Project overview
The product: An art auction app to connect art interested with art sellers. Making art accessible to everyone.
Project duration: June 22 - Nov 22
The problem: Curated art isn’t available to everyone, and people don’t have time to go to art galleries.
The goal: Design an app that connects art interested people with art sellers.
My role: My role was as a sole UX designer
Responsibilities: User research, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, iterating on design.
Understanding the user
User research | Personas | Problem statements | User journey map |
User research: summary
In order to better understand the potential users i conducted interviews and created empathy maps. I identified a primary user group – Tech savvy, art interested adults.
User research: pain points
Accessibility
Art in galleries are limited by location and space.
Time
You need to adapt to the opening hours of the galleries.
Explorability
Although there’s curated art, it’s limited by the space of the gallery.
Persona: Tatiana
Problem statement: Tatiana is a art-loving freelance copywriter who need a way to buy curated art online because she want to feel more inspired at her workplace at home.
User journey map
Mapping Tatiana’s user journey revealed what features that should be the focus of the app.
Starting the design
- Paper wireframes
- Digital wireframes
- Low-fidelity prototype
- Usability studies
Paper wireframes
Sketching paper wireframes really helps filling the mind with ideas, and getting the creativity going. I found sections and things I liked about multiple sketches and put them all together in one screen.
Digital wireframes
By giving the user an closer look at a highlighted piece of art with direct access to take action if they want it.
I designed a navigation bar quite early. Taking inspiration from other similar apps and making navigation clear and upfront.
Low-fidelity prototype
The low-fi prototype connects screens and shows the primary user flow.
Usability study: findings
After two usability studies. Findings from the two includes;
Round 1 findings | Round 2 findings |
|---|---|
Easy to use | Learn about art |
Should be friendly and trustful | Multiple payment options |
Easy to explore | Support |
Refining the design
- Mockups
- High-fidelity prototype
- Accessibility
Mockups
Floating navbar with icons and new naming conventions.
High-fidelity prototype
The final hifi prototype connected in a prototype in figma.
Accessibility considerations
- Used icons to help navigating faster
- Large cards and sections, to ensure a focused user.
- Alt text for all images to give access to persons who are visually impaired.
Going forward
- Takeaways
- Next steps
Takeaways
Impact: By connecting art sellers/art galleries and people interested in art, both new and existing collectors, we are making art more accessible.
What I learned: I learned a lot designing the art app. Everything from user research to pixel pushing. The whole design process and how important empathising with the users is.
Next steps
- Do a bit more research to make sure the flow is solid for sellers too.
- Based on research design missing information and/or screens.