UX DESIGNER
CASE STUDY
ART-Y!
A Self Curated Museum Tour App
THE DESIGN PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
ART-Y
CASE STUDY
An App to Self- Curate Museum Tours
PRODUCT: ART-Y
DURATION: 3 months
Art-y is an app for solo travelers, that want to maintain their independence and curate their own museum tours
During this process I did interviews, created user personas, empathy maps, and user pathways. I did a competitive audit of exiting apps/ museum tours. I then created sketches, paper and digital wireframes, and low fidelity prototypes. I then conducted usability studies, and made adjustments, both functional and design wise. I then made high fidelity prototypes and conducted more usability tests. I then made final recommendations. Below is a more in depth look at my process.
Product:
ART-Y!
ART-Y is an app to self curate museum tours.
THE PROBLEM: Solo travelers would like a way to have a personalized museum experience, while also maintaining their independence
THE GOAL: To create a fun easy to use app that allows them to purchase tickets online and offers them a chance to be part of a robust online community
My Role & Responsibilities
Designer
MY ROLE: UX Designer ( Self Directed )
MY RESPONSIBILITIES: To create an app based on research that would fulfill the brief, conduct all the user research, to test, to create wireframes and low fidelity prototypes, to conduct usability studies and update the design based on results. Then to create high -fidelity prototypes, do final testing and give my recommendations.
RESEARCH
User Research
Synopsis
During this part of the design process, I conducted in person interviews, conducted a competitive audit of related industry offerings, created user personas, problem statements and user journey maps
User Research
In Person Interviews
I conducted in person interviews with participants of all ages, to find out how they travel (solo or with a friend/ tour group); when they travel, do they visit museums, and what they would love to see in a museum app.
Personas
PERSONA GROUP 1: Older Travelers
Persona Group 1 consisted of older travelers who love to visit museums, who want a simpler way to purchase tickets, a more personalized curated museum experience, and the option of booking a self guided tour (either through the museum or with a local guide). Frustrations included difficulties navigating ticketing sites, and inability to use their own equipment at the museum
Personas
PERSONA GROUP 2: Millenial Travelers
The second persona group consisted of Millenial travelers, who wanted more independence when traveling (and visiting museums), they would love to have a personalized experience ( a museum experience curated just for them) with the ability to interact with experts or locals.
Journey Map
A Breakdown of the User Journey
I mapped out the journey of a user from installing the app, to starting a tour through the museum, and identified possible problems, challenges and pain points
Pain Points
Clarity and Overwhelm
The first two pain points that came up were:
Users frustration of using unfamiliar technology
Being easily overwhelmed by the task at hand.
In my competitive audit one of the most consistent design mistakes I saw on museum websites and apps was that it was difficult to find information and to navigate through the app. This was especially noticeable with ticketing and tour information. I decided to focus on making the app design clear and simple, (for the initial prototype) and then build more features in, in subsequent prototypes
Pain Points
Frustration and Connection
These last two pain points were:
Becoming frustrated by logistical information being difficult to find
Wanting to find a way to counter the loneliness of travel and connect with the local art community and other museum enthusiasts.
THE DESIGN
The Design Process
Synopsis
In the first part of the design process for this app I made paper wireframes, digital wireframes, low fidelity prototypes and conducted usability studies
Paper Wireframes
I created a series of very simple basic paper wireframes for the tour booking part of the app
Digital Wireframe
I then elaborated on the design and turned the paper wireframes into digital ones using Figma. This early prototype included a community function and a very simplified checkout procedure
Digital Wireframe
I also made sure that the checkout buttons were very large to make it easier for older users to use.
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Low Fidelity Prototype
I then turned the wireframes into a low fidelity prototype with multiple user pathways (one for purchasing and one for community/ profile). The main user path is below.
USABILITY STUDIES
I conducted two rounds of usability studies, Round 1 was unmoderated and Round 2 was moderated
Usability Studies
Round1: Unmoderated
I conducted unmoderated usability studies to test whether the user flow was clear and easy to navigate, to get feedback on the process of finding and booking tours, and to test the desirability of the community function.
ROUND 1: FINDINGS:
The user path was very unclear from the payment page, and a high percentage of users dropped off
The exhibit scheduling/ booking was incomplete- a more detailed calendar was requested to make booking easier
The community function was of no interest
Usability Study
Round 2: Moderated
This round of studies, incorporated the feedback from the first studies
UPDATES FOR ROUND 2:
The full user path was very clear through to payment
The calendar and the booking function were clarified
The community function was of more interest to users
Incorporating Results into the Design
Mockups, High Fidelity Prototypes and Accessibility
In this part of the process I incorporated the response from the studies into the design, I made several different versions of mockups ( the final design is what is shown) & high fidelity prototypes and adjusted for accessibility
Usability Study
Payment Page
The Credit Card page was redesigned to be more open, detailed and clear. It has multiple options for leaving the page and cancelling the order. These additions were in response to the study feedback that the ordering path needed to be clearer. Also the feedback that some users might want to try out the site as guests and not necessarily have card information stored on the app
Usability Study
Confirm Your Order Page
This is the redesigned confirmation page, it is streamlined and clearer in just black and white. The "Edit Order" button is a darker color and separated from the "Buy Tickets" button, which incorporates feedback around clarity from the usability studies
MOCKUPS
Mockup
Mockup of Design
These are mockups of the high fidelity screens, featuring photos and a clear streamlined layout
Mockups
Mockups II
These are mockups of the signup, login, profile and start pages, streamlined to one task a page
Mockup
Mockups III
These are the confirmation, removal from cart, and purchasing screens, redesigned based on feedback from the usability studies
Mockup
Mockups IV
Close up on the buttons and navigation, the pages are designed to be easy to read and navigate based on the usability studies feedback
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessible Design
#1 Navigation
Each screen had multiple ways to navigate and exit screens clearly marked, making it easy to navigate through the app
Accessible Design
#2 Animation
The second accessibility consideration was making sure that page animations were between the industry standard of 150-500ms
Accessible Design
#3 Contrast
Using high contrast colors like black and white to make the buttons easy to read
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
High Fidelity Prototype
Prototype that incorporated feedback from the usability studies
Prototype had multiple user pathways and did not include a community option in this iteration
CONCLUSIONS
Takeaways
Final Conclusions
Results and next steps from the final round of moderated user testing
Personalization
Additions and Modifications
One of the next additions would be adding a language and map function to make the app experience tailored specifically for each user
Testing
Additional Research
Trying the app out in the real world, with actual users, museum- goers and tourists
Community
Tours and Meetups
There was a lot of enthusiasm for a community portion of the app with self guided tours from members of the community and places for art- loving travelers to meet
