Lenovo
Launching Lenovo's First AR Device
2018 - 2019 | Design Manager
In 2018, Lenovo took a big bet in AR/VR, creating a brand new business and hiring industry talent to drive its future. The ThinkReality A6 is the first of many new products and solutions in across the MR portfolio. Lenovo turned to UX to help drive this vision.
I led the multi-disciplinary team that brought the ThinkReality A6 to market.
Business Objective
Support the product development of the ThinkReality A6 and ensure we have the best-in-class user experience.
Design Objective
Provide UX support across both software and hardware development and ensure UX research is baked into the development timeline.
LAUNCHING LENOVO'S FIRST AR DEVICE
BACKGROUND
The early days of PoC work quickly accelerated and enabled the newly formed business group to launch their first AR product, the ThinkReality A6.
Premium hardware design wrapped around an industry leading software platform has truly differentiated our ThinkReality solution from the rest of the pack. Building these types of solutions from the ground-up takes time, patience, and tremendous talent.
In addition to the hardware and software components, ThinkReality products can be deployed and managed via the ThinkReality Cloud Console. App downloads, firmware updates, and even device telemetry can be managed through the Console.
THE DESIGN
Working closely with ID and R&D, our UX team spent countless hours researching the different aspects of hardware usability from ergonomics to comfort. We also ensured that the product would fit across a diverse population by user testing each model and iteration until it met our HF specifications. From reducing the overall weight to defining the LED behaviors on the compute box, my team was dedicated to making the best headset across the market.
Over the course of this project, our team had produced over 1200 pages of specifications to cover both the hardware and software experience.
GLOBAL RECOGNITIONS
The ThinkReality A6 has won several prestigious awards including Red Dot's Best of the Best in Product Design! Additionally, it has also taken home an IDEA and IF Design Award among other wins at CES and AWE.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
When conducting user research, it's critical to recruit a diverse and inclusive participant pool. This was even more important when designing a wearable device. From gender, age, and ethnicity to various head and nose sizes, we ensured our participants covered the spectrum of users.
For Accessibility and Inclusivity, we even recruited and tested users with disabilities and impairments so that anyone could use our solution..
SUMMARY
ThinkReality A6 was launched in 2019 and we quickly followed it with a new lightweight smart glasses called the ThinkReality A3. These two products have fortified Lenovo as a major player in the ARVR industry. Our target customers remain commercial and large enterprise, but we have partnered with a number of companies that create consumer 3rd party solutions.