Clara App
Project Overview
Project type: Academic January - April 2022
Timeline: 10 Weeks
Role: UX Researcher, Design Strategy, UI/UX Designer
Platform: iOS
Project Description
Disclaimer: This is a cookie cutter case study! And I loved every bit of making it, while I am very proud of the outcome.
From Jan - April 2022 I completed a full-time Bootcamp program with BrainStation to obtain a Diploma in UX Design. During this time I was asked to complete a capstone project of a complete digital experience in a problem space of my choosing. This was very hard work!
Design Challenge
While the art market has doubled in online sales during the pandemic, to a record high of $12.4 billion, the majority of visual artists - 61% reported freelance and contract work as a main source of income and not art sales.
______ Defining The Problem
Problem Space
When asked to solve a human problem within a space that I had access to, the visual arts community came to mind. This inspired me to search deeper into how artists connect within the industry and how supported are artists in general in accomplishing their career goals. When approaching the project I leveraged design thinking methodology in order to ensure a human centered approach to the problem space.
Key Research Insights
61%
of artists list freelance or contract work as the source of income while 41% said they earned from jobs related or unrelated to their field
60%
of Visual Artist Businesses make less than half the American household income
67%
of online art platforms expect the online art market to be dominated by a few international players in the next five years
______ Secondary Research
Diving deeper into the problem space
With such promising numbers in online sales growing the question remains - are artists making any money from their art? The research objective was to identify the disparities between the art market and the low income realities of visual artists, in spite of a booming online art market. What challenges do visual artists face - economical, technological, time constraints and why aren’t visual artists selling their own art online successfully?
HMW help professional visual artists join the online art community in order to gain access to an international audience and increase their art sales?
______ Primary Research
Understanding the user
In order to understand the user better I conducted a set of interviews with 4 visual artists that live in North America aged between 25 - 50. I wanted to understand what motivates them to make art, how important was selling their work online and is that something they wanted to do?
Users insights & themes. After completing the interviews I extracted quotes into pain points, motivations and behaviours and used affinity mapping to extract themes and insights. The main four themes & insights were Sales & Marketing, Values, Resources and Community.
Sales & Marketing
Artists agree that marketing requires a lot of effort to learn and that pricing their work makes them uncomfortable. They all wish to sell their work so they can sustain their art practice.
Values
Artists agree that money isn't a motivator in making art, rather a set of internal mechanisms that pushes them to think of the long term impact of their work.
Resources
Artists agree that they lack resources such as time, funding, promotion of their work and paid opportunities.
Community
Building community is very important to artists in creating connections, finding inspiration and exchanging ideas.
KEY INSIGHT | Sales & Marketing
Artist have agreed that marketing requires a lot of effort in learning and managing, and they feel lost especially in the online art space. Not having an audience makes it difficult to acquire online sales, and it represents one of the biggest barriers for artists. Having to put a financial price tag to their own work also makes artists uncomfortable. Artists would love to make an income from their own art practice, but lacking sales and marketing resources make it difficult for them to succeed.
Opportunity Selection
______ Persona
The key insight served as a foundation for understanding my user's needs, motivations and pain points. This particular insight also served as a starting exploration in identifying design opportunities towards my digital solution.
Emma Carter is a painter that in interested in finding new opportunities for her work. Since sales and marketing are a main pain point of the user, her goal is to find gallery representation so that she can get access to a wider selection of collectors that can support her work. I was able to empathize with the user by creating an experience map based on her main goal and tried to visualize where frustration exists so that I can incorporate potential solutions into the digital experience.
After completing this step I revisited the design problem and made a slight adjustment to the How Might We statement reflecting more on the frustrations to search and connect to art galleries rather than focus on art sales.
How might we help professional visual artists join the online art community in order to gain access to an international audience of art galleries and help them succeed?
Task Selection
______ User Stories
After having a clear understanding of the user's experience in trying to reach art galleries I have moved into thinking of functionality and ideating solutions towards a digital service that Emma can use. By creating user stories I can describe what features Emma is the most interested in that address her main pain points and goals.
I have authored 30 user stories that follow the structure: As a user I want to action so that benefit. After authoring 30 user stories, I grouped them into epics - user stories that share similarity in functionality.
One of Emma’s main goals is to promote her work to galleries so she can increase her income. A core epic that is in line with her goals is to discover galleries in different cities to submit her work for representation and connect with key people that work in the art industry. So the core epic is to discover galleries in new cities.
______ Solution
After creating a task flow I was ready to implement a solution that would solve the design challenge. A digital app experience that allows visual artists to connect with art galleries and collectors internationally while sharing their portfolio of work for seeking representation.
Low-Mid Fidelity Wireframes
______ Sketching
With a solution in mind I was now ready to look for inspiration and build a UI board that incorporated features and components needed for my digital application. The main feature of the app is the search for new galleries. The main components are: filter with categories and location search; impactful card design; gallery browsing; easy navigation; in message system.
