Google Ventures Design Sprint - Modified
For this Design Sprint, I was provided with a list of prompts to choose from in order to begin.
I chose to go with “GalleryPal”; an art gallery and museum-focused mobile app.
My Role:
Product Designer
Responsibilities:
Planning, Brainstorming, Designing Low and High-Fidelity Wireframes, and Usability Testing
Tools:
Sketch, InVision
DAY 1
Monday - Map
Problem
Museum patrons, in general, don’t have high-level knowledge of the art that they’re viewing.
While museums do have dedicated tour guides to provide context for displayed artworks, they lack the convenience, intimacy, and mobility of an app.
Goal
The GalleryPal mobile app aims to provide a better experience for purveyors of art by taking this context and putting it directly into your hands as you explore the galleries. With proper context and knowledge, pieces that were once foreign and distant become profound and relatable for visitors.
In order to create a connection with the different pieces of work and to truly appreciate them, visitors need several ‘why’s’ answered:
“Why should I care? Why is this piece famous? Why is this art unique or hard to imitate?”
If the visitor is not participating in a guided tour, these answers can be hard to come by. Even when using resources like Google, often what is found is overwhelming or too in-depth.
In this example, the persona created (Angela, 23) starts by visiting an art gallery, sees one she is unfamiliar with and uses an app to quickly pull up relevant information. The process should be quick and easy.
DAY 2
Tuesday - Sketching
For the second day of the Sprint, I began with a “Lightning Demo”. This is where you go out and research competing products in the target market space. By conducting this research, you are able to pick your favorite aspects of multiple products for inspiration and imitation.
My favorite of the group - and most impressive - would have to be the Smartify app.
This app uses the camera to scan a painting or art piece and populates information regarding its origin and history. From audio guides to maps, this app offers a very modern day solution to the problem of understanding art history.
Another app that addresses some of these problems is the National Gallery of Art mobile app.
This app uses a 3D map and interactable icons to provide guidance and information to the user visiting.
Crazy 8s
With the inspiration gained from the researched apps, I began an exercise from Google dubbed “Crazy 8’s.”
This exercise begins by selecting a single point of the user experience map created earlier.
I chose to work on the screen used to quickly pull up relevant information.. This screen fundamentally sums up the biggest pain point for users wanting more from their museum experiences.
I was tasked with creating 8 screens in 8 minutes, ideally 1 screen per minute.
While I wasn’t able to complete all 8 screens, I was able to get a clearer image of what I wanted to focus on and create.
The theme I focused on for this exercise was building a camera-based foundation. I used a combination of QR codes, hovering “guidance” arrows, and AR capabilities.
After completing the Crazy 8s exercise, the next step was to draw up a solution sketch.
Solution Sketching - Three panel board
This step in the process involves choosing the best screen from the Crazy 8s exercise and creating a three panel board consisting of the chosen screen and screens both before and after it. I chose the AR-viewing screen to start.
The first screen would be the user on the home page about to enter the AR view. The second would be a more refined version of the screen from the crazy 8s exercise - the main AR camera view. Finally, the third screen would be a result of tapping an icon for more info regarding the painting.
DAY 3
Wednesday - Storyboard
This day focused on creating a storyboard for the end to end user flow that would be most critical to the app.
In GalleryPals case, this would be the scenario in which a visitor at a museum uses GalleryPal to learn more about an art piece.
The storyboard begins with the user being greeted with the splash screen. Next, the user is asked to allow location services so the app can quickly identify what museum or gallery they are visiting. Once the museum is detected, it asks to begin the AR experience. This experience begins with the camera open and displays relevant information to the user including videos, main info (artist, date created), and audio.
With the groundwork for the app laid out it was now time to move on to creating the prototype.
DAY 4
Thursday - Prototype
My goal with this prototype was to test whether engaging in an AR-enhanced museum experience would help users learn more about the pieces of art they see while visiting. Ultimately this should be an engaging, fun, and innovative way to bring art to life.
I was interested in seeing if people would prefer having quick solo access to art history information or if they would prefer participating in a guided tour group.
- Would AR be an appealing solution for people visiting museums and galleries?
- Would it be intuitive and novel, or strange and unnecessary?
- Would there be added value for people who are in a guided tour group?
- Would people who were already knowledgeable in art history use or recommend this app?
These are the questions I most desired answers for in the upcoming testing phase.
DAY 5
Friday - Test
I recruited five users through a screening survey to ensure they had experience with art and visiting museums. Each of the people interviewed were knowledgeable in the art space, some held art history degrees, and one user had actually visited The Louvre and the Mona Lisa before (which was the main example in GalleryPal).
Throughout the usability testing, I began to notice common themes. Users who were properly given context to what AR (augmented reality) was did a better job of navigating the app. However, most users had trouble identifying what the different types of media were in the AR view. They attempted guesses but it was not obvious enough to be a cohesive and satisfying experience. The users who did understand the app and its flow felt delighted. They were quoted saying, “This is really cool!” and “This would be great to pass off to my husband.”
The user mentioning their spouse said that it would be nice to not have to explain or look up information for their non-art history major spouse. Most users agreed it would be a great app to utilize for art pieces either lesser known in general or unknown to them completely.
InVision App Prototype
Goal & Product Value
Overall GalleryPal succeeded in its goal to aid in increasing customer satisfaction while viewing art in museums and galleries. The new AR-enhanced experience helped to create an engaging and helpful tool for users to learn more about a myriad of art pieces. Acting as a personal virtual tour-guide, GalleryPal brings the most value to users who enjoy art but may not have extensive history and knowledge of it. While not all users tested said they would utilize all of the features, most agreed they would use it to quickly pull up information on art pieces they weren’t familiar with.
Next Steps
The next logical step in the process would be to iterate on all of the data obtained from the usability testing of the app prototype. First and foremost I would address the lack of clarity in both the states the users are in while navigating and the screens overall. Making sure the user was always aware of where they are and why would be a priority. Perhaps in the future I will be able to come back to this project and continue the iterative cycle to make GalleryPal the best it can be.
