Project Overview
Art Access is a collection of the latest and most comprehensive art exhibition information from all over the world, tailored specifically for art lovers. Features include exhibition information, ticket sales, and online community.
Project Type
Self Project
Duration
2 Weeks
Design Role
UI/UX Designer
Prototyping
User Testing
Tools
Adobe XD
The Problem
For many exhibition enthusiasts, finding information about current ongoing exhibitions online can be very difficult. Most people will have to rely on social media feed to find out if there is an art exhibition around them or not. It will be even more challenging to find out art exhibition information around the world.
The Solution
I have designed Art Access, a mobile app specifically designed for exhibition enthusiasts, to solve the problem. This app aims to help users find out information about an art exhibition, whether it is near or far away. It will also allow users to purchase and organize their entry passes and an online community to share their experiences.
Art exhibition detail page
The Challenge
While exhibition official websites hold critical information for users, but sometimes the content can be too cluttered. The challenge is that how can we unify all the information from different exhibitions and organize them into one usable mobile app.
How might we display essential exhibition information to the user so they don't have to search online manually?
User Research
To better understand how users gather information about art exhibitions, I researched social media, conducted an online survey, and interviewed 5 participants. I have also experienced some similar applications on the market. The finding of this research process helped develop a better understanding of my user's needs.
Social media finding example
User Pain Ponts
Based on my user research and empathizing with my users, I have identified some user pain points. These pain point will help me to further empathize with my user and understands their needs.
1
No one place has all the information about every ongoing exhibition.
2
Users need to be able to purchase and manage entry pass in one place.
3
User needs a way to read and share reviews about different exhibitions..
User Personas
After identifying the pain points, I created personas that express the main pain points of the users. Each of the personas represents a larger groups of my target users.
User persona 1
User persona 2
User Journey
To mapping out the steps that my users have to take to complete a core task, I created a user journey map. I can organize the steps and outcomes from various journeys that my user could take with the user journey map.
User journey map
Information Architecture
I created the information architecture for the design by organizing the content and information that I had. The IA helped me lay down basic structures about where each function should belong and how the user can find them.
IA for Art Access
Ideation
I begin with the Crazy Eight excercise, where I'm just going to draw down my ideas on a piece of paper that is divided into eight sections. Then I begin to to sketch out my paper wireframes, which allows me to quickly iterates between ideas and design with out spending too much time and resources.
Some of the paper wireframes sketches
Digital Wireframes
Once I am confident with my paper wireframes, I am moving forward to create my digital wireframes. Functionality and user experience are my top priority at this point, where I will review and iterate the ideas that did not transform well from the paper wireframes.
Some of the digital wireframes
Usability Study
I created a low-fidelity prototype using the digital wireframes I created. After conducting a usability study based on the low-fidelity prototype, I found and fixed some accessibility issues and iterated the design based on my user's feedback.
Users are unable to view more exhibitions and museums from the home screen.
Insights:
Users need a "view more" button to view more exhibitions and museums.
Some text is too small and hard to read because of the color.
Insights:
Users need bigger and more accessible text
Users are unable to refer to an exhibition from a social feed quickly.
Insights:
Users need a more intuitive way refer to an exhibition from a social feed.
Usability study findings and insights
Design System
After iterates the wireframes again based on the feedback, I created a design system to keep a consistent visual and style for this project. I decided to go with a lighter theme with some bright accent colors.
Design System
High-Fidelity Mockup
With the design system established, I am now ready to start creating high-fidelity mockups. I am trying to incorporate a clean and functionally easy-to-use design.
Home Screen
Once a user has logged in, they will be brought to the home screen. The home screen features a large hero image with a search bar inside at the top, which works as a CTA for featured exhibitions and topics. Below are the core functions the application will provide to the users and some of the featured exhibitions and museums.
Home screen final design
Topics Screen
The topic screen only focuses on the contents that the users cared about, which are trending art topics and articles. By removing unnecessary functions and contents, the screen is more clean and organized, which allows the user to access the content they are looking for quickly.
Topic screens final design
Ticket and Exhibtion Screen
The ticket screen divides the contents into sections, reinforced the information hierarchy of the content. Users will be able to quickly spot essential information such as featured exhibitions and pricing information. The exhibition details pages will provide the user with more detailed information, such as overview and featured artists and reviews. The goal is to help the user to remove the process of researching about the exhibitions.
Ticket screen and exhibition screen final design
Social Screen
The social screen allows the user to share their experience and connect with other people who may share the same interest in art. Users can like and comment on another user's post and quickly refer to the same exhibitions. The app will also make suggestions, which are other users who might share similar interests or experiences with the current user.
Social screen and other user's profile screen final design
Profile Screen
The profile screen is where the user can edit their personal information and check for their purchased exhibition entry passes and recent activities. Users can also access the app's general settings from the upper right-hand corner.
User profile screen final design
What I Learned
This project was one of the personal projects that I created during the pandemic. Through this project, I learned how to define a design style based on my user's preferences and practice applying the design style throughout the entire app using a style guide. I have also learned how to create different icons with different textures and dimensions.
The Next Step
If given more time, I would like to future iterate my design. Since the world around us is changing fast, the user's needs before might not be the exact needs right now. I want to conduct more usability studies that try to find out which part of the design is working well and which part of the design needs improvements. Overall, it is a fantastic experience and design practice.
