NeuARtistry

Revolutionizing the tire buying experience

Project Name: NeuARtistry
Type: Augmented Reality (AR) Mobile Application
Industry: Automotive / Tire Retail
Target Users: Customers looking to purchase aesthetically appealing tires for their vehicles

Overview

NeuARtistry is an innovative mobile application designed to enhance the tire-shopping experience by leveraging augmented reality (AR). The app allows customers to visualize how different tires will look on their personal vehicles using LiDAR and their smartphone camera. By integrating real-time 3D modeling, NeuARtistry helps users make informed aesthetic decisions when selecting new tires, ensuring a seamless and engaging purchasing journey.

UX Designer: Ideation, Wireframing, Prototyping, Design System
Front-End Developer: SwiftUI

Role

Tools

Pen & Paper, Miro, Figma, Xcode

Year | Scope

2023 | 7 months

Goals

Enhance Customer Experience:
- Provide an intuitive and interactive AR-based visualization tool for tire selection.
- Reduce uncertainty in purchasing decisions by offering a realistic preview of different tire designs on users’ vehicles.
Increase Sales & Customer Engagement:

Improve customer confidence, leading to higher conversion rates in tire sales.
Encourage user interaction and longer engagement times with the app, driving brand loyalty.

Leverage Advanced Technology:

Utilize LiDAR and AR technology to create highly accurate 3D renderings of tires on vehicles.
Ensure seamless integration with smartphone cameras for real-time visualization.

Support Tire Retailers & Brands:

Offer a competitive edge to tire retailers by providing a unique selling tool.
Allow retailers to showcase their full range of tire options in an engaging digital format.

Seamless User Experience & Accessibility:

Develop a user-friendly interface with simple navigation and intuitive controls.
Ensure compatibility with both iOS and Android devices.

Research

To ensure NeuARtistry aligned with customer needs, we consulted with various tire specialization companies to gather insights on how different types of buyers shop for tires and wheels. These discussions helped us understand customer preferences, decision-making factors, and the importance of aesthetic appeal in the purchasing process.

What we learned was:

80% of the time customers are coming in to buy tires, however they are only purchasing wheels 20% of the time.
Of those 20%, 10% are solely buying new wheels for their vehicle — i.e. most of the time wheels are purchased, it’s in conjunction with new tires.
From beginning to end, tire selection is usually the last consideration for users buying both wheels and tires.
Those trying to reach aesthetic goals for their car typically prioritize the rims/wheels of their car.
- Customers can typically put anything on the car when it comes to wheels, however it is important to watch for the wheel hitting the caliper.

Through this research, we identified four primary types of buyers:

Aesthetic Buyers: Customers who prioritize the visual appeal of their tires, such as Jeep owners, classic car enthusiasts, and those who want a specific look for their vehicle.
Newbie Buyers: Individuals purchasing tires and wheels for the first time who may not know where to start or what factors to consider.
Necessity Buyers: Those who need new tires due to wear and tear, safety concerns, or replacement requirements; this category can overlap with other buyer types.
Functionality/Recreation Buyers: Customers seeking specific performance attributes, such as off-roading capabilities, racing tires, or enhanced durability for specific driving conditions.

From here we created personas, created some empathy maps, and began to visualize the process in order to continue to better narrow down aspects of the app that would accommodate the different preferences.

Each persona captures key information including their primary pain points (e.g., lack of visual confidence, limited product knowledge, or performance concerns), driving and buying habits (e.g., frequency of driving, shopping online vs. in-store, reliance on reviews), and overall goals (e.g., achieving a specific aesthetic, improving safety, or enhancing vehicle performance).

Personas

These maps summarize what each type of user might be thinking, feeling, saying, and doing during their tire shopping journey. For example, aesthetic buyers might be thinking about how tires reflect their personal style, feeling excited but uncertain, saying things like "I just want it to look good," and browsing enthusiast car forums. Newbie buyers might feel overwhelmed and say "I have no idea what I'm doing," while researching basic guides. Necessity buyers could be thinking pragmatically, saying "I just need something safe and reliable," and booking appointments at the nearest shop. Functionality buyers are often thinking about performance outcomes, saying things like "I need tires that can handle rough terrain," and comparing specs across brands. These empathy maps help ensure our design decisions address not just what users do, but why they do it.

