Zihan He
User Experience and Service Design
I am interested in innovative technology, but I believe that the best technology is that which serves the human experience.
Major project
Everland - Our Event Never Ends
Brief Introduction
Everland is a community application that can be linked to offline concert events, allowing people to use avatars to make friends, buy digital peripheral merchandise for the avatars and participate in virtual parties after each show.
It allows people to continue the positive feelings that come with concerts, fulfils a deep need for a sense of belonging to a group, and helps society channel environmental and positive behaviour.
Key Features
Firstly, Everland helps people find friends for a concert through their avatar and interests. After purchasing a ticket, they will be directed to the 'Find Friends' page. Here they can filter different characteristics, create group chats and request to sit together.
Secondly, people can access the digital merch store via the 'Activity' section, where people can browse and buy digital merch. In addition, they can also get free points from each concert as a reward for making eco contributions.
Finally, each event will have a virtual space for people to enter. When the event ends, an online after-party will be held in the virtual space. People will be able to participate in artist-led charity projects, which will be updated as it progresses. They can also share or join other upcoming events with fellow audiences in the 'next event' section.
Discover and Define the Problem
The project initially began by exploring the future of NFT and how the concept could be understood and embraced by the general public. After the first phase of user research, the project question was redefined as "using digital collectibles to improve inadequate real-world experiences“.
In the second phase of the research, the scenario was narrowed down to a ticketing event with a major concert as an example. The user needs and pain points were iterated several times. I eventually discovered that the deeper need was "the grand positive feeling of connecting with a broad community of like-minded people" and that existing souvenirs or recording means did not help them capture this emotion. Therefore, the core of the solution was not to provide a more advanced form of souvenir, but to meet an implicit deeper emotional need about human tribes.
Develop the Idea
After brainstorming and generating ideas, I developed and refined the solution through a series of creative prototype testing methods. These methods were determined by the needs of each stage which included focus groups, user debates, co-design etc.
Benefit the Ecosystem
Everland can bring benefits to the whole ecosystem. Firstly, it helps users perpetuate a positive experience by maintaining a connection with the collective. For artists, digital merchandise offers a new revenue stream that can be combined with the more expensive eco-friendly merch. For the live music industry, we can foster long-lasting relationships with users by encouraging them to keep booking new events within a community. And for society, we leverage the cohesion of groups and lead to active participation in good behaviours through eco tasks and rewards.
Beyond this, Everland is transformative because it explores the combination of offline experiences and virtual technology, and takes advantage of each other. It can also expand to various large-scale events in the future. This includes not only the music festivals and sports events, but also online or hybrid events. Everland can enhance the collective experience for those participating remotely.
Zihan He
Major project
Everland - Our Event Never Ends
Awards
Best Interaction Design Award - 16th China (Beijing) International Student Animation Festival
Silver Award - 28th Times Young Creative Awards
National-level Projects - College Students' Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Plan Program
Third Prize - 5th China College Students' 'Internet+'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
Work Experience
I have internship experience in UX design at Yuanfudao, an online education company, where I assisted designers in interface walk-throughs, built UI component libraries and participated in product interface revisions.