Roberto Coviello ᯅ

There is no excuse for insufficient testing and feedback. Testing is a core part of your job as XR developer, this includes testing in the Editor with the computers runtime but also testing on the actual device's runtime. With tools like Meta's App Lab, we have the possibility to easily deploy our build to release channels, which we can use to test our application very early on in our development process with a selected group of testers and gather valuable feedback.

I found that performance optimization is more than just a check at the end of your development process, it is rather a continuous process from start to finish. It includes your project and scene setup, your code practices, your selection of materials, textures and models, continuous testing and more. A basic knowledge of rendering, shaders and 3D modelling combined with a strong and clean coding practice will take you very far, especially with today's improved and specialized hardware.

In my experience UI/UX is always a major topic of discussion. There is no right or wrong, but there is certainly better UI/UX and worse ones. What I would recommend is to generally follow the UI/UX principles that the operating system the app runs on uses. There is nothing worse than wasting tons of time during development trying to re-invent the wheel and then having users guessing how to use parts of your app. Keep it simple and follow common patterns, so the experience is as seamless as possible for the user, from starting the device, over navigating the system menu, to starting and using your application!

Generally, what I am trying to do is to closely follow the design language of the operating system the application is running on. E.g., if your app is targeted towards Meta Quest devices, it can help to either use Meta's samples or create design elements yourself that e.g. closely resemble the UI of the general Meta Quest menu interface. This will help to create consistency across apps and not introduce new confusing elements to users. Furthermore, it will save developers and ultimately the client valuable time by not having to reinvent the wheel.

Let's not overcomplicate this topic. Yes, UX is highly complex and a lot of thought should be put into it but that is one reason why certain operating systems, e.g. visionOS, handle a lot of the experience of their apps already. This is to create concistency across all apps and to keep it simple to reach an as wide audience as possible, but also to make it easier for us developers to reach a wider audience and make VR development more cost-effective, by not having to re-invent the wheel. Different apps surely can have different types of interactions, though you should generally stick to what people are comfortable with and used to. Don't make people learn new interactions that are drastically different to what they normally use!

In this context VR development is not different to other development professions. There are always many unknows that make it difficult to prioritize tasks and manage your time effectively. One way I found that helps me approach more complex projects, is to break them down into smaller blocks. Think of it as small stones in a jar. Once those are defined and set, you are able to fill the rest of the jar with sand, which represents all your other tasks. This allows you to still fill in urgent tasks, while picking up any of your blocks as soon as you got some time again.