Technologies to Learn in 2021 — AR/VR Product Design

3D is the next big thing in UI/UX/IxD design. Are you ready?

Published in

UX Planet

4 min readFeb 15, 2021

As product designers, we currently usually work in 2D space. There are many product design trends in 2D we should pay attention to, but I’d like to point out the trends beyond 2D. The digital world is moving towards more immersive experiences, therefore towards 3D. It is only a matter of time for 3D & XR to become standard in product design.

Reasons behind 3D relevancy

If you’re still not fully convinced about the importance of 3D, you don’t have to take my word for it. Most of the UX trend forecasters included 3D in their lists of 2021 trends. AR/VR development is actively pushed by the biggest market players, such as Google, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft. They develop their technologies and patents, and from the past, we know that they shape the future of the industry. Looking into some numbers, Oculus recently shared that people spent more than $100M on Quest content (resource), which indicates the size of the market.

Resource: Big Ideas 2021 by ARK INVEST, https://research.ark-invest.com/hubfs/1_Download_Files_ARK-Invest/White_Papers/ARK%E2%80%93Invest_BigIdeas_2021.pdf, p. 27.

Thanks to all that, VR has been taking off and product design will not stay out of the development. Companies will need to adjust to the changing digital landscapes and 3D product design will be in high demand. It will be a great advantage to have the tech skills ready. If you decide you want to be one of the early adopters, keep reading for the list of useful technologies.

Technologies to learn for 3D UX/UI Experiences Design

First, you should know that as a designer transitioning to 3D and VR you need to learn new things from 3D and animation to sound design and more. It is necessary to expand the toolset and adjust to the new technologies.

Blender

Blender is an open-source 3D graphics tool for modelling, animations, visual effects, art, simulation… well, pretty much anything 3D. With Blender, you can create 3D assets for your projects. The knowledge of the tool will be greatly beneficial while creating VR designs. I prefer Blender for it’s an easier learning curve, but you can also try different software such as 3Ds Max or Cinema 4D. If you are into simulation then you should look into Houdini.

Work in Blender. Resource: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wrR6QlAxvPs/maxresdefault.jpg

Unity 3D

Once you have your 3D elements ready, you need to put them together. For that, you need a game engine such as Unreal Engine or Unity 3D. I personally use the second one. Unity 3D is a cross-platform game engine you can create many different things with; from games, AR and VR apps to mobile applications. Unity has its own platform with learning resources and there are already several tutorials dedicated to AR/VR, which is a big plus. Great if you are a beginner and don’t know where to start.

Work in Unity 3D. Resource: https://coherent-labs.com/posts/unity-3d-facebook-integration-with-coherent-ui-tutorial/

Oculus Quest 2

If you are serious about designing VR experiences, you will eventually need to work with a testing device. Using a headset while creating a VR design will give you the chance to check it in the process and adjust some of the specifics you might not get just from looking at the 2D screen. For example, I noticed that the contrast levels need to be a bit higher in VR compared to my 2D designs. I use Oculus Quest 2, which is an advanced all-in-one VR system and I am very happy with it.

Oculus headset. Resource: https://mk0uploadvrcom4bcwhj.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/QuestFingerTracking.jpg

One thing that will always be trendy in UX/UI is keeping up with the new developments and staying on top of them. Understanding these technologies is crucial for creating 3D product design and VR experiences. Once you have the basics covered, the door is open for you to learn further and develop your style. Good luck with your 3D and VR projects!

By Eva Kuttichova

evakuttichova.com