meow wolf [2023]
Meow Wolf has created its own unique universe, blending art and performance with a complex, interconnected narrative that runs through each exhibition.
Each exhibit is designed to appear familiar, only to defy expectations as visitors explore deeper. For instance, Omega Mart (Vegas) is presented as a typical supermarket, but it’s only when you closely examine the products on the shelves (which are individual art pieces) that you realize things aren’t what they seem.
At the core of the Meow Wolf experience is the opportunity for visitors to engage with art and narratives filled with characters and intricate lore woven throughout the exhibit.
Meow Wolf required support in refining and implementing their numerous ideas into a mobile experience.
To gain deeper insights, we traveled to the U.S. for an intensive week-long visit, exploring two of their four locations in Denver and Las Vegas. There, we engaged with staff and visitors to better understand their experiences.
mission statement
Working with Meow Wolf’s artist-led team meant moving beyond traditional wireframes towards rapid, high-fidelity visual concepts. Inspired by the Las Vegas and Denver exhibitions, we explored vaporwave, retro-digital and sci-fi aesthetics to create an experience that felt familiar yet unexpected, pushing interactions while capturing Meow Wolf’s subversive spirit.
Below are a few of the early visual explorations I produced.
Exploration for a radio applet , playing Meow Wolf related music and sounds. Users would be able to unlock new audio by discovering frequencies around each exhibit. Several early ideas we explored for applets on the MeOw-S.
One of the first applets we settled on was the Gyre. A video based piece found at Convergence Station.
Gyre is presented in exhibition as an intercom for an apartment/tenement building for 2,306,490,360,608 “unlisted residents” and 29 who are listed in the intercom directory.
Using the intercom with the correct directory code ‘connects’ you to one of the residents where you can then take a peek into their world.
We wanted to mimic Gyre’s interactivity and visual style as closely as we could on mobile. Therefore we created a skeuomorphic representation of the intercom and replicated the display into the mobile UX to serve the same video content to the app’s users.
We also collaborated with the Meow Wolf team using Bluetooth beacons that connected the art and world to the app.
Both teams collaborated closely to seamlessly integrate the app’s smart functionality with Meow Wolf’s artistic vision and concepts.
Together, we developed the Psychic Sensor. As visitors explore the space, they receive discovery tips on how to interact, along with backstory about characters and world-building lore, creating a more immersive, visitor-driven experience.
Another immediate success we felt we could help rectify was the ticketing system. We witnessed first hand during our visit some of the issues users faced on entry, particularly for larger group bookings.
However, the introduction of the mobile app provided a much-needed solution. The app allowed visitors to easily access and share (group bookings) their tickets, bypassing the need for physical tickets or manual check-ins. It streamlined the experience by offering quick entry, real-time updates, and helpful navigation features, ultimately improving the overall visitor experience and reducing the stress caused by the ticketing challenges.
The Hard Parts
The decisions, constraints and trade-offs behind the final experience.
01
There were too many good ideas
Turning creative ambition into product
Meow Wolf had no shortage of ideas. The challenge was finding a clear product direction amongst them. We used research and journey mapping to identify where mobile could genuinely improve the visitor experience, then created a shared vision that gave the team a framework for deciding what belonged in the app and what didn’t.
02
Useful couldn’t mean ordinary
Balancing utility with wonder
Visitors needed practical things like tickets, navigation and information, but a conventional utility app would have felt completely disconnected from Meow Wolf. I worked to make essential journeys intuitive and familiar, while using the surrounding interactions, motion and visual language to make the experience feel unmistakably part of their universe.
03
Our usual design process didn’t work
Adapting to the people in the room
Traditional wireframes struggled to communicate effectively with an artist-led team who thought visually and experientially. I shifted towards rapid, high-fidelity concepts much earlier than usual, giving everyone something tangible to react to while still leaving enough flexibility to explore radically different directions.
04
The phone had to connect to the exhibition
Designing beyond the screen
The most interesting opportunity wasn’t simply putting exhibition content into an app. Working across both teams, we explored Bluetooth beacons and created experiences like Psychic Sensor, allowing the physical environment to trigger discoveries, hints and narrative content as visitors moved through the space.
Outcome
01
Created a connected mobile experience that supported visitors before, during and after their Meow Wolf visit.
02
Simplified ticket access and sharing, reducing friction for individuals and larger group bookings.
03
Extended Meow Wolf’s storytelling beyond the exhibits through interactive applets, location-aware discoveries and digital lore.