Based on the solution sketches I created versions of greyscale wireframes to quickly be able to iterate on ideas and test functionality.
______ Usability Testing
As part of the design process, I conducted 2 rounds of usability tests of the greyscale prototype with 10 users in order to obtain practical, real-time feedback. The feedback was incorporated to improve the design of the app in order to provide a more optimal user experience. The testers were asked to complete a set of five tasks that were observed by me and noted during the process. This allowed me to analyze any obstacles that users had in order to accomplish their goals while using the app.
After user testing this is the final version of the greyscale prototype that was developed further into hi-fi wireframes.
Visual Identity
______ Brand Development
In order to create high fidelity wireframes and a final working prototype I had to establish the visual identity of the digital product by developing a brand from the core values of the persona. As part of the brand development process a few stages were implemented: creation of mood-board, establishing a brand name, wordmark exploration and creation of an application icon.
Before gathering any inspiration the first step was determining the main values of the brand. I did this by brainstorming a set of keywords that describes the brand adjectives. Connecting with art galleries can be intimidating so I wanted the brand to be inviting and warm. After coming up with a list of keywords I grouped the adjectives into similar categories and a short list was created: connected, industrial, artistic, warm, relaxed.
______ Word mark Exploration
For the name of the digital product I wanted to incorporate the concept of connection as well as the uniqueness of the creative community with a slight tradition. I created a few lists with names that were art connection and network specific as well as human names. I ended up with Clara ( means clear & bright in Latin ) as the final name as it is easy to remember, personable since it is a human name, unique and it reflects perception of seeing suited for visual artists.
After many iterations Aclonica typeface was chosen for the final wordmark. The roundness of letter A is perfect for the app and the brand attributes. Modern, warm, with slight tradition reminiscent of a large window captured in the geometry of the letter A and very legible at small scale. The crossbar on one A was left open to add the subtle element of connection, while the second A was closed to make it more legible.
______ Final Prototype
After having a well defined brand the next step was creating the high fidelity prototype. Colors, typography, visual identity and imagery have come together in achieving the look and feel of Clara application, while the UI board served as inspiration for functionality. After many iterations on color injection balancing type hierarchy with images the final prototype was created with an accompanying UI library based on Brad's Frost Atomic Design System.
Key Features
______ Discover art galleries worldwide
______ Submit collections from the artist profile to art galleries
______ View submissions & follow up with the gallery
Product Marketing Website
______ Responsive Experience
Since Clara app is a new digital product, creating a responsive marketing website will ensure the app gets to the right user and that it provides a great experience on multiple viewports. The marketing website's main purpose is to promote Clara app, provide value to the user by highlighting key features as well as expand the brand and direct users to download the app.
Before creating the website I created a mood-board and a UI board for functionality. The main brand color was kept for continuity while some adjectives were added like modern and aspirational to reflect the calm and reflective nature of an art gallery experience. The website inspiration was drawn from other creative businesses. I focused the content on large hero image of the product followed by drawing attention on the app's main features as well as testimonials from other users and key partnerships.
Multi-Platform Expansion
______ Web App
Part of a platform expansion I would consider a web app since my persona was using a desktop to search for art galleries online. The larger viewport would allow the user to engage with image browsing while completing other administration tasks on a desktop or tablet.
Design Impact
______ Future Thinking
Expanding the user base. For launching a minimal viable product the current user base of Clara are visual artists and art galleries. I would love in the future to expand the user base into a network of art collectors and curators.
Artist sales opportunity. In order to address the needs of the users, giving artists the opportunity to make some of their work available for purchase through the app would be a great next step.
Short term goals. l can focus on improving the user experience and fine tune some of the features available while launching a favourites page where users can go back and submit their work to saved galleries of interest.
Long term goals. In the longer term I would love to offer the artists the opportunity to host virtual exhibitions that can be viewed by their network of contacts for a small fee.
Monetization. The initial subscription would be free for artists, while art galleries would have to pay a small membership to be listed on the platform.
Key Learnings
______ Embrace The Unknown
In many ways I went into this space taking a risk with a very deep problem that I strongly believe deserves attention. Using technology to provide a solution to bridge visual artists with art galleries in an open and transparent space hasn't been done. I have learned to apply my intuition and allow my creativity to guide me in a very fluid and unexpected process. While I had moments of doubt I relied on my peers feedback and support and learned to let go of any expectations. Diving into unknown and finding the way out into a solution has been the beauty of this challenge. I learned how to apply creative problem solving towards a space I am passionate about while validating any assumptions through research and empathizing with the user at any point during the process.
Credits:
Images: Pexels, Unsplash | Illustrations: Streamline, Icons8 | Mockups: Placeit, Artboard Studio, Mockup, Clay Mockup 3D Logos: Vector Logos
