Facebook Reality Labs - UX Research

In case you couldn’t already tell from my AR/VR Portfolio, I love immersive media! I only wish more people did too.

Enhancing User Trust Through Transparent Design at Facebook Reality Labs

As a student UX consultant, I recently had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with the talented team at Facebook Reality Labs (formerly Oculus) on revolutionizing their approach to privacy and consent models in VR.

With the immense potential of extended reality platforms comes the critical responsibility of clearly communicating how user data is gathered and applied. Our mission was to improve the structure, language, and visual design of notices to enhance comprehension and build user confidence.

Metrics

Through stakeholder interviews, benchmarking studies, and extensive user research involving over 55 focus group participants and 200+ survey responses, we identified key principles for redefining the disclosure experience:

Aesthetic: Approachable styling that complements the Oculus brand. Structure: Clear hierarchy and segmentation that guides the eye. Content: Concise yet transparent language aligned with user priorities.

Leading with empathy, I spearheaded an iterative design process meticulously crafting and user-testing multiple notice frameworks. Matched-pair hypothesis testing (p<0.001) statistically validated that our final models best balanced brevity, voice/tone, trust, relevance, and comprehension for users.

Impact

When implemented at scale, our work will not only set a new standard in ethical XR design, but significantly improve user activation. Overcoming barriers of mental load and consent fatigue opens doors to greater product exploration and adoption of features.

Most importantly, this ongoing initiative signifies Facebook Reality Labs' steadfast dedication to proactive transparency with users. Building that institutional integrity and rapport is paramount as the metaverse continues to take shape.

I'm tremendously grateful to have contributed thoughtful innovation alongside such a passionate and solutions-driven team in service of democratizing XR access. Thank you Facebook Reality Labs for an enriching, values-aligned consulting engagement!