. Special FX show the movement of the air so its clear it is there to suck something. If the player still doesn't get it, the frog even motions with his little green fingers : hey put that in here!

The player simply picks up an item and tosses it into the frogs mouth and it goes straight into your inventory. Its a 2 movement action (pick up/throw) , it’s fast , smooth and fits right into the magical world of the game.

4. Make your interactions intuitive!

And last but most importantly: if your interactions require the user to study manuals or memorize key combinations: you are doing it wrong. Design your interactions in such a way that they come natural to the user, even if they require a little bit of experimentation. Humans are curious by nature so allow them to experiment a little & let them figure it out. They will feel great once they do. If you design correctly, the process of figuring out an interaction should not take more then 30 seconds tops.

How not to do it: Robinson The Journey

Imagine this: In this VR game you start in a escape pod that crash landed on an alien planet. You want to exit the door and explore the area. You walk towards the door, you see a door handle. You see your virtual hands. You see the door handle. Guess what each and every one of your users instinctively are going to do? Grab the handle with your hands and twist it. Not in this game tough, in this game you need to use a scanner tool & point it at the handle until it glows, and then without shaking your hands too much, you need to press a button on the controller. #mindblown

How to do it : The Grand Canyon VR Experience

This is one of my own designs: In this experience you ride on a kayak through a beautiful nature environment. We wanted to have several stops along the riverside where players could take a break and just soak up the atmosphere.
We did not want to ruin the environment placing tutorial panels to explain they can do this.

So what we did is we placed weathered bronze bells along the path. No explanation needed. Players will encounter one of those bells, will look at it and ask ‘I wonder what will happen if I ring this’ and ring it. From that point on, whenever the player encounters another bell they already know what to do.