Virtual art museum tour app

ROLE: Lead, Research, Copy, Design, Interaction

PROJECT: Bucktown Gallery app

DURATION: Sep - Dec 2022

The Challenge

Factors such as linguistic accessibility, content clarity, and a desire for information regarding ticket prices, location, and events are some of the reasons many museum and art gallery visitors have for wanting to interact with content online or via an app. When thinking about the design for a hypothetical museum app, my goal was to create an integrated, inclusive experience for visitors whether they’re in an exhibit or simply interested in learning more.

Early work: Personas and Storyboards

I began by conducting research, creating user personas, and writing a competitive audit report. Then, I established a draft user flow, and drew up some early storyboards (pictured below). This process helped me in understanding ways users can interact with the product, as well as allowing me to see navigation through user goals.

Wireframes and first prototype

It became clear early on that users were looking for two key features: 1. Interaction with the art, 2. Easy access to logistics. As a museum professional going into this project, I hypothesized that visitors would be more interested in access to the art on display: learning about it, interacting with the pieces, engaging with the artist, etc. But it was through user testing and other early steps with people in my life that informed my next steps.

I went on to draft some basic paper wireframes, transfer those onto Figma, and then launch a workable low-fidelity prototype from there.

Usability study findings

After conducting an initial usability study with colleagues, friends, and family I put together an affinity diagram and found:

1

Users weren’t aware they could adjust text size

2

Users found it difficult to navigate back to the Home page

3

Users were thrown off by extra features (such as the ‘Purchase tickets’ button) that had no pathway in the prototype

Takeaways

As a museum professional and enthusiast, this was a project close to my heart—one that I plan to continue work on. I learned the role simplicity has to play in creating an experience that is both engaging and accessible to an unpredictable audience. Whether by supplementing an in-person gallery visitor or offering something for at-home users, it’s important that all users can derive inspiration from the app experience.

Design tools

Figma
Miro
Google Slides