Usability and User Experience Evaluation of a Multiplatform House Design Pipeline: Navigating Web, VR, and Mobile AR Workflows

For decades, Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software has been central to planning and modeling in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC). More recently, the emergence of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies has transformed how users interact with 3D home designs, enabling innovative ways to create, visualize, and refine living spaces. Combining the usability of desktop applications with the immersive capabilities of AR and VR creates a streamlined multiplatform pipeline, though it also introduces challenges in evaluating usability and User Experience (UX) due to the diverse devices, interaction paradigms, and varying levels of user technological proficiency. This paper examines a multiplatform system that includes a web application for house design, a mobile AR application for on-site exterior visualization, as well as a VR application to explore and adjust life-size interiors. We discuss our process of iterative usability testing and collecting meaningful UX feedback in this context. Furthermore, we provide a high-level summary of the results from two user studies, highlighting participants' impression of the system and its components, as well as insights from the perspective of study administrators.