mgm nexus

mgm resorts international

The objective of this project was to research and develop concepts that would help push MGM as a brand along with its affiliates to authentically participate in emerging digital worlds and marketplaces.

opportunity

How might we design opportunistic innovations that are centered around bridging MGM’s physical spaces with futuristic virtual spaces in the Metaverse?

solution

MGM Nexus is an all encompassing ecosystem that bridges physical and digital spaces, bringing new audiences from across the old to all that MGM has to offer.

Outcome

MGM Nexus was presented through proofs of concept that presented the integration of live concert experiences in a simultaneous VR space in addition to an extended opportunity for learning gaming principles in a risk-free VR space.

My roles

Project Lead and UX Research and Strategy Lead

I led an interdisciplinary team of 17 designers and facilitated ideation and concepting sessions for solution development. I composed content for client communications and concept pitches. As UX Research Lead, I structured secondary research information, collated trend reports and identified opportunity areas for concepting. I designed implementable primary research methods including surveys, interviews and concept testing based on the results of the ideation, and also handled managerial responsibilities within the Research Team. From the research synthesis, I generated a framework for solution placement within the MGM ecosystem.

Research Insights

Research was separated under two overarching narratives – first, to understand the audience group comprising of Gen Y, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, with a larger focus on Gen Z. This audience study understood their patterns from the purview of MGM’s offerings. The second area focused on understanding the audience’s perceptions and potential acceptability of the four large concept areas.

The findings of the study indicated a generational incline towards inexpensive, immersive reality content that is readily available to the users, possibly in a remote manner. MGM’s key areas of gaming and entertainment were used as key narrative points, eliciting audience responses including a fear of adoptability due to perceived financial loss and embarrassment stemming from being unaware of game rules and regulations.

Key Research Findings

1/2

Strategy Framework

For the proposed solution areas to exist within the MGM ecosystem, a framework was formulated to encapsulate the ideal user’s entry points into MGM’s network. The framework highlighted different areas of entry that catered to different levels of exposure to the offerings amongst all potential audiences, both current and future.

The cyclical nature of the framework accounts for MGM’s innovation, development, and evolution through the years. The system comprises of conceptual awareness of MGM’s expanse of features and offerings – for instance, knowing the existence of gaming and live performances – followed by the discovery of these offerings either in-person in one of the many properties of MGM at Las Vegas or online, in the different virtual avenues falling under MGM’s digital portfolio. Both these options provide the user with enhanced engagement that are likely to hold their interest due to the constant evolution of features, resulting in advocacy for the brand amongst peers and future generations.

Solution

MGM Nexus

A central virtual hub hosting an array of MGM’s offerings, spanning the bridge between the physical and virtual realm. This is the central “nexus” from where each user can access different experiences to see first-hand all that they could potentially view in Las Vegas.

MGM Live

Live performances and experiences, as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic have begun taking by storm, different immersive and virtual reality platforms. Getting well ahead of this wave, MGM Live provides the user a plethora of opportunities both in the virtual and physical arenas of live concert performances. The concept provides an immersive interaction that seamlessly integrates the physical and virtual experiences, building a unique story for each attendee.

MGM night

To provide the future generations a gateway to MGM’s offerings, MGM Night explores risk-free gaming to facilitate a space for conceptual understanding of different games. This helps address the fear of the unknown as well as the potential resultant financial loss.

Measuring impact

The two solution areas were tested with different audience groups to better understand the areas for improvement. A proof of concept was developed through demonstrations that simulated the proposals in Extended Reality mediums, specifically to outline the real-time multi-modal nature of the solutions. The demonstrations revealed further opportunity spaces for expanding the solutions into a larger virtual system that would integrate into real-life on-site experiences.

This project is protected by an NDA. Please reach out if you'd like to know more about MGM Nexus!