Project Type
App | AR
Project Name
The Met Replica
Client
The MET Museum | Verizon
The Project
01
Verizon wanted to connect young people with art in a culturally relevant way. Together with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, we created Replica: a gamified mobile experience that blends entertainment and education. Visitors scan real objects around the museum and collect them as AR replicas, turning a museum visit into something hands-on for kids and teens aged 9 to 14.
My Role and Goals
02
As the only UX designer, I owned the complete user experience, from journey flows for the entire experience to medium-fidelity wireframes. My goal was to make a technically ambitious, multi-team concept feel simple and fun for a young audience, keeping clarity, usability and UX principles consistent while the creative direction kept evolving.
My Process
03
I joined after the pitch, when several changes in creative direction had already stretched the timeline by months and the experience needed a fresh approach. My job was to bring structure back without losing the creative ambition, working side by side with creatives, developers, the Art Director and UI designers.
Solving real-world constraints with developers
A museum is a demanding environment: dozens of objects to recognize, many children playing at once, rooms with no signal. I raised those questions early (what if users lose connection, is the museum's network enough for everyone?) and worked with the developers until we landed on beacons as the solution, then shaped the flows and wireframes around that decision.
Iterating through collaboration
Iteration came from tight collaboration with the creative team, the Art Director and UI designers, so the experience matched the vibe and was intuitive enough for a 9–14 audience to keep playing and recommend it. Together we proposed educational cards after each scan, plus an inventory to collect replicas and customize avatars, so learning felt as rewarding as playing.
The Results
04
With zero paid media: +1.4 billion impressions, 426,000 Roblox items, and +200,000 new visitors driven to The Met (Source: Shorty Awards). The project went on to win several design awards listed above.
This project was created as part of my work at UNIT9.
