Incredebooks
Printed StoryBooks with Augmented Reality
Roles
Art Direction
UX/UI Design
Web Design
Game Design
Project
Incredebooks were a series of connected books where printed storybooks become interactive apps through augmented reality. Story characters appear in light, interactive, 3D games or interactions by simply aiming your device at specially marked pages inside the books. There were a series of Disney stories with Olaf and Mickey, and a Finding Dory Oceans Discovery Book created, but unfortunately the project was put on hold before most products hit store shelves.
The Challenge
Augmented reality at the time was still a relatively new concept. So centering a product around connecting physical storybooks and digital apps that contain AR extended interactions was going to pose a challenge. And we were creating an app
Objectives
We knew we needed the app to account for users with a wide range of technical abilities. So, I started with a few high level goals in mind:
Make it easy to use and approachable for everyone.
Remain COPPA compliant throughout the experience.
Make it flexible enough to scale and add new titles in the future.
Provide a way to engage users without a book, converting them into buyers.
1. Make it Easy to Use
Effortless Book-to-App Flow
By mapping each interaction step-by-step, I ensured that young readers and their parents could easily navigate between the book and app without unnecessary steps. This approach made the AR experience engaging and accessible, brought users into the product with minimal friction, and kept the focus on enhancing the story rather than complicating it.
Building the Bones
I focused my efforts on making sure navigation was intuitive, and providing plenty of space for content and menus on screen. This set the foundation, allowing us to structure the app so that each step felt natural and easy to navigate, even for our youngest users. We prototyped early based on established wireframes, refined features, ultimately ensuring a smooth experience that worked seamlessly with the products.
Complex Metaphors Communicated Visually
Incredebooks needed to feel approachable to all users, even those with less tech literacy. So, not only did I create a user flow geared towards getting the user into the experience as fast as possible, I created a series of easily digestible visual guides to help the user identify any step that might not be immediately obvious.
2. COPPA Compliance
Privacy first
Our user flow made it easy to pinpoint exactly where age gates needed to be incorporated, ensuring the app stayed fully COPPA compliant. The app had a number of features that were accessible for parents but hidden from kids:
Social Sharing
In-App Purchases
Data Management
By identifying the moments where young users might access content that required parental consent, the app remained both safe for kids and worry-free for parents.
3. Scalable for Future REleases
One app to rule them all
My goal for the design was to make it the one-stop app for all things Incredebooks. We kicked things off with the limited titles we had, but the design was built to grow as new adventures were released across North America. The style was mean to be design agnostic and let the artwork for the individual properties shine.
Here’s how it worked
Users purchase a book and scan the code inside the front cover, and they’d unlock the magic of augmented reality inside the app. Each story's AR experience was customized with its own unique UI, bringing each tale to life with a style that matched the property itself.
4. Free Sample Pages
Try before you buy
To support anyone who downloaded the app but didn’t purchase a book, we added sample AR pages. These sample experiences gave users a taste of the magic without any commitment, letting them explore some interactive pages and see the story worlds come to life. The goal? Spark curiosity, keep them engaged, and hopefully convert them from free users into loyal customers by presenting the value add upfront showing them why they want to buy a book.
