Tiakina.
An immersive forest experience.
Designed in collaboration with Anna Young, Bailey Thompson and Daneilla Tunai.
Role
Team Lead, UX/UI Designer
Skills
Experience Design • Interaction Design • Spatial Storytelling • Visual Design • Concept Development
Duration
8 Weeks
Project Overview
Tiakina is an immersive installation concept exploring how interaction, motion and spatial storytelling could encourage deeper emotional engagement with environmental responsibility.
Design Inspiration & Cultural Foundation
Grounded in mātauranga Māori concepts of interconnectedness and kaitiakitanga, the experience explored how human presence can influence fragile ecosystems through sensory, participatory interaction. Rather than positioning visitors as passive observers, Tiakina encouraged audiences to become active participants within the environment itself.
Experience Design & Visitor Journey
Developed as a multi-sensory spatial experience, visitors moved through a sequence of evolving environments combining projection, motion, sound and environmental storytelling. As visitors interacted with the space, the forest gradually shifted from balance to disruption through fading birdsong, slowing motion and environmental deterioration.
Learning Through Consequences
The interaction design intentionally delayed cause-and-effect moments, allowing visitors to realise gradually that their own presence was contributing to the decline of the environment around them. The experience aimed to create reflection through emotional realisation rather than direct instruction.
The Story of the Moa
Inspired by the pūrākau The Moa and the Lesson of Loss, the installation used narrative sequencing and responsive environmental systems to communicate ideas of ecological interconnectedness, loss and collective responsibility.
Visual & Spatial Design System
The visual direction combined atmospheric lighting, immersive projection, motion systems and environmental graphics to create a cohesive world that felt contemplative, immersive and emotionally grounded. A physical installation, motion-led storytelling and digital campaign touchpoints were designed to work together as part of a unified experiential system.
Encouraging Reflection
Designed across physical, digital and environmental touchpoints, Tiakina explored how experiential storytelling can transform passive awareness into emotional understanding through participation, reflection and interaction.