Empathy Maps

Diagrams & LoFi Designs

We began the design process with an app flow diagram, low-fidelity sketches, and wireframes to quickly explore layout possibilities and user flows before committing to high-fidelity visuals. These early designs allowed us to focus on user needs and task efficiency without being distracted by stylistic details. Each screen was crafted to solve specific pain points identified in our user research.

Our personas and research heavily influenced the structure of these wireframes. For example, the onboarding experience was simplified with visual cues and minimal technical jargon to support newbie buyers who are often overwhelmed by the tire-buying process. The AR try-on tool was featured prominently on the home screen, catering to aesthetic buyers who want instant visual feedback. Functionality buyers and necessity buyers were taken into account by incorporating performance filters and quick-access to tire specs and comparison tools.

User flow mapping directly influenced layout decisions—such as placing tire filters (brand, size, style) adjacent to the AR viewer to support rapid iteration and reduce navigation friction. These sketches and wireframes served as the foundation for subsequent visual refinement.

HiFi Designs

Building on the foundation of our low-fidelity wireframes, we transitioned into high-fidelity designs to bring the NeuARtistry experience to life with full visual styling, interactions, and branding. These designs kept the key layout and flow decisions that emerged during the wireframing stage but added polish through typography, color, iconography, and UI components.

By aligning design decisions with user personas and their mapped behaviors, we ensured each flow felt personalized and intuitive. For instance, aesthetic buyers’ tendency to seek peer input initially led us to consider a social sharing feature, but this evolved into a streamlined system that prioritized individual exploration and decision-making. Instead of a comparison mode, we introduced easy access to favorited tires and wheels, allowing users to quickly revisit and evaluate the styles they liked most. Additionally, we implemented a history log of previously tried-on tires and wheels, ensuring users could revisit past options even if they forgot to favorite them. This change kept the experience focused and clutter-free, while still supporting user memory and exploration—especially helpful for newbie and aesthetic buyers who may try many options before deciding.

We also ensured that the interface reflected the aesthetic expectations of visually motivated users, using strong imagery, realistic tire renderings, and intuitive gesture-based controls within the AR experience. Clear calls to action and consistent navigation patterns were implemented across screens to create a seamless journey from visualization to purchase.

These high-fidelity designs became the blueprint for our SwiftUI front-end development and the basis for further usability testing, allowing us to gather feedback on visual clarity, ease of interaction, and overall satisfaction.

Tech Stack & Development Notes

As part of the NeuARtistry team, I contributed to the front-end implementation using SwiftUI, focusing on core UI layout and building out the structure and navigation defined in our high-fidelity designs. My work ensured that the visual and interactive components of the app matched our design intentions while remaining scalable for development.

While I wasn't directly involved in the ARKit or LiDAR integration, I collaborated closely with our development team to ensure that the interface supported these advanced features effectively. One key challenge was balancing UI responsiveness with the real-time AR rendering. The AR experience had to remain smooth and uninterrupted, even when layered with UI components like filters, menus, or AR controls. This meant being deliberate with layout spacing, button placement, and transitions—especially around the AR try-on view, which needed to feel both immersive and accessible.

Although NeuARtistry was initially designed for iOS due to the native LiDAR support and seamless ARKit integration, we discussed cross-platform considerations for the future. This included potential adaptations for Android devices (using platforms like ARCore) which would require revisiting some UI patterns and interaction models to ensure consistency and usability across devices.

Outcomes & Reflections

Although NeuARtistry never progressed into a full client project, the process offered valuable experience and growth for everyone involved. As a junior team comprised of both designers and developers still building their skills, we embraced the opportunity to learn collaboratively and adapt quickly. The project challenged us to translate complex technical capabilities—like AR and LiDAR—into a smooth and accessible user experience, even while working within our individual learning curves.

One of the greatest successes was our ability to leverage each team member’s unique strengths, from visual design and user research to prototyping and SwiftUI layout. Our collaborative approach allowed us to maintain alignment across disciplines and respond flexibly to new insights or technical constraints.

We learned a great deal about the importance of user-centered design—from the depth of persona creation and empathy mapping, to how those tools directly influenced our UI decisions. Even without launching the app publicly, our process demonstrated how thoughtful design and research can lay a solid foundation for future development.

If this project were to move forward, the next steps would involve usability testing of our high-fidelity prototype, validating key interactions, and optimizing performance for AR rendering. Exploring partnerships with tire retailers or automotive platforms could also open the door for real-world deployment.