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.
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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