GalleryPal

Overview

Gallery and museum attendees are often overwhelmed by the amount of information accompanying their art viewing experience.

Within today’s society it is paramount to limit information overload and remain present to real-life experiences. GalleryPal assists visitors by improving their in-person viewing experience by providing control on how much information and in what way information is transferred from the artist to onlooker. The design of GalleryPal uses a modified Google Ventures Design Sprint methodology which will be explained in detail within this case study.

Problem

Art viewers want to be provided choices in order to tailor to their needs while viewing artwork. They want quick and easy to digest information that enhances their understanding of the artist and the artist’s reasons behind their creative process. Contrary to what visitors want, they are often met with resources that bombard them with information and make their art viewing experience overwhelming.

GalleryPal is designed to empower the user with choices on how much information they would like to obtain about certain artists and artwork. Rather than being at the whim of what the gallery deems important, the viewer gets to decide how much or how little support they would like to receive making their art viewing experience uniquely theirs.

  • GalleryPal offers a quick facts list on the artist and additionally includes an audio recording of an interview with the artist. The “Read More” button takes the user to another longer bio page of the artist serving as an option for those wanting to know more. This is just one of the many features where the user has control on the amount of information they receive.

My Role

Independently leading all aspects of this modified design sprint project to include visual, UX, and UI design elements. Documenting feedback from user testing participants toward multiple ideation ideas for improving the functionality and overall design of GalleryPal in future next steps.

Process

Using a modified Google Venture Design Sprint methodology over a five day span.

Day One: Research/Map

Gather information through secondary research to understand what gallery and museum visitors currently experience when viewing artwork in a gallery or museum setting. Empathizing with their pain points already present to include: the need for quick information gathering, choices to the amount of information they acquire, and options to how information is presented. Many visitors experience information overload when presented with too much information which hinders their overall experience.

Below is an illustration on a possible end-to-end experience a user would experience while using GalleryPal:

Day Two: Sketch/Solution

Look at competitor products solving a similar problem through lighting demos. Document anything that works well and other things that prove less supportive to solving the overall problem.

Examples of competing products that inspire me to design my sketches:

  • Circles locate specific aspects about the piece deemed areas of interest.

  • There is an audio options to give variation to how information is delivered.

  • A floor map depicting where art collections are located within the gallery.

  • There is a button to read more allowing the user to obtain additional

    information.

  • Longer text to give additional information if requested.

  • Plenty of additional information if the user would like to access it but is not presented to them in an overwhelming way.

Most Critical Screen

The sketch below circled in red is the most critical screen where the user performs the primary action of selecting an artwork/artist that they would like to learn more about. Based on my research this is where the majority of information overwhelms the viewer as they attempt to learn as much as they comfortably can about what interests them most.

Crazy 8 Sketch

The sketches below are simple variations of the most critical screen drawn quickly using the crazy 8 method.

Best Screen from Crazy 8 Sketch

The sketch below depicts a three panel progression of navigational steps within the design using the best sketch from my crazy 8 sketch. I chose this sketch for it is the most creative way to deliver information about the artist and their artwork when compared to the rest of my sketches with hopes to excite the user. I knew this sketch was going to be in my final design because it empowers the user with multiple ways to access information delivering interactive explanations, quick facts, and an audio recording about the work. This screen also provides the option to read more if the user would prefer a lengthier explanation, however it also safeguards the user from too much information by placing additional information on the following screen.

Day Three: Create a Storyboard

Elaboration of the three-panel sketch from above into a sequential storyboard, pictured below, to aide in the design development of a prototype. Each frame includes UI elements to allow the user to carry out specific tasks during user testing. The screens progress in sequential order enabling the user to proceed through the app acquiring further information about the topic they are exploring. It begins with minimal descriptions and quick facts progressively getting more elaborate with substantially longer text empowering the user to access more in-depth explanations if they wish.

Day Four: Prototype

The high-fidelity wireframes below include a lot of information about the gallery, artists, and works of art. The design takes into consideration how much information is presented on each screen starting with basic facts and having navigational options to explore additional information if the user chooses in an attempt not to overwhelm the user with too much information all at once. The design includes audio features to give variety on how information is delivered.

GalleryPal Prototype

Day Five: Test

All 5 participants are active artists and heavily experienced in viewing artwork at galleries or museums regularly. Three males and two females all between the ages of 32-42.

Finding five participants for user testing of GalleryPal was fairly easy considering I belong to a large art community. The participants were eager to try the app and were delighted with what it provided. All users said that the app would prove supportive to them when researching for art and artist information prior to attending art shows and would additionally improve their overall experience while viewing the show in real time. Overall, testing proved extremely valuable in determining what worked well for users while simultaneously revealing areas within the design that could use improvement to make the app more intuitive and beneficial to the user.

Suggested Improvements for Future Iterations

  • Making the home page image for ARTvibes gallery a clickable CTA button that would lead the user to gallery info for upcoming shows.

  • Make the gallery map a clickable feature to take user to different artists and different works of art within the gallery.

  • Would prefer to have more control viewing the works with the artist’s interpretation, incorporating an additional action required to view the interpreted work if the viewer would rather view the work before being presented the information.

  • Moving audio recordings to the top portion of the design on each page instead of locating it towards the bottom

  • Would like a video listening to the artist statement.

Design Features That Worked

  • Circled artist interpretations on each work.

  • Self-reflections section for each work appreciated.

  • Quick facts for artists and work.

  • Option to obtain longer text through audio recordings.

  • Overall design was intuitive.

Conclusion:

My main objective throughout this design process was to create an interface that acted as a mediator between the artist and the art appreciator. To present the artistic context of the creator in a digestible format that allowed the general public to comprehend. 100% of my testing participants commented that I was successful in my mission and that they would be extremely inclined to use this app while visiting art galleries and museums in the future.

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