THE MUSEUM APP

Problem

Based on user interviews, it appears that connecting with artwork in museums has proven challenging for many individuals, thereby diminishing the overall meaningfulness of the experience.

My Role

UX/UI Designer for this project from end to end.

Methods: User Interviews, Affinity Mapping, Heuristic Analysis, User Stories and User Flows, Sketching, Prototyping and Usability Testing

Solution

To enhance user interaction, I developed an app that effortlessly scans QR codes on artworks. Subsequently, it redirects users to a comprehensive reading providing detailed information about the piece and the artist.

Goals

  • To swiftly acquire information while observing the artwork, enhancing the user's appreciation for it.

THE DESIGN SPRINT

The sprint is a five-day process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers.

Lena Carroll, Freelance Artist at the Guggenheim, NYC

“People like to hear the artists struggle story in order to better connect with the art”

Research

The GalleryPal team provided user research and persona’s up front which allowed me to synthesize research immediately.

Research Highlights

“Tell us about a recent time that you visited a museum or an art gallery”

Based on the provided research, I determined that users need a convenient and rapid method to obtain information about both the art and the artist while appreciating the artwork before them.

Day Two - Sketch

The second day incorporated a lightning demo while comparing other competing apps that may solve the same problem. This then helped me decide the most critical screen that would provide users with the best solution. 

JSEUM

I love the interface of this app, it feels as if you are entering a museum in itself when using it. I borrowed off the color palette from this app.

American History Museum App

I like the fact that you can set up your own itinerary on how you want to go about the museum. The user is not forced to follow the exact layout of the museum itself. 

BHM

One main feature that I ended up utilizing from this app was the directions for the nearest bathroom, cafe and exit. Even though it is not part of my critical screen I appreciated the used of it.

After comparing competitive apps I used the crazy 8 sketching method to help me choose the most critical screen. I chose to go ahead with my first sketch where the user will scan a QR code to read more about the art.

After identifying the critical route I sketched out the MVP. This gave me a rough idea on how I wanted to go about my mockup.

Day Three - Decide

The third day of the design sprint I took my 3 panel story board and elaborated it into a 10 panel mockup wireframes for The Museum App. This wireframe would then be used to create my prototype. This process helped me prioritize all the necessary steps and include all essential UI elements.

Day Four - Prototype

My prototype represents the initial interaction with the app that every user will experience each time they open the app. The user will be prompted to choose which city they live in followed by selecting which museum they are visiting. I think this prototype is quite straightforward however, that is for the user to decide upon. My goals are to test the prototype to see if one, it follows a logical flow or not and two, if the user thinks this is the easiest way to obtain information about artwork when at a museum.

Day Five - Test

I conducted five moderated usability tests on users who lived in NYC and frequented museums on the weekends. Each interview was in person and 30 minutes long.

Usability Test Insights

  • Flow is smooth and successful

  • Majority of changes made post testing were UI design related

  • All five users were able to complete the given tasks

Next Steps

If I had more time I would have:

  • Added a route that would allow users to hand pick the artwork they are interested

  • Allow users to curate their own museum tour with a self guided map built in the app

  • Add more categories for the user to choose from when reading about the artwork