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ANTIdiaRy

Samsung & rihanna

ANTIdiaRY is an episodic, multi-platform journey that took Rihanna fans deep into the psyche of the cultural icon and revolutionary artist. At the center of the experience was the mobile virtual reality experience designed by R/GA that let fans explore Rihanna's world. The story unfolded across TV, Mobile, Desktop, OOH, Social & physical 'Sleep No More' type events with new clues, codes, characters and mysteries at every turn.

Watch the magic here: https://www.rga.com/work/case-studies/antidiary

My Role

As the Lead UX Designer on the project, I was responsible for the strategy and execution, reporting directly to the UX Creative Director for the project. Tech, visual design and UX worked agile to get this fast paced interactive campaign on it's feet and keep it afloat and thriving throughout the release 8 virtual rooms which opened one after another over a course of a few weeks.

duration 6 months

Re-imagining the album launch

Together, Rihanna & Samsung decided to reinvent the album launch for her 2016 album 'ANTI'. R/GA worked with 72&sunny and Punch Drunk to brainstorm ideas to reinvent what this means for Rihanna's fans. We at R/GA were responsible for the vision and execution of all digital components that went into creating this album launch experience.

album anti

1.4 MIl

Downloads

13 MIl

streams

48 hrs

to go platinum

antidiary

site

4 MIl

sit visits

27.6 MIl

site engagements

110k

opt-ins

50%

galaxy users

digital experience

r/ga

social experience

physical experience

watch the story here:

the role of UX

Make a tiny phone screen feel immersive - make people feel like they are actually experiencing the rooms.

Keep fans engaged throughout the release of all rooms leading upto the album launch in Room 8.

Ensure that Samsung Galaxy users get an elevated/exclusive experience - create brand envy.

Create a modular system for tech while keeping it adaptable enough for creative.

Experience Initiation flow

8 virtual rooms released one after another

The below diagram shows how people would find and enter the experience. We wanted users to 'Opt-In' to the Samsung CRM and in the end we had 2 reasons for opting in - To get a chance to win tickets to Rihanna's tour and also to enter Rooms 5 and above.

Navigation

The Menu also functioned as the homepage for the site. There were 8 virtual rooms in total, released one after another with a gap of 3-4 days. The Menu served as a way to create suspense as well as a wayfinding mechanism between rooms.

[Left]

Prototype showcasing how the transition from the menu into the room could be. Finally we landed on a slowed down version of this transition.

[Right]

Final visual design of the Menu Page

Hotspots or 'easter eggs' were available in all rooms and this loader would appear if something in the room was interactive.

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

OPTION 3​

inside the rooms

[Above]

Depicting the interactions within the room. We tried to keep the experience as immersive as possible by reducing the buttons on the screen to just 2 (excluding the samsung logo). The visual design team came up with a simple, clean and light design style that didn't overpower the room itself.

[Right]

Final visual design of the opened content (upon hovering on hotspots in the room)

GENERIC user journey

USER JOURNEY OF SAMSUNG GALAXY USER

In addition to Opted-in flow of the experience, there was a separate UX flow for Samsung Galaxy Users. They had an elevated experience which allowed them to access VIP content (exclusive images, audio, video) and in the end, got exclusive access to Rihanna's album in Room #8 through Google Play or TIDAL.

Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (1)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (2)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (3)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (4)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (5)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (6)
Copy of RGA R8 Design & UX WIP - ConsolidatedforJesse (7)
ANTIdiaRY Journey

room structure

I created a room structure document for the generic modular room but also a specific one for each rom release as nd when we received the assets. This was to ensure that there was clarity around all audio, visual and haptic elements of the room.

1

Cinemagraph

Loads video

2

Cinemagraph

Loads image

carousel

3

Cinemagraph

Doesn't load

anything

4

Cinemagraph

Galaxy exclusive

Loads Opt-in

Haptic feedback

5

Cinemagraph

Loads video

user-generated content

Starting with Room 2, there was a user-generated piece of content within every room. Below is the test flow which I worked on the tech team with.

1

Content opened

5

Take picture

2

Choose picture or take new 

6

Double exposure overlaid

3

Android prompt - camera/docs

7

Edit - fade

4

Android prompt - allow cam

8

Share 

microinteractions & transitions

The UX of this experience was created to be very light and simple. Due to this simplicity in design, there was a lot of emphasis on filling up the simple micro-moments with useful and delightful transition states.

Room #8   album drop

On 27th January, Rihanna's album 'ANTI' was released exclusively on TIDAL for 24 hours. We worked with TIDAL to enable Samsung Galaxy owners to receieve free copies of ANTI through the AntidiaRy experience.

LEARNINGS

/     No matter what you make, the audience will make it their own and your experience needs to allow for that personal touch.

/     Rihanna’s fans, called the NAVY were absolutely enthralled by the experience and found every digital and physical clue we had left for them.

       They even hacked the source code, where we had left a few cryptic clues.

THE IMPACT

ANTIdiaRy created a huge social media frenzy and worldwide speculation around when Rihanna’s album would drop. The digital experience drove 13 million streams and 1.4 million downloads of Rihanna's album 'ANTI' upon launch in under 14 hours, making ANTI the fastest album to go platinum in history! 

Team Antidiary

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