Agile AR design process: Lean Development stage (part 4)

I would like to introduce you to the fourth post in a series that describes our Agile AR design process. In each post, I describe the tools that we use at Flamingo Filter in every project we work on. We don’t necessarily use all the tools, but mix and match as we feel appropriate. We call it the AR Design Process toolbox. The map below includes 5 stages: Planning, Ideation, Prototyping, Development and finally Measuring of Success. In this post, I will describe the Lean Development stage.

In this article I refer to Spark AR and Instagram as platforms for AR creation, but the principle remains the same for Effect House, Lens Studio or Web AR.

Where to start planning?

As you progress through the development process, it is important to chunk it down into smaller bits so that it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. If the timeline allows you to finish all the development aspects of the project before sending it to the client, and still have enough time for the client to go over the project, then do that.

Although this might not turn out as we expect, it is logical to chunk up the project so that the review and the development can take place concurrently, so let me give you an example of how this would work.

For example, you’re trying to create an AR game on a short timeframe. You need to set up all of the animations, player control, scoring mechanics, and UX. Then you’re going to chunk it up and then send it to the client for review.

There will be a lot of communication involved. Explaining what has been done so far and what is still in progress, requesting information about what kind of feedback you are looking for and what you are going to need a little later on, and everything will be done this way in order to deliver on time.

Kanban

WHY?

• Visualise and track the tasks that need to be completed
• This method is an efficient way to deliver work on multiple projects
• It is a fast, efficient, and effective way to manage your workload

HOW?

• a workflow board with tasks and team members. Each column represents a stage: not started → in progress → done. The label of the card is upgraded throughout the process.
• Each card has a team member assigned.
• At the beginning of development process there are only few tasks, but as the product gets tested there will be more bugs. Each of those bugs should have a description on what needs to be fixed and backed up with a screenshot.
• The Kanban method encourages collaborative improvement of a project based on the feedback from both the team and the customer.

WHERE?

• Notion

Where to begin the development process?

Avoid the last version released

Before you begin working on the project, I recommend that you make sure that you do not to work in the latest version of Spark AR. On the Spark AR documentation, you can always find recent versions of Spark. Not everyone updates their Instagram app on the same day. At the time of the launch of the latest AR project, there is a possibility that most of the AR projects won’t be able to run on most of the devices, since Instagram users have not yet updated the app to run the latest software update. Same logic can be applied to Snapchat, TikTok or WebAR (browsers also need to be updated)

Test if interaction works across different devices

The next step is to make sure that the interaction you choose for your AR project works across a wide range of devices. It is possible to create an empty project with the chosen capability and to send a test link to it. If it opens without giving an error message, you are ready to start building your AR application. The first thing you should do is test it on multiple devices, including both iOS and Android, to see if it works. In one of Flamingo Filter projects, we wanted to implement a hand tracking , but unfortunately, the capability was not compatible with the majority of Android devices, so we changed the interaction. We had to do it at the end of the project, which was problematic, some things needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Please make sure you check it at the start of your project, this will save you a lot of time in the long run.

Assemble the scene

A good idea is to assemble the scene before designing the logic of an AR experience, whether it is with the patch editor or scripting. It refers to bringing all 3D and 2D assets into the Spark AR software (Spark AR), positioning, scaling, and rotating them in accordance with the references from the storyboards, naming all assets properly, making sure that they do not exceed the 4 mb size limit of the experience, and only starting scripting when that is done. In Flamingo Filter, the designer sets the scene up in Spark AR and then passes it along to the AR developer.

In order to determine if you reach the size limit and optimise your project, you should start by importing all objects: 3D models, textures, animations, sounds, etc. For our team at Flamingo, it’s usually the designer’s task. The AR developer later opens a fully optimised project. All the assets are already in place. Nice work! In the course of the development process, there will be some changes that will occur, but that is nothing unusual.

Set up version control

At Flamingo Filter we use Github for version control of our projects.

WHY?

• You don’t have to pass the export file
• Keeps everything organised
• Updates go to the same place
• You can always revert back to a previous state
• Unfortunately, there is no way to collaborate on projects simultaneously with another person for social AR projects
• For web, you can have multiple people working on the same file

HOW?

• Set up a GitHub repository for your company
• Get desktop app or use terminal to sync the working folder to Github
• Pull updates before making changes
• Push changes after making them
• It’s easy, you don’t need to be a coder

WHERE?

Github or Gitlab