Meow Wolf
Meow Wolf is an arts & entertainment company that creates immersive, multimedia experiences that transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms. They approached Fueled to create an app that would expand the Meow Wolf universe beyond their physical exhibitions and also serve as a hub for ticket sales.
EXPANDING THE MEOW WOLF UNIVERSE
Meow Wolf is a team of artists, graphic designers, technologists, writers, fabricators, painters, sculptors, and musicians that together design maximalist, audience-driven exhibitions that dazzle visitors with complex narratives, sights and sounds.
The team's original vision for the app was focused on keeping users engaged after they leave an exhibition. But after copious research and user testing, that vision expanded to include features and functionality that would help ground and guide the on-site experience.
The Challenge
Central to the Meow Wolf experience has always been that visitors can interact with art and narratives rich with characters and lore woven in throughout the exhibit.
Over time it was discovered that some guests had trouble making sense of it all, frequently pausing to explore notes on an in-exhibition computer or other methods, which created choke points throughout the exhibits.
Fueled's Approach and Strategy
The new app had to offer some guidance during the exhibit for visitors that needed it. Close collaboration between Fueled's creative team and Meow Wolf's content and development teams was pivotal to achieving this.
The project required a process that was fluid to support continuous adaptations throughout the app's design and development lifecycle. Translating Meow Wolf's artistic language into actionable app requirements was key.
Fueled also provided the Meow Wolf team with training on utilizing Bluetooth beacons that interacted with the app, and offered guidance around mobile best practices,capabilities and distribution.
Ultimately, both teams had to work closely together to learn how to effectively fuse smart app functionality with Meow Wolf's vision and art.
The Solution
Fueled designed and developed an app that improved the in-exhibit experience by helping visitors get a more focused story experience, while not taking away the magic of the space.
This unique vision is best exemplified by the Psychic Sensor feature.
Feature Spotlight
Psychic Sensor
As visitors walk around space they are given discovery tips on how to interact, plus backstory about the characters and world-building lore that allows for a more visitor-driven experience.
Ticketing
An applet displays Meow Wolf's ticketing website in a webview with a light Flutter wrapper. Once a ticket has been purchased, the app displays a confirmation that was custom built by Fueled using ticketing API data.
Fueled also developed the functionality to display tickets for upcoming events and scanning tickets for entry in-exhibit.
What We Delivered
Strategy
User Research & Testing
Location Based Experience, facilitated by Bluetooth Beacons
Client Education and Training
Design
Brought their storyboards to life in design
Engineering
Flutter Mobile App Development
Framework to support Flutter-based and web-based mini apps
In Conclusion
The new Meow Wolf app is another portal into their unique vision, kaleidoscope art, and exhibitions. It's a product born out of passion for technology and art, plus the close partnership between the Fueled and Meow Wolf teams.
The app deepens and enhances the already immersive, unique experience of their exhibitions. Think of it as a new world to get lost in.
