SYSTEM OUTPUT
PROJECT // READY
CASE STUDY / CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY
CROM
From collecting objects to collecting identities.
A phygital product concept that turns physical trading cards into digital items for building, collecting and expressing identity across virtual experiences.
project
Master's Final Project — The Core School
TYPE
Co-founded Academic Project
ROLE
Product Strategy · UX/UI · Branding Prototyping · Digital Identity
YEAR
2025
duration
6 months
scope
Product Concept · UX Research · UX/UI Branding · Mixed Reality · Phygital Experience
team
4 people
status
Academic prototype completed & presented
Context
Digital identity is still fragmented.
People build different versions of themselves across games, social platforms and virtual worlds.
Avatars, skins, items and profiles usually remain inside isolated ecosystems, while concepts such as interoperability, digital ownership or XR can still feel abstract and difficult to understand.
CROM began as an exploration of how digital identity could become more tangible, accessible and transferable between experiences.
THE PRODUCT IDEA
Start with something people already understand.
Instead of explaining digital identity through technical concepts, we used a familiar object: the trading card.
Each card represents a digital item that can be unlocked, collected and used to customize an avatar. The physical object becomes the entry point into a larger digital ecosystem.
BUY >> OPEN >> SCAN >> UNLOCK >> CUSTOMIZE >> SHARE >> EXPERIENCE
THE CHALLENGE
Make a complex ecosystem feel like a one simple action.
CROM connected avatars, collectibles, community, AI, XR, virtual experiences and a potential digital economy.
The challenge was to structure all those layers without overwhelming users or presenting future capabilities as if they already existed.
The product therefore needed a familiar entry point, a clear interaction model and a hierarchy between prototype, ecosystem and future vision.
RESEARCH
Before designing the interface, we defined the problem.
The project began with research around digital identity, avatar customization, collecting behaviors, interoperability, privacy and phygital experiences.
We combined desk research, surveys, shadowing and service-design methods to understand both user motivations and the technological landscape.
Golden Circle
Desk Research
Surveys
Shadowings
SWOT
Personas
Fishbone Diagram
Benchmarking
Service Blueprint
Journeys Maps
THE STRATEGIC DECISION
The cards was not the product. It was the bridge.
We used the physical trading card as the gateway to digital identity because it translated an abstract technology into a familiar interaction.
Buying, opening and collecting something physical makes the first step intuitive.
The digital layer then expands what that object can become.
PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE
Rather than building an isolated avatar editor, we designed CROM as a recurring system of collecting, customizing, sharing and entering new experiences.
The collection creates continuity. The community creates reasons to return.
CROM ECOSYSTEM
PHYSICAL
Trading cards
QR access
IDENTITY
Avatar
Wardrobe
Collection
Digital
Marketplace
Profile
CROMI
Community
CROM League
Discord
Experiences
CROM LAB
Virtual worlds
Future XR
BRAND SYSTEM
Nostalgia for the cards. Language for the future.
The identity combined collectible culture with a digital, gaming-driven visual language. Cyan, orange, black and dark greys created a high-contrast system influenced by Y2K, science fiction and digital interfaces.
The card system used four rarity levels to translate familiar collecting mechanics into the CROM universe.
RARITY
Common
Rare
Epic
Legendary
FROM LO-FI TO PRODUCT
Structure before polish.
I translated the product strategy into a sitemap, user flows and low-fidelity wireframes before defining the final interface and visual system.
The process moved progressively from architecture to interaction, components, high-fidelity UI and a complete mobile prototype in Figma.
SKETCH → SITEMAP → USER FLOW → LO-FI → HI-FI → PROTOTYPE
THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE
Collect. Unlock. Customize. Experiment.
The mobile experience became the central interface connecting cards, collection, avatar customization and community.
The prototype was designed as a coherent front-end experience rather than a partially developed application with unfinished features.
PROTOTYPE STATUS
Interactive Figma front-end. Backend integrations were defined as future development.
PROTOTYPE VS VISION
We chose coherence over pretending it was finished.
During development we explored moving the application into a functional build.
Instead, we prioritized a complete and coherent Figma prototype because the available time was not enough to implement the full ecosystem reliably.
That decision allowed us to validate the complete experience without disguising unfinished development as a working product.
prototyped
Mobile experience ✓
Card system ✓
Avatars & items ✓
CROMI ✓
Roblox demo ✓
Future / Conceptual
Cross-platform interoperability
Production backend
Functional XR integration
Digital economy infrastructure
EXPANDING BEYOND THE APP
The app was only one part of the system.
Cromi
An AI assistant designed for support, guidance and entertainment inside the CROM ecosystem.
Crom Lab
A Roblox experience built as a galactic laboratory where users could complete missions, unlock skins, customize avatars and participate in community-driven challenges.
WHAT WE BUILT
01
mobile
prototype
& GPT
04
rarities
02
avatars
08
items
01
EXTERNAL
MEDIA
FEATURE
01
experience
virtual
TEAM & MY ROLE
PABLO GUIJARRO Gil
Product Strategy
UX/UI
Branding
Sitemap & User Flow
Lo-fi / Hi-fi
Mobile Prototype
Trading Card Design
Landing Page
PABLO HAZAEL MIRALLES
3D Design
Avatars & Items
Animation
Audiovisual
Compatibility Testing
XR Research
CROMI Training
VICTORIA SÁNCHEZ rubio
Product Research
Copywriting
Communication
Marketing Strategy
JAIME LÓPEZ velasco
Creative Assets
Community
Discord
Experiences
CROM LAB / Roblox
RESULT & FEEDBACK
A complex vision made tangible, and shared beyond the classroom.
Media
CROM was featured externally as part of the project's communication strategy, led by Victoria Sánchez.
Academic Dissemination
CROM was presented at Digit-All Congress under the topic: “CROM: Democratizar los avatares a través del coleccionismo phygital en un entorno digital incierto.”
research / conference
The project was also accepted in the AE-IC 2026 proceedings as: “CROM: Democratizando el acceso a los avatares en la era de la incertidumbre tecnológica a través de un ID Digital.”
Authors
Victoria Sánchez Rubio
Jaime López Velasco
Pablo Guijarro Gil
Pablo Hazael Miralles Doménech
WHAT I LEARNED
WHAT I TOOK FROM IT
CROM taught me how to turn a broad technological vision into a structured product experience.
The hardest part was not imagining more features.
It was connecting research, identity, interface, 3D, community and business without losing the user along the way.
If i built it again
I would reduce the MVP to one complete functional loop:
UNLOCK AN ITEM → ADD IT TO THE COLLECTION → WEAR IT → ENTER ONE EXPERIENCE → SHARE THE RESULT
HAVE A COMPLEX TECHNOLOGY IDEA THAT STILL DOESN'T FEEL LIKE A PRODUCT?
Let's turn it into an experience people can understand, navigate and prototype.
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STATUS: PROJECT READY
