Artrex
Project Overview
The product:
Artrex is an app that was designed for art gallery visitors and patronizers. It was developed as a mobile-based application rather than being web-based because 90 percent majority of my users use mobile applications.
The design tool used was Figma.
Project duration:
The project lasted from February 5th, 2022 to March 1st, 2022.
Project Overview
The problem:
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Lack of enough physical tour guides
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Difficulty in understanding the creative process of art in art galleries due to lack of audiovisual information and
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Making comfortable purchases
Artrex is an app;
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that has audio tour guide capabilities
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audiovisual information on art selected, Artist name, and info
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And has the ability of booking purchases within the app
My role:
UX Designer leading the mobile app from conception to delivery
Responsibilities:
I was responsible for the
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User research
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The creation of user personas,
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User flow, Information architecture, and Site mapping
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Wireframing,
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Making of low fidelity prototypes
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Making high fidelity prototypes,
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Conducting usability studies
Understanding the user
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User research
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Personas
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Problem statements
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User journey maps
User research: Summary
The research method used was via Interviews from users who have visited an art gallery and users who make regular visits to art galleries.
The research was also made via google forms survey where we only took survey results from people who had visited art galleries. The survey was completed by seven persons and was recruited on the basis of having visited an art gallery in the past.
The objective of the survey was to determine how audio information will improve the touring in art galleries.
Survey questions include:
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Have you ever been to an art gallery
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Can you tell the challenges you faced during an art gallery tour
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Do you have any issues with the description of a certain art during the tour
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Are there any language barriers
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Would you like an app that provided you with audio-visual information during an art tour
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Have you ever had any issue in purchasing art you liked
Results from the survey showed that most users sometimes have difficulty understanding an art due to fewer tour guides, and also showed that most users would not mind having audio-visual information displayed about art to them.
Screening for the survey was made from the first question on the survey
I identified user pain points from the research results:
Difficulty interacting with the art due to fewer number of tour guides
Difficulty in making purchases and preference of audiovisual art and artist information
Meet the Users: User Persona
This user personas are a narrative description of my users, They help me and others to empathize with the users and understand their pain points.
Problem statement:
Tinuke is a university undergraduate who needs to be able to appreciate art because she likes to always have fun at art galleries and purchase art she has interests in.
Problem statement:
Favour is a medical worker who needs to be able to have fun and know the creation process of the art; why the art was made.
User Journey maps
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Starting the design
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Paper wireframes
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Digital wireframes
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Low -fidelty prototypes
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Usability studies
Paper Wireframes
I created these wireframes with my user pain points in mind and created this to help solve their pain points and also create a good user flow to help them achieve their goal.
My paper wireframes helped me determine the best layout to achieve the goal of Artrex. I picked these paper wireframes to become digital wireframes because their layout allowed more information and made it easier for users to reach their goals through the user flow
Digital Wireframes
After creating the paper wireframes, I went ahead to convert them to digital wireframes. AsI did this, I made sure that they were easy to help my user to be able to achieve the goal of listening to an audio tour on the app and purchase of an art
As this digital wireframes were being made, I made sure the user was always in my thought process and also made revisions that would better improve user experience different from the paper wireframes
Helps users to be able to get to home page easily
Users can see the art on display for that day as a slideshow on the screen
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Audio section to be tapped immediately the art is selected
Purchase of selected art
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Low Fidelity Prototype
The user flow happens that as the user enters the app, the user sees a splash screen and is directed to the homepage, at the homepage user select the art on display button to take them to the art on display or they browse by categories. As the user is on the selected art screen, the User sees the audio information of the art selected and listens to it with also an option for video by scrolling at the picture menu showing the art visual properties. If the user finds the art appealing, they go ahead and purchase the art and receive confirmation.
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Usability Study Parameters and Findings
Study type
An unmoderated usability study
Participants
5 participants
Location
Nigeria, Ilorin(On-site)
Length
10 minutes
I conducted two rounds of usability study. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used high-fidelity prototypes and revealed what aspects of the mockup needed refining. A usability study was conducted on five persons who have either been to an art gallery or visited an art gallery regularly.
Findings from the first round showed that:
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liked an add to cart function to be added to be able to purchase more than one art
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Also liked to change the grammatical spelling in the early prototypes that said "Today's Art" to "Art On Display", as the initial caption was a bit misleading
Findings from the second round of usability study showed:
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would like more navigation interfaces to previous screens they were in
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Complained the Picture slider from the homepage was too fast
Refining the design
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Mockups
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High-fidelity prototype
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Accessibility
Mockups
Early designs were built with the user in mind and to help achieve the user's goal, but after the usability studies:
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I added additional functions like the add to cart function and cart screen to enable users to purchase numerous art and also explore other art in the gallery.
The second usability study revealed that navigation to the previous screen from the purchase screen and from other screens was difficult, so I added extra navigation options to help with this problem.
It also revealed that the picture slider on the homepage revealing the art on display was too fast, so I increased the transition time, to make it slower and more easily viewable.
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Accessibility considerations
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Added labels and text to icons in the navigation bar to make them identifiable when the app is being used with screen readers
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And made sure my colours were contrasting and readable and under accessibility guidelines
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Made sure to use hierarchy in my text to differentiate headings from placeholder texts which will also increase its functionality with screen readers
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Used icons and buttons to make navigations easier
Going Forward
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Takeaways
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Next steps
Takeaways
Impact:
The app makes users who go to art galleries regularly feel more connected to the art experience and also helps those who do not get access to physical tour guides listen to the audiovisual guides easily, thereby enhancing the experience. Also gives the ability to make bookings without interfering with your tour.
What I learned:
While designing the Artrex app, I learned that the first ideas of the app are just the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s design.
Next Steps
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Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed
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Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need
Let's Connect
Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the Artrex app! If you'd like to see more or get in touch, my contact is provided down below:
Email: aolajesu@gmail.com
Phone number: +2349015976582