Arorangi is a groundbreaking application aimed to connect young people with their ancestral narratives; the responsive and immersive technology encourages rangatahi to delve into their whakapapa and to learn about the areas within which they live. It was important from the outset that the final application would combine education and entertainment with user experience; this not only sets it apart from other storytelling and educational initiatives, but enables users to navigate their own educational journeys in an intuitive and empowering way.

Given the important kaupapa of sharing iwi narratives and perspectives, a collaborative approach between iwi knowledge-holders, the Māui Studios crew, and rangatahi themselves was key to this enterprise. This exciting and multi-faceted approach meant that a creative, innovative, audience-focussed, and user-friendly interface was successfully co-designed, with valuable feedback implemented along the way.