Modern architecture students often lack direct access to building sites for hands on learning. Traditional methods fail to provide a full sense of scale, spatial structure, or material richness. Our mission with KADOO was to bring the experience of physical exploration to students’ mobile devices, using AR to simulate real world architectural discovery. Through interviews with 12 architecture students across 3 universities, we discovered that 85% had never experienced buildings at scale due to travel constraints and safety regulations.

• Defined student and instructor personas based on field interviews and learning context.

• Mapped user journeys around 5 key scenarios: studying iconic buildings, virtual site tours, collaborative reviews, homework/quiz integration, and instructor content creation.

• Employed iterative, design-thinking methodology: rapid wireframes, user testing, and agile prototyping cycles.

• Developed a dark mode, User Interface to elevate the experience with cinematic polish and academic elegance.

• Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test → Refine

• Defined product vision and feature scope

• Led UX research: user interviews, personas, usability testing

• Created wireframes, user flows, and high fidelity UI in Figma

• Collaborated with developers to align AR behavior with learning needs

• Presented results to educators and advisors

• AR Model Viewer: Users place 3D architectural models in real space and walk around them, inspecting details and interacting with hotspots.

• Content Library: Sorted by era, region, and style. based on how architecture students organize their coursework.

• Instructor Dashboard: Enables lesson planning, AR annotations, and quiz creation.

• Annotation & Measurement Tools: Users can measure dimensions and add drawings directly onto models. Designed with HCI heuristics; kept labels persistent but non intrusive for in-model notes.

• Offline Support: Preload 3D content for use without internet.

‘‘ A 2nd year architecture student opens KADOO and selects the Hagia Sophia. Using AR, she places the model in her dorm room, walking around to study light and material. She zooms in on the dome, leaves an annotation, and later uses the saved view to complete her site analysis assignment.’’

• Onboarding: Cinematic intro, login, and topic personalization.

• Model Selection: Search or browse buildings; view building detail.

• AR Interaction: Place model, explore via gestures, tap for info.

• Annotation & Review: Draw, measure, and save views.

• Feedback Loop: Instructors review submissions, assign custom AR tasks.

• 25% increase in student retention during pilot semester.

• Recognized by educators as a "missing link" between textbook and field.

• Supported over 40 unique architectural models in the MVP.

• Increased quiz engagement by 40% with AR-integrated homework

• Piloted in 2 architecture courses at IAUC.

Note: Outcomes based on prototype testing and pilot simulations.