0
Background
1
R&Discovery
2
Core Needs
3
Ideation
4
Prototype
5
Test
6
Conclusion

Discover the world’s public art

A 'Goodreads' for public art

Proof of concept for a public art directory
The Background
ArtQuest is an application users can use to find current public art by location, bookmark, and save those encountered. Users can plan art visits for their travels, and can collect art they encounter.
The Scope
An end-to-end application
My Role
UX Designer, solo
proof of concept only
Timeline
Sept — Nov 2023
80 hours
Tasks
User Research, UI Design, Prototyping, Usability Testing
The Problem

For many, “museum” art is inaccessible.

Art is everywhere, but current resources to free public art are limited and siloed.
‍
This project aimed to uncover organic methods of learning about art; outside the museums, art and design schools, media we consume, there is free art to be discovered in our communities and public spaces.
How might we...

make art more accessible?

The
A Solution

An art directory that spotlights current public art around the world.

1
Explore
2
Bookmark
3
Collect
Experiencing art is a deeply personal and unique endeavor for artists, travelers, and students. ArtQuest is application that considers their reason to discover art.

Research & Discovery

ArtQuest’s competitors are painting an almost-complete picture.

Details of the art, such as an image, artist description, medium, artist intent, time period, cultural context, current location and environment are carefully organized and noted. Finally, through a quick scan of the art in-person, your mark is added to the metadata and history of this art.
Direct
Organizations, retailers, museums, galleries
Scan and identify art, collect
Links out to wiki and museum tickets
Make it easy for users plan a visit with more information about exhibition dates
This, but w/ all available & past public art
NYC locals, tourists
Institutional partners
Secondary
Indirect
Target Market
Competitor Type
Fostering partnerships with institutions, Accessibility features, Digital guides

Written and labeled in a way that works seamlessly with a screen reader
Video narratives of art and artist

Finding existing pockets of the city to inject and celebrate art and living artists
Portfolio of their projects
Strengths
Opportunities
Weaknesses
Bloomberg Connect
Smartify
Seemless in-app navigation
Public Art Fund
Designed for when the user is at the museum, therefore, doesn’t share information about dates

I interviewed 9 people who experienced art in the last year.

What people talk about when they talk about art.
Taking it slow
“I like to quietly immersive myself in the art and can take forever sometimes to read descriptions.

I don’t care for a guided tour. Just want to go at my own pace, you know?”
Luke
Seeing different perspectives
“It was a local exhibition by a queer artist.

I wanted to learn more about their unique perspective, and wanted to support a fellow woman of color.”
Lori
Traveling for art
“I took a weekend trip to Paris in 2020 for a Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the Grand Palais.

I chose to make the trip because it was the first major retrospective in decades (since 1992) in the Lautrec’s home country.”
Leo
Luke, Lori, & Leo are

connecting with themselves and other people through art.

User goals
to connect emotionally, spiritually, and socially.
system requirements
  • Recommended by a trusted, knowledgeable source
  • Sharing relevant information about the art and artist
  • Accessible location / environment
How might we...
empower people like Luke, Lori, & Leo,

to engage w/ local art communities?

Defining core needs

To help users connect with art, this project aims to facilitate discovering and learning about art in their community as well as around the world.

ArtQuest’s goal is to support art enthusiasts in finding art
‍

This project aims to
‍connect people with
local art

People want to learn something new, and find something to connect to

Organizing art by place, artist, and object type provides access to art for every situation.

Bookmarked items can be used as an itinerary for future trips.

Ideation

A public art directory powered by a dynamic map view to energize users on their quest to find art.

Must-have
Art map! 🗺️
Art directory 🧭
Interviews:
Users like to consume art at their own pace.

