Danika Moir
© Danika Moir

ArtApp

Making galleries into learning spaces one visit at a time.

INFO

PROJECT DURATION: April 2023-October 2023


ROLE: UX designer from conception to deliverable.


RESPONSIBILITIES: Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.


THE PROJECT: An app and responsive website made for art galleries to use to upload their collections to, and aid visitors in learning about their history. ArtApp strives to make art learning more accessible, so users have a range of accessibility features which include text to speech, and high definition image viewing.

The Challenge

Give users more ways to engage with gallery content.

The Goal

Design an app to encourage art learning and raise online and in-person traffic to the gallery.

UNDERSTANDING USERS

User Research

Personas

Problem Statements

User Journey Maps

USER RESEARCH SUMMARY

I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was working adults who like art and learning, but don’t necessarily have time to visit galleries and do research on art. 


Research was conducted on five individuals between the ages of 25 and 50, with one having a visual impairment. Feedback showed that a camera search feature not only aided those with impairments, but made users more likely to use the feature.




USER PAIN POINTS

MY FINDINGS

AVAILABLE INFORMATION - Users are less likely to learn about a piece if they have to search for information, which can be overwhelming.


ACCESSIBILITY - Inability to get close to pieces to see, and hard to read writing on plaques.


PHYSICAL VISITS – Users want to be able to see the contents of a gallery, but don't have the time or funds to physically visit.

Persona: Cal

About Cal

AGE: 30

EDUCATION: BA, earning MA

HOMETOWN: Toronto, ON, Canada

FAMILY: Living with sister

OCCUPATION: Student

Goals

  • - Learn more about art
  • - Explore more local galleries
  • - Find more accessible resources

Frustrations

  • - Can’t get close enough to see details
  • - low accessibility of galleries for the visually impaired
  • - Can’t fully enjoy the experience with friends

Contact

email@domain.com

000-000-000


— Instagram

— Twitter

— Facebook

Problem Statement: Cal is a visually impaired student who needs an accessible way to view and learn about art because they want to be able to enjoy galleries.


Cal lives in Toronto with their sister where they also attend university as a full time masters student. They are legally blind, and often use assistive technology and use large text. Because they can't get as close to pieces as they need, they have a hard time in art galleries and it often deters them from going. Cal wants an app that will give them high quality images of pieces in a gallery, and information about them, so Cal can also enjoy their experience and visit more frequently.

Digital Wireframes

As I continued with my designs, I made changes based on feedback from users and research.

Low Fidelity 

Prototype

The main functionality of ArtApp is to be an art education app for an art gallery. The main user flow is to look up a piece using the camera search, and find suggestions to a piece the user likes. Other functions include viewing exhibitions, favourites, gallery events, and ticket/purchasing for users who may not be present at the gallery.


Link to low-fidelity prototype.

Usability Study Findings

A study was conducted on five users representing different groups to identify strengths and weaknesses in the design. These observations aided in further developments in the design to be seen in the high-fidelity prototype.

1.


  • Users say the image search function makes them more likely to use the app.

2.


  • Users say the image search function makes them more likely to use the app.

3.


  • Users look at the top of the page for the search bar.

3.

Users look at the top of the page for the search bar.

Redefining the Design

Mockups

High-Fidelity Prototypes

Accessibility

Mockups

Some users intuitively found where tickets were with the profile icon, but wanted it to be more clear. Users also expressed that they found it more natural for the search bar to be at the top. These changes were made and made the user flow more intuitive and easier for assistive technology.


Users used to be taken to a separate page with recommendations upon favouriting a piece. They expressed that this took them out of the experience, so recommendations were moved to the bottom of the page to be less disruptive to the user flow. 

High Fidelity

Prototype

A high-fidelity prototype presented a cleaner user flow with changes to address user pain points and make the app as intuitive as possible.


High-fidelity user flow here.

Accessibility Considerations

1.

Providing high definition images for users with vision impairments, with the ability to zoom in on images to make them more clear. Alt text is also added to images to aid screen readers. 


2.

Page design and colours are clean and simple to adhere to accessibility guidelines and ensure ease of use without the pages being overwhelming. 


3.

Text to speech on image descriptions and information to aid users who use auditory output.


Contact

email@domain.com

000-000-000


— Instagram

— Twitter

— Facebook

Responsive Web

Design

Making ArtApp for desktops

Going Forward

Takeaways

Next Steps

Impact

  • This app is made to make art learning and gallery visits more accessible, regardless of physical ability or presence.


What I Learned

  • Changes are necessary throughout the entire process. Just because something works for one person, does not mean it will work for everyone.

From User Feedback

"I love the ability to zoom in on a picture. My vision makes it difficult to see art in person, so this is a really valuable feature for me."


From User Feedback

"I love the ability to zoom in on a picture. My vision makes it difficult to see art in person, so this is a really valuable feature for me."

Next Steps

1.

Collaborate with other UX designers to learn more from peers about design.


2.

  • Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.

3.

Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.




3.

Collaborate with other UX designers to learn more from peers about design.