From Research to Reality

Creating Beyond the Tassel was an intensive semester-long process that included ideation, community interviews, prototype testing, and multi-platform development using AR tools and 3D modeling software. Here’s a look into how we brought this digital celebration to life:

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Research & Early Concepts

We began by conducting surveys and interviews with CSUN students, asking questions about their feelings around graduation, stress levels, expectations, and favorite locations on campus. Many students expressed excitement about graduating but also nervousness about what comes next. Others described feeling disconnected from the graduation experience. This insight drove us to build something more personal, immersive, and emotionally rich.

Visual Design

Our visual identity blends CSUN’s red and black color palette. Each scene has consistent fonts, icon design, and object scale so users feel immersed, not overwhelmed. We created a unified style guide to help our team maintain consistency across multiple 3D and 360° design tools.

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Asset Development

To bring our AR scenes to life, we designed and developed a range of custom 3D models, textures, and animations tailored to each part of the experience. We used a combination of modeling softwares and ensured the assets rendered smoothly on mobile devices while still capturing the visual detail needed to tell our story. Consistency in color, scale, and tone across all assets helped unify the experience and maintain the project’s aesthetic integrity.

App Flow

We developed a user flow that breaks the experience into four sequential scenes, each one accessible through an in-app menu on the Hoverlay platform. Our flowcharts mapped onboarding instructions for first-time AR user and how and when scenes should be discovered. We tested multiple versions to ensure ease of access and reduced friction for users unfamiliar with AR apps.

User Feedback

During development, we conducted testing sessions. We tracked data including completion rate of scenes, time spent interacting with each scene and reaction feedback. This feedback helped us reduce friction, increase AR object stability, and refine storytelling moments for stronger emotional impact.