Design Suggestions for Digital Workflow Oriented Desktop VR Spaces

Abstract

This paper presents an examination of design prin- ciples for 3D Virtual Reality (VR) environments, with a focus on enhancing digital workflows. Employing objective data, the study sets out to clarify the primary design considerations for crafting effective 3D VR spaces. Through empirical research, the authors conducted comparative analyses of task performance within both classical 2D Windows and in 3D VR environmental contexts, exploring users’ perceived difficulty levels alongside eye-tracking data. The findings reveal that, although 3D VR environments rich in distracting elements and demanding high navigational effort increase perceived task difficulty, these factors do not negatively impact overall performance or task completion time. Interestingly, eye-fixation duration results indicate that visual fixation in 3D VR falls within expected norms, whereas in 2D scenarios, fixation rates are significantly higher, more than doubling those observed in 3D settings. Drawing on these insights, the paper supports the design of 3D VR spaces that are simpler and intuitive, necessitating minimal navigation, thereby optimizing task performance efficiency.