V-XR was developed without an existing UX foundation. As the first UX/UI Designer at VirTra, there were no established patterns, design systems, or precedents to build from.
The product also required a neutral design language. Labels, visual cues, and branching decisions needed to remain adaptable across regions and training contexts, without prescribing interpretation.
Finally, V-XR required designing two tightly connected experiences: an instructor tablet interface and a trainee VR headset, where actions taken in one environment directly affected the other in real time.
How the design approach, took shape.
Design for the system
Decisions were made at the system level first, ensuring consistency across features, screens, and future additions.
Built with contraints in mind
Design choices accounted for technical realities, release cadence, and real-world usage, not idealized scenarios.
Optimize for real users
Interfaces were evaluated based on clarity, responsiveness, and ease of use during live training sessions.
Flow over screens & devices
The tablet and VR interfaces were designed as one continuous experience, not two separate products.
With the constraints clearly defined, the focus shifted to creating an approach that could support long-term growth without slowing active development. Rather than chasing visual polish early, I prioritized clarity, consistency, and systems that could scale alongside the product.
The work started by aligning closely with engineering and product stakeholders to understand technical realities, release timelines, and where flexibility was required. Design decisions were made with implementation in mind, favoring patterns that could be reused, extended, and adapted as the platform evolved.
Throughout the project, every design decision was evaluated through a simple lens: would this hold up in real training environments? If an interaction added friction, ambiguity, or unnecessary cognitive load, it was reconsidered. The goal wasn’t to impress visually, but to create an interface that instructors could trust during live sessions and that trainees could navigate intuitively inside virtual scenarios.
By treating the tablet and VR experiences as parts of a single system, the design work stayed focused on flow rather than screens. Each interaction was designed to support awareness, control, and continuity, ensuring that what happened in one interface was clearly reflected in the other.
This approach allowed the product to move forward with confidence, balancing speed of development with thoughtful, intentional design decisions.
Key Workflows
Instructor Workflow
The tablet experience was designed as the command center for live training sessions. Instructors need to monitor multiple trainees, trigger scenario changes, and respond in real time without losing situational awareness. The interface prioritizes clarity, hierarchy, and speed, ensuring critical controls are always within reach.
Trainee Workflow
Inside the headset, trainees experience scenarios that respond directly to instructor input. Visual cues, feedback, and interactions were designed to feel intuitive and grounded, allowing trainees to stay focused on the scenario rather than the interface itself.
V-XR became the foundation for a new way of working at VirTra. Beyond delivering a functional XR training platform, the project introduced a shared design language, clearer collaboration across teams, and a scalable system that could support future development.
For me, this work reinforced the value of designing with restraint. Building systems before polish, prioritizing clarity under pressure, and making decisions that hold up in real-world use. Designing across tablet and virtual reality also pushed me to think beyond screens, focusing instead on flow, context, and continuity across experiences.
Most importantly, the success of V-XR validated the impact of thoughtful UX within complex, high-stakes environments, and set the stage for how design would continue to shape the product moving forward.
Next projects.
(2018-25©)