TL;DR
In response to a 5-day design sprint challenge, I designed a mobile app prototype that acts as a pocket art historian, inspired by my background in art history.
Artefacts lets users scan art for quick, curated info that enhances any in-person art experience.
The problem
Users want more art context, but at their own pace
Many museum and gallery visitors look for deeper and more meaningful facts than what exists on the little plaque next to an interesting piece of art. Things like intent, technique, or historical context are often missing.
An internet search often takes viewers out of the experience, and turns up info that’s too dense or too generic to be helpful in the moment.
Others prefer a solo experience, without tour guides or text-heavy explanations.
“Sometimes I’ll do a quick Google search... but I usually just find long articles that are super overwhelming.”
– Nick, museum visitor
The sprint challenge
5 days to design & deliver a working mobile prototype
In this super fast-paced sprint, I chose a prompt with some pre-existing UX research as my design foundation. I went on to design end-to-end and execute everything from research and ideation, to wireframes, hi-fi prototyping, testing, and iteration.
The solution
Give gallery goers scannable, bite sized art facts
I designed Artefacts to build upon the art viewing experience by offering the option to dive deep or just skim for extra context, without pulling users out of the moment.
Viewers can have the freedom to explore art more deeply, on their own terms.
Sprint day 1: understanding & mapping
I mapped the user’s museum journey from arrival to artwork interaction, looking for moments where viewers would most likely want to scan and get extra facts.
Reviewed all user research and challenge brief meterials
Sprint day 2: research & sketches
Used crazy 8’s and competitive analysis to explore potential layout ideas focusing on fast, scan-first approach with the option for more in-depth reading.
Goolge Arts & Culture
Informative, but overwhelmingly broad and geared more towards a digital experience, rather than an in-person one.
Magnus
Focused more on market info for art collectors, but offered a strong scan function.
Crazy 8’s & sketches to quickly brainstorm ideas
Observed the competition & rapidly ideated
Sprint day 3: wireframes & flows
Built medium-fidelity wireframes to flesh out red routes and focus on feature design, navigation, and button placement.
Turned feature ideas into a solid foundation
Sprint day 4: high-fidelity prototype
From the start of this challenge I knew I wanted a polished UI using a dark, moody color palette to reflect a ture museum ambiance.
Rebranding Artefacts
Orginially ‘GalleryPal’, I rebranded to better reflect the app’s refined, educational focus.
Prototype highlights
Features A Sunday Afternoon by Seurat to envoke the moody, organic feel of classic art.
Central scan button in antique yellow for visual hierarchy.
Tappable hotspots on scanned artworks.
Art Vault to revisit favorites.
Logo
Audio narration to go hands free & stay present.
Brand, aesthetics, and visuals brought to life
Sprint day 5: user testing & iteration
I made several iterative changes based on the results of my user testing, improving feature control, accessibility, and visual hierarchy.
Improved labeling
Added label to scan icon for consistency and clarity.
Toggle for hotspots
Let users hide hotspots to better view the full artwork.
Introduced tab structure
Separated favorites into “Artists” and “Artworks” in the Art Vault for easier navigation.
Increased accessibility
Improved text contrast on home screen content cards for legibility.
5, in-person user tests shaped the final prototype
Thriving under pressure
Learnings
This was easily one of my favorite projects to date.
The idea for Artefacts struck me like a bolt of lightning as soon as I read the prompt. It combined my years of studying art history as an art major with my journey into UX design. I had an absolute blast during this 5-day sprint. The decisions had to be sharp and on point, and I surprised myself with how much I could accomplish under pressure.