Beyond the Wall
Overview
Beyond the Wall is an immersive VR installation created as part of the marketing campaign for the final season of Game of Thrones. The experience brings fans into a chilling journey north of the Wall. I led the UX and UI design on this fast-paced project, keeping the interface invisible unless needed so users stayed fully immersed. My work focused on onboarding, coach marks and subtle interaction cues that supported the experience without breaking the narrative.
Challenge Context
The project was delivered under a tight timeline and required UX that felt completely natural within VR. The challenge was to integrate guidance and onboarding without introducing visible UI that could disrupt immersion. Environmental cues and timing had to be carefully tuned to help users navigate the experience intuitively while managing hardware constraints and motion considerations.
Design Approach
I studied how first time VR users react under pressure and used those insights to design flows that gently taught weapon handling and spatial awareness without breaking immersion. The work required constant tradeoffs to keep interactions simple, intuitive and invisible wherever possible. Close collaboration with art, engineering and experiential teams ensured every cue felt natural in the world, technically feasible and aligned with the pacing of the experience.
Deliverables
The work included research into VR user behaviour, along with interactive prototypes showing how guidance should appear subtly and consistently throughout the experience. I also collaborated closely with an animator to shape the gesture animations, such as how the player’s hand holds and moves the sword, ensuring each motion felt intuitive and fully integrated into the immersive world.
Outcomes
The installation launched successfully and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program, and received a nomination at the LBB Awards 2019 for Best Interactive VR Experience. The seamless UX allowed players to remain fully immersed, creating a memorable experience that strengthened the Game of Thrones brand and Framestore’s experiential portfolio.
Key Learnings
This project reinforced the importance of designing guidance that disappears into the environment and of aligning UX closely with narrative timing and physical constraints. My previous experience working on VR projects at Felix & Paul helped me anticipate how UX and UI can support immersion without disrupting it, and strengthened my ability to deliver intuitive interactions in short-cycle, high-pressure immersive productions.