DAVID LETTERMAN LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Immersive Learning Experience Design

Project Overview

The David Letterman Learning Experience (DLLE) is an ongoing immersive Learning Project that resulted when David Letterman shared more than 1,000 pieces of Late Show memorabilia with Ball State University in 2015. The David Letterman Learning Experience seeks to inspire students to think creatively, take chances, laugh in the face of failure and smile in the light of success.

My DLLE project team decided to focus their efforts on three main projects: a touchwall/ and website called "The Chirp," an augmented reality experience called "FlyAR," and a social media campaign.

My main roles in the David Letterman Learning Experience project team included working as a Product Manager, User Experience Researcher/Designer on the "FlyAR" augmented reality experience project. The goal of this experience was to allow for Ball State’s story to be told in the form of historic photos, sound clips, and videos, giving users the opportunity to learn how traditions started, and explore how Ball State has changed over the years.Through the creation of our augmented reality experience, "FlyAR" users can hold up their smartphone camera to immerse themselves in the past.

Tools

Figma
Qualtrics
Dovetail
Miro
Axure

Results

Increased engagement through immersive interaction

Users actively explored the AR experience and touchscreen wall, spending time interacting with stories, photos, and campus information beyond the initial task requirements.

Strengthened understanding of student and alumni connections

Interactive storytelling helped users visualize relationships between current students, alumni, and significant campus moments, making those connections easier to understand and remember.

Improved accessibility of campus history and information

By consolidating historical content, personal stories, and archival imagery into an intuitive digital experience, users were able to discover and navigate information with minimal guidance.

Impact & Key Findings

The touch screen wall supported self-directed exploration, allowing users to follow stories and connections based on their interests

Interactive storytelling through an augmented reality app improved understanding of campus history compared to static displays

Visitors successfully navigated historic photos, personal stories, and campus information with minimal guidance

Users spent extended time exploring content, indicating strong curiosity and sustained interest

Participants quickly understood how stories connected students and alumni across generations

The augmented reality experience and touch screen wall display made institutional history feel more personal, relevant, and emotionally engaging

The Design Thinking Process

Empathy Research

• What is the problem?

• When does the problem occur?

• Who is having this problem?

• User Interview and surveys

Define

Identify goals, needs, wants
Identify specific problems
Identify key behaviors and attitudes
User Journeys
Personas
Affinity Diagrams
"How Might We..." statements

Ideate

Brainstorming sessions
Storyboarding
Developing MANY ideas
Rough layouts and sketches
Communicating what is and isn't possible.

Prototype

Wireframes
Prototypes
Ensuring the prototype meets users' needs
User flows
Accessibility

Test

Usability Testing
A/B Testing
Quantitative analysis

The Research

Research was focused on the need for a storytelling platform to encourage connectedness. 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 undergraduate students, 3 graduate students, and two alumni.

Interviews were structured around 4 research questions:

How do people connect through stories?

What is the best way to tell a story?

What kind of stories do people find interesting and engaging?

What makes someone believe that their story is worth telling?

Research Findings

Research Question 1: How do people connect through stories?

Relatability: People feel connected when they can relate to the storyteller through shared interests or experiences.
Cultural & Generational Stories: Stories with cultural meaning or those passed down through generations foster a sense of community and connectedness.
Relationship Building: Stories allow listeners to learn more about the storyteller, which helps build personal connections.

Research Question 2: What is the best way to tell a story?

Storytelling Platform - Social Media:
- Widely used for both consuming and sharing stories.
- Participants noted both pros and cons of using social media for storytelling.
Creative Freedom:
- Participants emphasized the importance of choosing their preferred method or style of storytelling.
Media Forms:
- Varied preferences in formats: audio, video, text, etc.
- People engage with stories in the medium that best suits their style and comfort.

Research Question 3: What kind of stories do people find interesting and engaging?

Motivational Stories: Stories that inspire or uplift tend to be highly engaging.
Funny Stories: Humor makes stories enjoyable and memorable.
Stories About Social Causes: Narratives that highlight important issues can deeply resonate with audiences.
Disliked Stories: Preferences vary; some stories are less engaging based on individual taste.

Research Question 4: What makes someone believe their story is worth telling?

Supportive Environment: A safe and encouraging space increases willingness to share.
Perceived Acceptance: Knowing that the audience will be open and understanding boosts confidence.
Audience Interest: Belief that others will find the story relevant or meaningful encourages sharing.
Barriers:
- Fear of negative responses.
- Lack of perceived connection with the audience.

THE CHIRP

TOUCHWALL & WEBSITE

Our solution, “The Chirp” is two-fold, a touch-wall interactive storytelling experience and a website. We used Figma to create wireframes for each (website and touch-wall) separately. After various iterations and finalizing the wireframes:

We used Axure RP to prototype the touchwall experience.
We created a fully-functional website using WordPress. Here is the link to the website: https://www.thechirpbsu.com/

Ultimately, the website will allow users to submit their stories and view them from their own devices regardless of where they are. On the other hand, the touch wall experience aims to provide students with a more hands-on interactive experience on the large touch wall on campus. The touch wall experience is designed in a way that allows three users to interact with it and browse stories at the same time.

FLYAR

AN AUGMENTED REALITY EXPEIENCE

To help bridge the gap between current and former students of Ball State University and educate current students, our team designed an app called FlyAR, where we can show students facts about the primary landmarks within the Ball State campus.

In the FlyAR app, students can go up to a programmed location, hold up their phone and see different icons appear on the site. Users can click on the other icons from here to immerse themselves in the location. To build this, we created numerous wireframes and flows.

The mid-fidelity prototype was created within Figma, and the augmented reality component was then created by lens studio, which can program AR into a Snapchat filter. The AR component was made as a draft due to the file size and was programmed for Shafer Tower. Since students could not go out to the Shafer Tower and try this out at any given time, we created a physical scale model of the tower. Students and others could then hold the phone up on the filter to Shafer Tower and were shown three icons: a film camera, an image, and a music button. These three icons would then show users a video of the inside of the Bell Tower, an image of what the campus looked like before and after the Bell Tower was built, and a music clip of the carillon bells playing.

Check out the Mid-Fidelity Prototype of FlyAR!

Design Process

User Flows

Information Architecture

MORE LETTERMAN PROJECTS

EVENT FLYERS, SOCIAL MEDIA, &
VR WALKTHROUGH

As a graduate assistant with the Emerging Media Design & Development program, I worked as a project designer for the "Clear Reception with David Letterman" short film. In this role, I created a variety of print and digital materials, social media content that was distributed across the Ball State campus, and worked on a 3D walkthrough experience of the Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass as part of the transmedia campaign for the "Clear Reception with David Letterman" premier.