"We need to get into the Top Pages in the Horizon Worlds app. Meta measures that by average player time — we have one month. How do we get players to stay?"
Context
Horizon Worlds VR experience for Made in Brooklyn Games, partnered with Meta
My Role
UX Researcher (lead), 3D Modeling, Optimization Development
Methods
Heuristic Exploration, 10 Player Interviews, Prototyping, Playtesting
Outcome
90% puzzle discovery rate · 5 min avg. session (up from 2 min)
The Problem
Players were missing core puzzle interactions, leading to frustration and preemptive world exits — resulting in low engagement and incomplete experiences.
The team had one month to reach the Top Pages of Horizon Worlds, measured by average player session time. Without understanding what was keeping players from staying, there was no path forward.
Project Goals
01 90% of players discover the hidden key organically — the main world event
02 Keep players in the world for at least 3 minutes, ideally 5 minutes
03 The world should feel like a 90s era NYC video game store
Research Approach
My process was built around one idea: user behavior is data. I started by framing the problem clearly with the team, then went directly to users to surface patterns through qualitative research. Rather than waiting for players to come to me, I traveled to social Hub Worlds inside Horizon to interview them in their natural environment.
I chose not to record sessions to earn faster trust and more candid responses. Those signals informed every design decision — tested, iterated, and validated before anything shipped. Ten interviews later, three clear patterns emerged that shaped the entire design direction.
Research Process
What We Achieved
90%
puzzle discovery rate — players found the hidden key organically
40%
increase in average player session time
5 min
avg. session time achieved (up from 2 min)
Research Insights
Theme 01
Players who found things to interact with stayed longer and reported higher satisfaction. Passive environments created disengagement and early exits.
"I didn't know what I was supposed to do — so I just left."
Theme 02
Familiar objects from players' past — toys, cartridges, old TVs — triggered curiosity and encouraged exploration far beyond functional interactions.
"I just kept clicking things because it reminded me of being a kid."
Theme 03
A strong sense of place — the right colors, sounds, and textures — primed players for delight and made them more receptive to surprises in the world.
"It actually felt like being in a store from the 90s."
From Research to Design
Insight: Players couldn't find the puzzle
Design Decisions
Insight: Players need reasons to stay and explore
Design Decisions
Constraints & Adaptations
🎮
Resolved with fast onboarding via Meta tutorials and conversations with platform creators before beginning research.
🌐
Resolved by traveling to social Hub Worlds inside Horizon to recruit and interview players in their natural environment.
🎤
Intentionally chosen to earn faster trust and candid responses. Resolved with live note synthesis and structured surveys post-session.
⏰
Research and implementation ran in parallel — every insight was immediately actionable, keeping the team moving without waiting for a full research phase.
Reflections
Novel environment research
Going directly to players in Hub Worlds — rather than waiting for a formal recruit — was one of the fastest trust-building methods I've used. I'd apply this "go to users" mindset in any constrained environment.
Live synthesis discipline
Without recordings, real-time synthesis became a core skill. For future VR research, I'd build a dedicated observational phase before moderated sessions and carry structured live notes into any no-recording context.
Platform constraints as design input
Horizon Worlds object capacity limits and platform bugs shaped the solution rather than blocked it. Future projects benefit from mapping platform limitations early rather than discovering them mid-prototype.