Competitive analysis:
Bloomberg Connects and Smartify provide audio guides
A way to quickly and easily save / collect artworks encountered

A visual map of all art encountered with the application
A unified source to learn about all art / events depending on the desired location
Interviews:
Users use various resources to learn about local art and events

Competitive analysis:
‍All trails, Community → shares with users local and following community activities
Purpose
Supporting research
Educational
Competitive analysis:
Smartify’s feature to review history of art encountered is a great way to look back on what you’ve experienced
Can come later
Description and guides are accessible, and easily accessed through custom tours created by the user
Scan and identify 📸
Competitive analysis:
Smartify’s scan and identify allows users to capture and save art encountered for later research
Competitive analysis:
Yelp, Collections → users bookmark and categorize businesses

Google maps, Go → easy start of navigation
Interviews:
Users like to share highlights from their art exploration. Many users discover new art through recommendations from friends.
A set of bookmarks of art to visit
Share tours 📮
Create tours 📍
A way to easily identify and document artwork
Ability to create a link for these custom tours for easy archive and sharing

Time and date if there is a group you want to engage with
Branding
Figure 1.1. ArtQuest’s Electric color scheme consists of two accent colors, orange and purple, and two neutral bases, blue and green.
Figure 1.2. ArtQuest uses variable font, Inter for most text and Archivo for display text.
Figure 1.3. ArtQuest’s logo mark takes the A and Q in ArtQuest to form a sun rising behind a mountain. The tail of Q is the right stroke of the A, which thickens to make a path that marks the start of a quest.
Prototyping

From local art, to featured art in trending locations, users can stay up-to-date and organized on public art around the world.

Lowfi 1.1.
Explore
Lowfi 1.2.
Art profile
Lowfi 1.3.
Bookmarks,
Encountered only
Hifi 1.1.
Bookmarks,
Recently added
Hifi 1.2.
Bookmarks,
Organized by places
Hifi 1.3.
‍Bookmarks,
Places,
Encountered separated
Testing

I conducted moderated usability tests with 4 people who visit museums when traveling

Moderated Usability Test
Goal of Test
Assess effectiveness of explore-page categories in building interest towards visiting public art
Must have interest in art (within the last year)
4 people who usually plan to visit museums while traveling
Eligibility Criteria
Recruited Participant details
Results
Task
1. Explore & bookmark
2. Review bookmarked
3. Collect
(mark item as encountered)
Completion
Ease
(scale:1-10)
User Satisfaction
(scale:1-10)
Errors
2/4
Avg: 8
0/4
4/4
4/4
Avg: 10
Avg: 10
Avg: 8
Avg: 8 
Avg: 6
4/4
1/4
Analysis
Task
2. Review bookmarked
Overall success
Strategy
User Reaction
Success ✅
Recents tab to make it easy for users to quickly review bookmarked in an explore session.
3. Collect
(mark item as encountered)
Make it easy for users to make repeat searches
Different categories provide a variety of flavors to meet the demand of changing moods for art.
Users felt exposed to a wide range of art, and expressed excitement in making travel plans.
Still, users are finding other ways to review their bookmarks. They see themselves using this feature on their travels.
Users felt it was easy as well as manageable with the number of results they were given
Needs improvement ⚠️
Needs improvement ⚠️
1. Explore & bookmark

The categories provided for exploration, “shows a wide range of art” and gets users “excited to travel to see this art”.

Users who are usually planning trips to museums now feel they have access to art they can chance-encounter on the streets of a new city.
Priority Revisions

Simplifying language

Before
After
Language updates
Quest (tab) → Saved

Your Map (tab) → My Map
Research Insight
Users had trouble distinguishing the function of Quest and Map by name

Using progressive disclosure

Bookmark not activated
Bookmark activated
Function change
Encounter button (visible) → (hidden), visible on trigger
Research Insight
We lighten cognitive load using progressive disclosure; the encountered button appears only after a user shows interest in the item by bookmarking

Powerful map view

Before
After
Function change
Map tab showed different views of encountered art (map, grid) →
Map tab shows map view of different levels of relevant items, from broad to specific (all, saved, encountered)
Research Insight
Users desired more functionality from the map: ways to discover art as well as revisit encountered

Next, how might different categories aid in art discovery?

How can we continue to update categories that would be helpful in discovery of new art? Inline with this question, a future iteration may allow users to choose categories according to their needs and/or data on their viewing activities may help determine what gets suggested.
in conclusion, this design
empowers engagement with public art.
For my travels
“
I would love something like this for my travels. I can see myself saving a bunch of art to visit, and then logging the ones I see.
‍
This would be a great supplement to my travel journal.”
Luke
To those who shared their stories and tested this product:‍

Thank you for making this work possible.

Related work

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