How Might We

Help teammates in our office better get to know one another using a fun, interactive platform so that they feel more comfortable working together post recent reorganization

How Might We

Help teammates in our office better get to know one another using a fun, interactive platform so that they feel more comfortable working together post recent reorganization

GESTURE DRIVEN COMMUNITY TOOL (LEAP MOTION)
CATEGORY

Service Design

CLIENT

FJORD

MY ROLE & SCOPE
Design & Research Lead
Collaborated on cross-functional team
Impact across all of FJORD Chicago
No prior or existing service

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW
– Observational Research
– Co-Creation Session
– User Flows
– Concept Sketches
– Interactive Prototype
– Pitch Video, Storyboards
– Usability Testing
– Implementation
– Organization Socialization
– Added Context Brainstorm

OPPORTUNITY

Our deisgn studio in Chicago had recently went through a merger with another design group within Accenture and we wanted to bolster our ability to more deeply connect with such a huge influx of new teammates and counterparts. Myself and two other designers were also interested in gesture based technologies and so we hypothesized that we could bring that technology into our approach if we were thoughtful and intentional about it. 

APPROACH

As a small team we spent time observing associates interact with one another and with the space–we noticed different activities within the space that brought people together. I drove user flow creation, sketching, and an interactive prototype efforts while we all iterated on the ideas together. We brought in a creative technologist to help us create our first prototype and then set it up in the studio for life testing amongst all of our peers.  

OUTCOME

A working prototype within the space that was actually bringing folks together due to curiosity, presented the project at an all FJORD event to inspire others to create initiatives where they are needed, and finally continued the work in the form of ideating around additional uses for gesture based technology–we used it as a thought piece for new business. Finally we hosted an ice cream social based on data collected within the tool. 

Scroll down for a detailed look at the process and assets created throughout the project including :

USER FLOWS
CONCEPT SKETCHES
INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE
PITCH VIDEO
USABILITY TESTING
A PASSION PROJECT

This was not a project assigned to me – between myself, a couple other designers and a developer we wanted to change culture within our local design studio. We had recently merged our company with another and tensions were a little high as the other company’s associates moved into our space. We wanted to break the tension, bring people together and try out a technology that we were curious about. 

USER FLOWS

Through a series of ideation sessions, we ended up choosing to create an interactive device using LEAP motion to help teammates get to know one another. I facilitated conversation around application user flows.

Our biggest question was how to teach someone how to use a LEAP motion device if they had never used it before. I created two different options for how they could learn. In one option they would self identify themselves as first-time-users and go through a demo. In the second option everyone would receive light contextual demos pending screen content and functionality. We went with contextual demos that we would remove a couple weeks post launch and socialization.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

I spent time thinking through ways that this LEAP motion tool could help us not only get to know one another, but potentially help us do other things within our studio. I created sketches to document my thinking and review with the larger team.

We wanted to think through how the work we were doing could help in more ways than one. Maybe this could even be used as a case study to show clients how we worked with a variety of technologies including gesture.

INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE

I created an interactive prototype to map out how we wanted our tool to work. I worked closely with a Content Strategist on language and copy throughout.

I used the prototype to gain alignment amongst our team, gather feedback from teammates outside of our team, and move us toward visual styling. 

Sample of Interactive Prototype

Review all 30 states / wireframe pages in detail on Axshare same password

VISUAL COMPS

I worked alongside a Visual Designer to get the interactive prototype to a place in which we could test it with teammates within our studio. We discussed interaction patterns and content hierarchy.

PITCH VIDEO

To socialize our tool and get leadership buy-in for additional resources I scripted, storyboarded, helped film, and art directed a pitch video with a Videographer. He supported primarily in filming best practices and editing support. 

The video was used to show the studio what we were doing, onboard new teammates as needed, and shared on a global call across the entire agency to showcase work various studios were doing. It did a great job of conveying the essence of our project and helped us to gather additional resources. 

Watch Pitch Video
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Rough Storyboards
USABILITY TESTING

As a team we took turns running usability tests within the kitchen of our studio. This helped us rapidly iterate and hone in on what we wanted to launch.

Ultimately through usability testing we got our teammates to vote on their favorite ice cream flavors so that we could host an ice cream social – demonstrating an example of how we could use the tool to bring people together. The ice cream social is depicted within our pitch video. 

Key Learnings from Testing

  • Ergonomics and Environment are Huge – Complexity in physical environments ie people move in x, y and z directions. The proximity to the device is key as well as self awareness and awareness of the device itself. Some kind of feedback is crucial even if it is indirect.

  • Gesture Can’t Live Alone – It is important to consider the technologies that you are pairing together. Having the interface respond through sound and/or visual cues can afford a more intuitive experience.  

  • Learning Curve Can Be Steep – Gesture vocabulary needs to be heavily considered. The team’s selection of gestures was based on “symbolic gesture” research and was helpful in regard to thinking of more intuitive gestures. It is difficult to exactly replicate each gesture; doesn’t match the diversity of gestures we have. 

TAKING IT FURTHER

As we completed a proof of concept and began moving into a 2.0 version, we continued our brainstorm of other uses for LEAP motion and gesture based interactions as a whole. We wanted to better understand what we may be able to do for our clients in this space. 


We also thought through creating additional proofs of concept around waiting and office spaces – two areas that we decided we were most passionate about looking into. Unfortunately I moved away from this work, but when I left the team was full steam ahead on continuing their efforts in these spaces. 

Natalie Kuhn

A believer that many of the world’s problems can be solved using a designer’s mindset and methodology. Hopeful that I can help to create change by starting within my local community.

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Ⓒ Natalie Kuhn 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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