smART Fine Art Buying Website
A responsive website where art collectors can preview and purchase authenticated fine art.
Overview
The Problem
Busy working professionals and parents needed an easy way to preview and buy authenticated fine art for hobby and investing.
The Goal
Design a responsive website that allows users to preview, learn about, and purchase authenticated fine art in a helpful and enjoyable way.
My Role
UX designer designing the smART Fine Art Buying website from conception to delivery.
Responsibilities
Planning, scheduling, conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
Understanding the User
Summary
5 users were interviewed through a series of questions aimed at understanding when, where, and how they make art purchases online, and how they feel about utilizing a website as a part of that experience. I had assumed most users would prefer to purchase art in person, through long-established relationships with an art broker or gallery.
In general, users would be very open to using a website, save time traveling in person, and being able to reach a wider variety of art for their consideration and collecting.
Pain Points
1
Low Variety
Some online galleries only sell work from one or two artists - would like to be able to view more artists’ work in one place.
2
Can't Trust Gallery
Gallery owners can sell counterfeit works to make profits. It can take years to build up trust with one owner to feel comfortable investing with them.
3
Confusing Interfaces
Online gallery sites can have clunky interfaces which distract from viewing the art itself. The frustration can often lead to just leaving.
4
Can't See Back of Art
Art has many elements including marks on the back which often can’t be seen in online images that just include the front.
Who is our core user?
Enzo
Problem Statement
Enzo is a busy Mom and business owner who needs an easy way to buy authentic art online because she enjoys having it for investment and fun.
User Journey Map
Enzo wants primarily a clean interface so they can move through the purchase process quickly. She’ll expect predictable functionality on the site to help reinforce her trust in the gallery, and their authenticity claims on the art.
Starting the Design
Sitemap
The sitemap was laid out as an aid to visualize site structure and the hierarchy of information to include in the wireframes.
Who is essential to their journey?
Paper Wireframes
Paper wireframes allowed for quick and efficient exploration of several concepts for the Home page and other key pages of the website.
Paper wireframes were created to explore how a different screen size for a responsive site would contain the key elements of information and user actions.
Digital Wireframes - Desktop
Based on user input, the website needed to be clean, intuitive, and allow the images of the art to really be the initial draw of attention.
Digital Wireframes - Mobile
Key functionality needed to scale to a smaller screen size (in this case, mobile), while keeping the flow intuitive, and allowing the art images to really be the center of attention.
Low-Fidelity Prototype - Desktop
Users wanted few-click, simple navigation between core element of the buying experience. The low-fidelity prototypes demonstrate the connections through which the user flows in both desktop and mobile sizes.
Low-Fidelity Prototype - Mobile
What did users really want?
Findings
1
Want Landscape Images
Users wanted landscape images throughout the site to fully show large, unclipped landscape works of art
2
Artist Name is a Priority
On the Home page, users wanted to switch the copy that lists price, and instead put the artist name, which is more important at that stage of viewing
3
Add a Favorites List
Users wanted the ability to save works of art they are interested in to a “collection” or favorites list, for easier reference in the future for potential purchases
Refining the Design
Mockups
From the usability study I learned that landscape images and the artists’ name were priorities, and reflected that in the next design iteration so that the information presented was most helpful to users.
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
Users expressed a preference to have the ability to have a “collection” or list of favorites they can add art pieces to for reference later. An “Add to Favorites” button was added in the next design iteration.
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
Original Screen Size
High-Fidelity Prototype - Desktop
Users wanted the artist name features, landscape images, and a way to add art to a “collection” of favorites. An iteration was made to incorporate this input to provide a more helpful user experience.
High-Fidelity Prototype - Mobile
Accessibility Considerations
1
Images
Large images are used to help those with limited vision to more easily see the content.
2
Color
An accessible color palette is used to help ensure that those with related vision disabilities are able to see the content.
3
Buttons
Call-to-action buttons have iconography along with written copy, to help those unfamiliar with the language to still have some understanding of the button function.
Summary and Next Steps
Impact
The smART website introduced a way to enjoyable engage with art and purchase it though a clean, simple interface and experience guided by user input, behaviors, and needs. The online art buying experience now offers users a new and helpful way to enjoy their hobby and investment.
What I Learned
While designing the smART art buying website, I learned that designer assumptions can often be successfully challenged and changed by user input. This ultimately helps the user, and puts them at the forefront of all design considerations and decisions.
Next Step 1
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
Next Step 2
Conduct more user research to determine what additional website features might be useful for online art buying customers.