Art Space Application
Introducing my first personal project to you. This began as an Art History application for the local community in Bangladesh. However, preliminary research revealed that users want a platform through which they could interact with other individuals who are interested in art and also support their local artists and arts. As a result, our application strives to meet their needs.
The product:
Art Space application is an easy-to-use platform for the local community of Bangladesh to find nearby art galleries that aligns with their interests.
Project duration:
From the initial research phase to the usability studies, the project duration is about 2 months.
Responsibilities:
User Research (User interviews, developing personas, identifying problem statements)
Design (developing lo-fi and hi-fi prototype)
User testing: Conducting semi-structured interviews and identifying patterns and themes.
User Research: Summary
I conducted interviews with 16 participants. They were from Dhaka, Bangladesh, of various different ages and professions. The challenges faced by them also varied because of the experiences they’ve had with art and art history. Before doing the interview, I had some preconceived notions about people’s interest in art. However, the whole process taught me how creative fields awaken something deep within individuals and that people in my city are willing to explore more if given the correct opportunities and resources. During user research, the interview data was analysed to identify the user pain points. The synthesis and the analysis were used to develop the 3 user personas.
Time & Cost
The users don’t get to visit art galleries/exhibitions as much as they would like to due to transportation issues and/or expensive tickets.
Pain Points
Social
It’s difficult to find like-minded people to visit places.
Lack of diversity
It is difficult to get hold of local artists and the work they do. There is also lack of diversity in the art shown in certain places.
User Personas
Starting the Design
Paper Wireframes
This is the first draft of the homepage. The homepage fulfils the goal was to make it easier for the user to view various different kinds of art and artists and also to look for anything they want or like. It addresses the user pain point of finding galleries and art nearby.
Low-fidelity Prototype
The Homepage itself provides the user the option to look for art themselves and find friends to go to art galleries with them. The users can navigate to all the important places from the Homepage. It also provides the user with options of nearby art galleries and also provides recommendations.
After that, if the users select one of the Popular Near You galleries, they can view all the details of the gallery and the address. The map link is also provided. The user can also share this gallery with their buddies or just simply message them.
The search page is designed keeping the users’ convenience in mind as it displays the recent searches according to art gallery, art, genre, and artist.
Get a full view of the low-fidelity prototype here
Usability Study: Findings
The usability study is done with 11 participants (6 male, 5 female) of different professions. It has provided me with useful insights that I can use to make the art gallery application better for all kinds of users. The participants were all new users of the application to prevent any kind of biases.
The findings are given below:
Users find the locked version of the account rather time-consuming and inefficient.
The registration page is too cluttered.
Users want to be able to recover their passwords.
A bottom navigation bar is preferred on every page after registration or log in.
Refining the Design
Mockups
A bottom navigation bar was preferred by the user during the usability test. As a result, a fixed navigation bar is in each screen.
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
The registration page is less made to be less cluttered and the users can now key in one information at a time.
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
The registration page is less made to be less cluttered and the users can now key in one information at a time.
High-fidelity Prototype Link
Accessibility Considerations
Navigation that is Consistent: It is ensured that repeating components appear in the same order on each page of a website.
The use of Headers: Users with limited short-term memory, low eyesight, or difficulties reading text might benefit from this since they can only view a few words at a time.
Color Contrast
The color contrast between elements is designed in order to make it more accessible for people with any kind of visual impairments.
Takeaways
“The app is easy to use because of its familiarity aspects and will bring the art community of Dhaka closer” – quoted one of the participants. This application could be the foundational step of the art community to connect and also support local artists and art galleries.
Impact
The results of the usability studies and how research can make any design more goal-driven and accessible is my biggest learning experience from the project.
Learnings
Next Steps….
Moving forward, as the goal of the application is to support local art and artists, I think we can expand this app to a version for the artists where they can display their art and even sell it.
For that, initial interviews should be done with aspiring local artists and how they vision the platform to be.
Finally, after identifying the user requirements, a version of the prototype can be designed and integrated with the correct prototype for a holistic version of Art Space.
