Blue Period
Blue Period
Embedded Files
Virtual Tour App for Art Galleries
Brief: Design a virtual tour app, "Blue Period," for an art gallery in a metropolitan area. The app aims to enhance the experience of both in-person visitors and those unable to attend, allowing users to explore artwork and learn about artists from their phones.
Process:
Conducted user research to identify target audiences and their needs
Developed user personas and journey maps to inform design decisions
Created wireframes and prototypes, iterating based on usability testing feedback
Solution:
The final design features:
An intuitive interface that allows seamless navigation through the gallery
Interactive elements that provide detailed information about artworks and artists
A visually appealing layout that enhances user engagement
This project showcases my ability to follow a structured UX design process, from initial research to the final prototype, resulting in a user-centered solution that enriches the art gallery experience.
Brand Identity
UX Design
Graphic Design
Mobile Design
The Problem:
Busy art lovers who lack the time to visit in person and/or require more intuitive accessibility options to gain a more in-depth experience.
The Goal:
Design an app for Blue Period that allows users to experience a guided virtual tour that offers accessibility options from the comfort of their phones.
Role and Responsibitlies:
UX designer designing an app for Blue Period from conception to delivery. Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
User Research: Summary
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I was designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was busy users who wanted a guided tour experience of the gallery but did not have the time to visit in person.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions about visitors to the Blue Period Gallery, but research also revealed that time was not the only factor limiting users visiting the gallery. Other user problems included accessibility and availability issues that make it challenging to fully experience the gallery both in person and at home.
User Research: Pain Points
Time
Working adults are too busy to visit local art galleries with their busy schedules.
Interface
Text-heavy menus distract from the artwork itself and makes the interaction less appealing
Accessibility
Some users require assistive technologies that are not always readily available
Interactivity
Users want more interactive incentives for virtual tour usage.
Personas
Personas
Problem statement:
Lindsey Miller is a freelance graphic designer who needs something that can provide a form of guidance for art galleries because her son, Hunter, is dyslexic and has trouble comprehending the written descriptions about each piece of art.
User Journey Map
User Journey Map
Mapping Lindsey’s user journey revealed how useful it would be to have readily available accessibility to virtual tours with guided features from a dedicated app.
Paper wireframes
Paper wireframes
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app allowed elements that made up the digital wireframes to address each pain point. I prioritized large, visual indicators for the main home page screen to help users identify specific tours.
Digital Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
As the initial design phase continued, I made certain to base the overall designs on the user feedback and the results of the user research.
Usage of large, visual identifiers were a key user need to address in the design mockups to help remove text-heavy menu options that resulted in distractions.
Usability Study: Findings
Usability Study: Findings
I conducted one round of usability studies and findings from that study helped influence the direction the designs followed from wireframes to mockups.
High-Fidelity Prototype
High-Fidelity Prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype presented a more efficient and uniform user flow for navigating through a virtual tour of the art gallery. It also addressed the user need for an incentivised badge system for using the app
View the Blue Period
Takeaways
Impact:
The app makes users of the art gallery feel like their needs are met to provide a full experience, whether in person or at home.
One quote from peer feedback: “The app made it feel like have my own personal tour guide! I would definitely use this app when I go in person!”
What I learned::
While designing the Blue Period app, I learned the full process from user research to final design is a detailed process that is subject to change over time based on usability studies and peer feedback.
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