UX-UI App Design
Tired of traditional label reading at museums and seeking a more immersive art experience? You are not alone. Appreciating art traditionally demands pre-visit research and a commitment to connect with art through abstract on-site information, often requiring significant effort to fully grasp. However, "MuseumXplore" offers a solution. Designed for art lovers at all levels, from beginners to visually impaired individuals, this app makes understanding art quicker, easier, and more enjoyable, enhancing the art discovery process and making appreciation effortless.
View prototype →(The 3D mountain model is from "The Vast Land" (https://skfb.ly/o7RwP) by Shahriar Shahrabi.)
01
To find out the challenges the users face in absorbing information about arts provided by the museum, I first interviewed 5 people, and created an empathy map generated from the interview insights.
To further understand users' thoughts, I conducted an online survey with 25 participants. From the data, I identified six challenges they face and considered essential features for the new application.
To gain deeper market insights and pinpoint opportunities within competitive landscapes, I selected four direct and indirect competitors. Through comprehensive competitive audits and analysis, it empowered me to strategically position our product and identify areas for growth.
02
Using insights gathered from previous research, I craft two personas along with their user journey maps in the define phase. This approach allows me to delve deeply into user challenges and goals, providing valuable insights for generating effective solutions for the ideation phase.
Considering the identified improvement opportunities, effective potential solutions should encompass key features including:
03
In the ideation phase, I developed two storyboards to facilitate a user-centric understanding of feature usage. The “big-picture” storyboard illustrates Adia's experience process and emotional change. The close-up storyboard focuses on the app's product functions during Adia's interactions, providing an easy-to-understand visual narrative for all stakeholders.
To better clarify the features' location and application, I designed an IA to outline the platform's content organization. This approach ensures that both users and stakeholders can readily access the desired features and information, ultimately contributing to an efficient and user-friendly art-savouring experience.
04
Guided by the information architecture, I sketched initial app screen concepts on paper, refining them through usability testing using a paper prototype. Valuable participant feedback led to enhancements in accessibility, including annotating icons in the navigation bar, streamlining the scanning interface, and changing languages in the Scan surface.
In wireframing, I visualized interface layouts, emphasizing content prioritization and functionality. Simultaneously, I applied user flow to point out the steps a typical user would take in this app, from discovering artworks timely, experiencing video, audio, and AR immersion, real-time interaction through reviews, receiving personalized exhibition recommendations, and utilizing route planning based on human traffic. These initiatives are geared towards ensuring a seamless and intuitive user experience, promoting engagement, and facilitating users' desired actions.
This museum brand combines classic elegance with immersive experiences, and the art direction aims to visually express this blend. The fonts Rufina and Lato embody elegance, simplicity, and legibility. Rich cream or gold signifies timeless sophistication, while blue Dianne creates an immersive ambiance.
I evolved the prototype from a low-fidelity to a high-fidelity version in Figma, enhancing it with detailed design elements, colour schemes, and typography. This development included adding interactive features and animations to create a realistic user experience, crucial for testing and presentations.
05
Participants commended the app's immersive, user-friendly experience and suggested enhancements in accessibility. Recommendations indicated that larger images, text, and icons for better usability; renaming some titles for clarity; replacing three dots with direct image click-through for easier navigation; and using text editable labels instead of multiple delete buttons for better visibility and convenience.
After extensive research and testing, MuseumXplore final version not only simplifies the process of discovering and diving deep into the stories behind artworks but also integrates a variety of features to captivate art enthusiasts. Through a combination of video and audio guides, AR exhibitions, interactive games, social sharing, route planning, timely exhibition notifications, and multilingual support, MuseumXplore ensures a smooth, personalized, and deeply immersive journey into the world of art, aligning perfectly with its mission to make art understanding more intuitive, enjoyable, and accessible for every visitor.
Note: Feel free to try the AR features I created like face-changing and fire-breathing by scanning the QR code in the prototype or the accompanying image.
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