Slidely VR Gallery
As VR platforms emerged, we saw an opportunity: what if photo sharing could go beyond the flat grid? Slidely VR explored how spatial design could turn personal content into immersive storytelling and unlock new ways for users to curate, express, and connect.
Framing the opportunity
In 2016, companies began recognizing VR’s potential to capture attention and inspire deeper engagement. Even more the consumer adoption report showed that 71% of consumers agree that a brand that sponsors VR is forward-thinking and modern.
As Slidely's successful core business was creating slideshows and collections from photos, our goals for this side project were to recapture this magic in the VR world and let people experience moments as if they were there as well as to create a platform for innovation and deeper engagement.
I led the design and UX work to make this project happen within a few months allocated before starting Promo.com mobile app. Working directly with the CEO had its certain benefits as having continuous feedback on how to shape the product as well as sharing his vision and inspiration.
“...how might we reimagine photo sharing as an immersive gallery experience”
Research & project constraints
Spending dozens of hours researching Daydream apps and experiences, gave me an understanding of what are the best practices when designing and creating interactions, thanks to having constant access to VR headset.
Since designing for VR was different from the other products I had crafted before, the challenging part was to switch to 3D mindset. Due to a lack of experience with the simulation tools, I had to translate 2D layouts to the 3D space.
Fortunately, I collaborated with a talented engineer who was already exploring Unity and VR in his own time. We used some models from the asset store as environment bases fine-tuning them and created all the interfaces from the ground up.
“Designing for VR meant unlearning 2D thinking and embracing spatial UX from the ground up.”
Picking up photos & navigation
I wanted to make the flow as easy and familiar to people as possible though still immersive from the first seconds. Once the users choose their photos from the device, they are teleported into the first exhibition space.
As you are free to look 360° around, I wanted to avoid having the UI elements everywhere and make the Viewing zone the most comfortable. To reduce visual clutter, I placed core controls beneath the user’s gaze—visible simply by looking down.
Teleportation around the space is implemented by the conventional click. You can push “Next” to quickly hop into the next exhibition space, “Home” for returning to the photo picking or move forward to Share screen.
Sharing the scene on socials
After you’re done exploring the galleries, you can share an immersive view with your photos and surroundings with the rest of the world. Slidely VR will create a high-resolution social panorama, perfect for your Facebook timeline.
This can be ideal for keeping event memories in one place and give viewers the impression that they are actually there with you which improves their viewing experience while making it cozy.
In order to view these kinds of 360 panoramas on Facebook web or mobile, users can select the photo and look around the image by clicking and dragging around.
Early insights from the field
Once we had the prototype, we were fortunate enough to validate it by involving people without any extensive VR experience, as well as VR experts to participate in our user testings to get their impressions on comfort zones, navigations and other interactions.
From our observations and participants feedback, we learned that sound, vision and movement are all very important for building the immersive and engaging experience; onboarding the new user is even more critical in VR as it’s easier to get lost and distracted there; prototyping in 2D can not be applied to 3D products.
Learnings & Impact
Slidely VR Gallery extended the core product into immersive media, both as a creative experiment and a new user entry point. As a standalone Daydream experience, it aimed to boost engagement through emotional, spatial photo experiences.
After launch, we received strong positive feedback highlighting ease of use and the emotional resonance of viewing memories in VR. For the business, it opened up new ideas around brand storytelling, immersive content sharing, and converting curiosity into platform engagement.
Personally, it stretched my design thinking beyond flat screens, refining how I approach spatial UX, comfort zones, and immersive storytelling. It also deepened my ability to prototype and collaborate quickly in emerging tech spaces.
I’d love to build something great with you, say hi.