AdapTest helps design responsive XR interfaces for real environments

AdapTest: Supporting Designers in Authoring and Evaluating Environmentally Responsive User Interfaces for Extended Reality

Human-Computer Interaction

Summary

Designing user interfaces for XR (extended reality) headsets is tricky because these interfaces appear in the real world where lighting, distance, and objects around can change how they look. The authors created AdapTest, a tool that lets designers easily create and test different interface versions that adjust to these changing environmental conditions without needing to code. This tool helps designers see and compare their designs inside the actual XR environment, improving how interfaces respond to real-world factors. A study found that using AdapTest led designers to consider more environmental factors and test their designs more thoroughly.

What this means in practice

Authors

Jungwoo Rhee, Guhn Lee, Yumin Jung, Mustafa Doga Dogan, Justin Moon, Andrea Bianchi

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) headsets increasingly host familiar 2D user interfaces as windows floating in physical environments. However, their usability depends on environmental conditions that designers cannot fully control. Current design workflows often separate how a variant is designed from how it actually looks in the target environment. We present AdapTest, an in-situ authoring and testing tool that lets designers select interface elements, define when and how they change, compare the resulting variations, and test their activation without coding. Based on prior research and a formative study with 12 interface designers, the system targets three key environmental variables: distance, lighting, and occlusion. We evaluated AdapTest against a desktop design and in-headset preview workflow in a within-subjects study with 12 designers. Compared with the baseline, designers accounted for a wider range of environmental factors, addressed more overlapping conditions, and repeatedly tested and revised their designs in place; there were no significant differences in workload or usability despite longer sessions. Our work contributes an integrated, designer-centered approach to adapting, comparing, and validating environmentally responsive XR user interfaces.
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