Parallux

Lead Designer and Developer

In Alpha by Parallux

This MMO metaverse for Mac and PC, with roadmaps for future AR, VR, and Web deployments, makes it easy to design and host 3D virtual spaces.

I prototyped and polished its features, including a user generated content toolset and a communications suite including spatial audio, video, text, and emotes.

See more info here: https://parallux.co

I designed, developed, and led teams for:

UI/UX
Mechanics
Levels & Environments
Avatars
Asset Integration
Technical Art Pipelines
Project Management
Partner Relations
Photography & Videography

Screen Shot 2021-12-01 at 3.16.42 PM.png

Below are deep dives into the design and development of the UGC Worldbuilder Toolset and Avatars:

Design Problem:

It takes too long to customize spaces for clients, constraining the number of clients we can support simultaneously.

Speed and accessibility were the core attributes creative director Kris Layng wanted. Connor Defanti and I co-designed/developed the UI/UX.

Communicated UI/UX ideas through sketches. 9/23/2021

These sketches were supplemented with screenshots of existing UI/UX in games such as the Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Portal 2's Puzzle Creator. 9/23/2021

Prototyped UI/UX for placing 3D objects into a space from a built-in asset library. Objects always snapped to the floor and could be dragged and dropped to change position. 9/30/2021

Prototyped uploading custom content to spaces, using Echo3D for 3D content and URLs for images. 11/9/2021

Prototyped traditional 3D Gizmo UI/UX as an advanced option beyond default drag and drop UI/UX. Screen-space version of the 3D Gizmo would unintentionally scale to extremes that hindered usability. 5/27/2022

Prototyped containers for images, videos, and 3D content that would automatically resize and align any content the user placed in the container. Users could also select content from their library and have it automatically placed throughout containers in the space. Implemented Worldbuilder UI/UX revisions and new Asset Library design. 6/2/2022

This version of the 3D Gizmo rendered in world-space and had larger UI for an easier UX. 8/24/2022

Designed UI/UX for: Uploading custom content via drag and drop. Sticky note objects that enable users to leave notes on any surface. 3/8/2023

Prototyped containers that procedurally animate 3D content. 3/15/2023

Polished UI/UX for uploading and automatically placing content throughout spaces. Prototyped the ability to swap the color of environments. 3/15/2023

Design Problems:

Some clients require human avatars for their activations, which we don't have.

The onboarding UI/UX is too slow.

The main directions from creative director Kris Layng were to avoid the uncanny valley and any friction in onboarding.

Throughout 2021, I prototyped UI/UX for Parallux solo. Then, Theresa Merchant joined the team and we co-designed the UI/UX in Illustrator and Figma, while I implemented it all in Unity.

Prototyped UI/UX for an avatar selection screen. Downloaded avatar models from the Unity Asset Store, animated them with Mixamo, and integrated them with Parallux's playable character controller in Unity. 6/3/2021

Refined UI/UX, now including the modular ReadyPlayerMe avatars. Animated them using Mixamo & built functionality for loading custom avatar links. 5/27/2022

Implemented UI/UX revisions and changed rendering techniques for avatar preview. 6/11/2022

Moved custom ReadyPlayerMe avatar UI/UX to submenu of main selection screen. 11/1/2022

Moved entire Avatar Selection UI/UX from onboarding to in-game settings menu. Built functionality for changing Display Name and Avatar while already in a space. 3/15/2023

Game Designer & Developer

Keanan Pucci

Parallux