Project Infinity
Bachelor’s Thesis
Project Infinity is a navigational application for a narrative driven, Treasure Hunt-based fictional promotional campaign for Marvel’s Infinity War, also known as an ‘ARG’. The objective of the ARG is to find three Infinity Stones, hidden throughout the city with the help of the application. Each Infinity stone utilises a unique feature in the app. This campaign, done for my undergraduate thesis, was accompanied with multiple interactive AR filters.
My Role
Core narrative of the campaign
Research
Persona
User Journey Map
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Final UI design
Date
December 2022
Secondary Research
Competitor Analysis
For the project to pan out smoothly, it was incredibly important to truly understand the essence of a successful ARG. For this, I analyzed the top 5 most successful ARGs (determined through key metrics like memorability and lasting impact, number of players, conversion rate etc) and broke their components down into four key components/interactions: Trailheads (the first clue that marks the beginning of an ARG), Digital Activities, Physical Activities, and Conclusions.
Key Components of an ARG
Narrative
All ARGs revolve around a story, be it an original story, or an in-character story of a movie, game, etc.
Multimedia
ARGs are trans-media, using multiple mediums, ranging from, but not limited to emails, numerous websites, physical clues and puzzles.
Suspension of Disbelief
The aim of the ARGs are to blur the boundary between the real world and the game narrative.
Community Building
One of the main goals of an ARG is to build a community around it. People interact with each other and theorize about the possibilities.
Player Control
Not only do the players control the pace of the game, but also have significant impact over the narrative.
Primary Research
Understanding the market
A key finding during my research was that no ARG had yet taken place in Pakistan. I directed my focus towards campaigns similar to an ARG in nature, which led me to Art Ki Talaash.
Curated by Starlinks for Karachi Biennale in 2017, Art Ki Talaash is one of the few Scavenger Hunts that has taken place in Pakistan, and is the closest event to an ARG that. Attended by over 240 people, Art ki Talaash received a very positive reception by the people.
Primary Research: Organizers End
Michael Andersen
Owner, ARGn
The Alternate Reality Gaming Network (ARGNet) is the leading online hub for news, analysis, and community updates related to alternate reality games (ARGs) and immersive storytelling.
Goal: By interviewing someone who has documented and analyzed countless ARGs globally, I aimed to understand the possibilities of a successful ARG in a country like Pakistan
Shanaz Ramzi
CEO, Starlinks
Starlinks is the company responsible for Art Ki Talaash, the closest project to an ARG in Pakistan
Goal: Understand organizers perspective, and gain inside knowledge regarding the BTS and the scope of the project.
Anora Manuel
Reactivate Pakistan is a leading PR and experiential marketing company
Goal: Understand the market space.
Key Insights:
An overwhelming amount of people requested for a sequel to Art Ki Talaash, and the event was a promotional and monetary success.
Marketing in Pakistan is evolving and getting more
immersive and experience based, and can ultimately result
in an ARG.
ARGs would would be very popular and successful in
Pakistan, specially with the younger generation that seeks
more fun and adventure.
ARGs take community building to an entirely new level.
Alternate Reality Game campaign for marketing, like Why
So Serious and I Love Bees have remained some of the most
unforgettable campaigns in history.
Primary Research: Player's End
Murtaza
Winner, Art Ki Talaash
Goal: The goal of this interview was to understand the participants perspective of the experience.
Survey
Sample Size: 24
Goal: The goal of this survey was to understand if the common man would want to partake in an ARG
Key Insights
The experience of Art Ki Talaash was fun and thrilling
Would love to be a part of any similar campaigns in the future
Solving clues and hints is enjoyable as it encourages people to think outside the box
Most of the people, regardless of how often they go out, would like to go out more often than they currently do.
People will ditch their current go-to outing to experience something new.
An overwhelming majority would like to participate in an Alternate Reality Game.
UX Research
Who are the users?
What is the journey?
For the experience to be as immersive as possible, unique stories and user journeys were crafted for every stone. I realized early in the project the need to view the user experience as three separate journeys for each stone under the umbrella of the same ARG, as opposed to one big User Journey. This approach changed the way I viewed UX mapping, and made me understand the importance of adapting and innovating. The following user journeys were created after an intensive Primary and Secondary Research, consisting of:
Reality Stone
The Narrative
The reality stone has the power to alter not just the appearance of any desired object, but also the reality as we know it.
Thanos has used the reality stone to create multiple decoys of the reality stone and placed them on earth. Multiple location pins, each leading to a stone, will be marked on the map, under a timer. Upon reaching the location the players will find a physical stone, scanning which through the AR Scanner, would reveal if the stone is real or a decoy. It is up to the players to coordinate and split out throughout the city to cover as much ground as possible.
