Role
UX Designer & Developer
Team
Project Manager,
Senior UX Design Mentor
Time
12 Weeks,
Launched August 2025
Skills
Usability Testing, Lean UX, Unreal Engine, Figma
Welcome to the Black Bottom
The Black Bottom Cabaret, named after a dance by the same name, is a fictional jazz club from the film, "The Big City."
While the original film was lost in a fire, our team was asked to bring the set to life through virtual reality, enabling university students to reconcile the 1920s production with its unprecedented cast of Black actors.
I developed a game to teach students the Black Bottom dance, bridging education and extended reality in an immersive dance class.
North Star
Engage students with the historical film.
The Problem Space
I began by benchmarking VR dance games such as "Just Dance VR" to define existing design patterns and opportunities for improvement.
A focus group indicated that a step-by-step tutorial would make it easier to follow the teacher through the dance performance.
From there, I made a preliminary prototype of the game flow with a tutorial video, as well as a points system and step indicator, modeled from popular dance games.
After testing the digital prototype, a participant shared this feedback:
"It was really fun, but I'm just a bad dancer."
As similar feedback shared across the study, I realized that participants were missing two key components.
l
No Confidence
(How well am I doing?}
ll
No Context
(What is the Black Bottom?)
Furthermore, participants emphasized how awkward the moves felt, and the tutorial became integral for them to follow along the dance at all. This game needed to adapt to the historical dance style, and that required a new approach.
Insight
This isn't a rote dance game; it's a dance class.
Issue l: Confidence
I swapped the step indicator for a menu screen, allowing players to review steps and proceed at their own pace.
With user feedback, the dance menu evolved into a concise set of buttons that illustrated the whole game flow.
While users comfortably navigated the tutorial, they still felt self-conscious of their dance skills. They needed a way to tell if they were doing the movements "correctly."
Previous testing showed that a point system felt irrelevant. Instead, I experimented with ways to visualize immediate feedback.
The feedback system evolved into a green ring that chimes when players move on beat. The shower of sparkles mixed with the positive sound created a wave of encouragement, leading players to say:
"Oh, that's satisfying."
Issue ll: Context
The last missing piece was a sense of presence. I added a slideshow with photographs to introduce the historical context of a film that players could digest at their own interest.
I augmented the space with visual, auditory, and haptic elements to increase immersion in the cabaret.
Outcome
The dance experience is now launched to a lab with 3000+ monthly visitors. Players rated the dance experience as highly enjoyable, and they indicated that they would recommend it to a friend. Furthermore, their laughter and comments showcased their joy.
"It was really well done, and I just had fun learning the dance and also the backstory."
"I love how immersive it was."
"I really like the UI . . . it's really straightforward."
"I feel like anyone can just step into it and try it out themselves."
Reflections
Although I began this project by diving into a digital prototype, I believe similar insights could've been achieved with a lower-fidelity mockup. In the future, I may employ more paper prototypes to conserve time on development and revisions.
In addition to digital interactions, there were physical interactions to consider. People with diverse hair textures had difficulty securing the headset over their head, and glasses frames and acne became an obstacle to work around. While there are some solutions to support these needs, it’s a reminder that VR has important physical constraints that affect the user experience.
Next Up
Helping region managers pinpoint billions of dollars in invasive species damage.
