Abstract
As technology continues to evolve and become increasingly integrated into daily life,
new opportunities emerge for digitised wellness initiatives. Studies that have explored
immersive technologies as therapeutic tools offer limited insight into the design,
development and application of these VR systems. Consequently, frameworks
capable of informing and evaluating UI design for immersive platforms, specifically
from a digital or graphic design-led perspective, remain under-researched.
This study addresses this gap by investigating whether the SIDE Framework, a
semiotic evaluation tool for web-based interface design, could be applied to enhance
usability and user experience of a VR product. To approach this application, the
Framework was extended to address the semiotic complexities of immersive platforms
and incorporate wellness considerations through the proposed Ergonomic and
Affirmative levels. Conducting this research in South Africa also contributed to
addressing a geographical research gap.
User-testing employed a comparative analysis across Desktop and VR users, where
both groups interacted with the same interface design, either on desktop or within a
VR environment. As the Framework was originally developed for web-based contexts,
feedback from Desktop users served as a baseline for evaluating its effectiveness in
informing a VR product. A mixed-method questionnaire collected insights on usability
and flourishing (positive experiences), with results indicating similar scores across
both testing groups.
Findings reflect the SIDE Framework’s ability to inform VR interface design, as well as
its potential in supporting wellness-orientated interfaces. However, it is recommended
that this study’s proposed extensions be further developed to the same extent as the
original Framework, and their value further investigated.