Close To Me

Originally designed to support the Huyou Beauty Contest, this project evolved into a broader exploration of how digital platforms can enhance talent competitions. While traditional competitions offer structured performances, they often lack real-time interaction, limiting audience engagement beyond passive viewing and simple voting.

To address this, we propose a metaverse-inspired social media app that transforms talent competitions into an interactive experience. By integrating real-time engagement, exclusive content, and monetization opportunities, the platform aims to strengthen audience-contestant connections and modernize competition formats for the digital era.

To redefine audience engagement and contestant experience in talent competitions, this project addresses key challenges through a metaverse-inspired social platform. The following sections outline the core problem, mission, and design goals guiding this initiative.

Survey

To better understand the engagement dynamics of talent competitions, we conducted research on both contestants’ and audiences’ experiences.

Key Insights:
Both audiences (35%) and contestants (40%) prioritize real-time interaction, indicating a need for live engagement. 50% of the audience and 25% of contestants are open to financial support, suggesting virtual gifting opportunities. Contestants (35%) struggle for attention, while 30% of the audience seeks exclusive content, pointing to behind-the-scenes access. 40% of contestants and 50% of the audience are open to digital monetization, but need education on these features.

Design Strategy:
The design strategy focuses on real-time interaction, virtual gifting, and exclusive content. It aims to improve engagement by offering live features, enabling financial support for contestants, and providing behind-the-scenes access. Additionally, educating users on digital monetization options like NFTs will enhance the overall experience for both contestants and audiences.

Personas & Pain Points

The research was synthesized into two connected personas. Their needs exposed four priority areas: live interaction, contestant discoverability, exclusive content, and understandable forms of digital support.

Industry Context

The growth of virtual worlds, augmented experiences, and creator economies was changing what audiences expected from entertainment. This created an opportunity for talent competitions to extend participation beyond a single broadcast.

Competitive Analysis

Twitch, Patreon, and StageIt demonstrated the value of live interaction and creator support, but none centered the structured journey of a talent competition. Close To Me could differentiate through competition-specific participation, progression, and rewards.

During the ideation phase, user flows were developed to outline key interactions for both the audience and contestants. These diagrams illustrate the app’s structure, highlighting critical touchpoints and ensuring an intuitive and engaging experience. They serve as a foundation to map each group’s journey, helping refine functionality and user engagement.

Below are the user flow diagrams for both the audience (left) and contestants (right), detailing their respective interactions within the app.

To bring a fresh perspective to talent competitions, the “Close to Me” project leverages the metaverse to enhance audience and contestant interactions.

The metaverse offers a new frontier for talent competitions, allowing for more immersive, interactive, and dynamic experiences. It bridges the gap between digital and physical spaces, creating opportunities for deeper engagement, global reach, and innovative monetization. By tapping into this technology, talent competitions can elevate both contestant and audience experiences in ways traditional formats cannot.

The first phase focuses on promoting the talent competition through an engaging AR poster campaign. Users can scan the poster to experience a personalized AR preview of the contestants, sparking interest and encouraging app downloads. This phase aims to generate excitement and drive initial engagement, setting the stage for the deeper interactions in the next phase of the competition.

During the process, we conducted prototypes and user testing for the "Close To Me" app. Challenges arose during the process due to the project's dual focus on both contestants and the audience. While testing was primarily conducted with the audience, real contestants were not available for participation. To address this obstacle, I successfully collaborated with my undergraduate school's student union. They assisted in reaching out to contestants from their previous campus talent competitions for user testing, effectively overcoming this limitation.

Here is the Final Design of "Close To Me":

Leveraging Motion Capture and AI-driven voice responses, the app brings contestants’ daily routines to life within the metaverse. This advanced technology enables real-time interaction between contestants and the audience, creating a more immersive and dynamic experience. By bridging the physical and digital worlds, the app enhances engagement and fosters a deeper, more personal connection, allowing users to interact with contestants in ways that traditional formats can’t offer.

Testing the Audience Experience

Ten technology-comfortable participants aged 18–35 tested discovery, AR entry, contestant routines, calls, and shared activities. The study focused on navigation, comprehension, and whether interactive features still felt connected to the competition.

Testing the Contestant Experience

Ten aspiring performers aged 18–30 evaluated avatar creation, schedules, content publishing, and audience communication. Working with a university student union helped recruit participants with direct talent-competition experience.

The iterative process was crucial in refining the design based on user feedback and testing, allowing for continuous improvements in both functionality and user experience. By focusing on real user needs, we were able to enhance the interface and ensure it was intuitive and engaging, ultimately shaping a more polished and user-friendly product.

A key challenge was to keep users engaged with the app’s features without losing focus on the competition. To address this, a notification feature was added, sending timely reminders about key moments and voting opportunities to ensure users stay focused while interacting.

Launch of Close to Me, a Metaverse-inspired social media app with dual users: contestants and audience.

For contestants

The contestants can customize their avatars, manage their schedules by choosing time and location for events, and utilize motion capture and AI technology to precisely document their daily activities. They also can communicate through messaging and edit their profiles as well.

For audience

The audience can select a contestant and potentially invite others to join them in spending time with her. The contestant's daily routine is displayed, including scheduled calls with the audience. The audience can participate in various activities with the contestant, such as practicing dancing in the provided video. The app also features messaging functionality and user profiles.