Speculative Design for the Metaverse: Anti-Experiences in Virtual Retail

Abstract

Retail experiences in the Metaverse are becoming increasingly popular, driven by a business model that relies on brand engagement and user-generated virtual worlds (UGVWs). While much attention has been given to ideal design patterns for enhancing user engagement, there is a need for a critical examination of pain points that negatively impact their virtual product experiences. This study introduces anti-experiences as a methodological contribution, using speculative design to deliberately explore undesirable design elements and highlight engagement barriers in these virtual product experiences. Through group co-design and storyboarding, we conducted workshops with 30 participants using the Roblox platform as a case study, including XR designers, physical-world designers, and non-users of the Metaverse. Through this process, participants identified three key pain points: (1) missing diegetic elements, (2) fragmented social interactions, and (3) navigational ambiguity. By developing anti-design storyboards, participants critically examined how these pain points affect user engagement and satisfaction, uncovering potential risks and limitations of current Metaverse retail experiences. From these findings, we propose three key design insights to enhance virtual shopping environments: (1) Introducing play and balancing risk, (2) Shopping together between realities, (3) Orchestrating sensory richness and subtlety. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.