Bestow is a social, augmented reality game for smartwatches designed to bring local communities together.
Everyday AR
Smartwatches are an underutilized piece of technology with a user base that's always connected.
I wanted to create a smartwatch compatible game which would encourage users to go explore their community and connect with their neighbors. Bestow allows users to gift notes, images, and more to anyone who explores their space after they've left.
Features
Communicating with our neighbors in space and across time.
Ideation and Wireframes
I wanted to Bestow to be a fun way of taking social media out of the house and encouraging real life exploration.
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I utilized features that would promote exploration, foster creativity, encourage giving, and forge and maintain relationships.
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Features include:
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Dropping 'gifts' such as writing, images, video, questions, and money.
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Use specific post types to write poems, tell jokes, leave questions, or drop polls.
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Earn trophies and level up by collecting and dropping many gifts.
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Add friends and follow gifters you like.
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Drop gifts specifically for certain friends or groups.
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Get notified anytime a gift is nearby to be picked up.
Visual Design
Fun, Futuristic, Exciting
Style Tile
Visual style for Bestow is fun and flashy.
We've been dreaming of smart watches since sci fi first imagined communicators, and I wanted to channel a vintage aesthetic into this futuristic game that can be played on your wrist.
90's eccentricity meets modern functionality.
Smart Designs for Smart Watches
Utilizing gestures and collapsible visuals to their fullest to give micro screens a macro experience.
Small Designs, Big Functions
I focused on easy to use and accessible menu's that took up the minimum screen space.
A bar on the top of the screen pulls a menu down from any screen to access to any feature, and acts as a back button once you're there.
The home screen provides a focus on gifting, with the collapsable menu leading straight to seeking.
A sliding top menu helps users navigate a variety of additional features clearly with gestures that won't interfere with other menus.
A two bar collapsible menu at the bottom of the screen gives shortcuts relevant to the users current screen.
While seeking it provides options to filter what kind of gifts you're looking for and to change your view to map or list.
Deliverables
Unique user interface utilizing always on technology to add fun to everyday tasks.
Animating Gifts
I used animated features to make both giving and seeking gifts feel more immersive.
Giving gifts results in seeing the gift literally dropped in your location.
As the player seeks gifts, they follow a compass showing the direction and distance of each gift, where they grow or shrink as the user moves closer or further away.
