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Designing the First-ever Native Application for the Whitechapel Gallery
Designing the First-ever Native Application for the Whitechapel Gallery
Designing the First-ever Native Application for the Whitechapel Gallery
CONCEPT PROJECT
The Whitechapel Gallery was founded in 1901 to bring great art to the people of east London.
Overview
In this concept project, I worked in a team of four to create the first-ever native application for the Whitechapel Gallery.
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THE CHALLENGE
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With the growing popularity of podcasts and videos, there was an opportunity to deliver multimedia content to the Gallery’s site visitors to create a more highly-engaging experience and encourage learning within its collections.
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MY ROLE
The group shared tasks throughout the design and research processes, however, I mainly contributed to:
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User research
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Concept and design of the low/mid-fidelity wireframes
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Usability testing
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Creation of the final presentation
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PROJECT RESULTS
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Introduced a scanner feature so that users could get more information instantly and interact directly with the art.
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Added a "cool" feature to allow users to create and share unique custom images.
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RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
The Gallery Experience
A site visit early on in the research process was important for us to acquaint ourselves with the gallery’s spaces and understand how and what it catered to its visitors.
1. Contextual Inquiry
WHAT VISITORS SAID
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The Gallery's floor plan is confusing. A “citymapper” for its users?
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There needs to be more background information about the art pieces, such as the story behind them or in-depth commentaries.
WHAT THE STAFF SAID
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The Gallery’s curators do not teach them about all exhibitions and so there is a lack of interaction between visitors and staff members. How could the staff provide information to visitors if they themselves were uninformed?
2. Screener Survey &
User Interviews
We sent a list of questions via Google Forms to get a deeper understanding of behaviours, motivations, and attitudes towards viewing and learning from exhibitions.
We received a total of 30 responses from people aged 18–65. Most were museum-goers and relied on brochures to guide them through exhibits. Many preferred this option over the use of audio guides, which they felt were antiquated, expensive, and had long explanations. At the same time, there were those who were impressed by museums that already used current technology to enhance the user’s experience.
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INSIGHTS
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Brochures and audio guides provided visitors with a certain level of information but was it enough to quench their thirst for knowledge?
Rely on pamphlets or reading material from the exhibit
Listened to audioguides in their last visit
I get frustrated when there is lack of information regarding artists, their lives, the type of art they create and reason behind their creations and materials.
DEEPER INSIGHTS​
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When it came to ways of learning from exhibitions, nearly all respondents were open to the idea of using an app on their mobile phone. They felt that a paper-less solution would not only help save the planet but would also allow visitors to have a more personalised experience and connect more deeply with the art. Most wanted to have interactive opportunities, such as video trailers and multimedia content, which an app could most certainly provide.
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The interviews also highlighted the growing importance of social media in spreading awareness and creating unique experiences for users. Through social media outlets users were able to learn about exhibitions in their area. Many came across a photo that was shared on Instagram or saw an event on Facebook that a friend was attending.
Key Findings:
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Providing the right amount of information
People were not satisfied with the amount of information they were getting from brochures and audio guides. They felt the content was limiting and not interactive enough.
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Finding your way
Navigating through a museum or gallery can feel like getting lost in a maze. Users felt not knowing where to go or feeling like you haven’t explored all the spaces could take away from having a great experience.
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Sharing on social media
Most users discovered about events happening in their city through social media outlets.
3. Competitive Analysis
Since we were designing an app from scratch, we wanted to get a general idea of what our competitors were offering.
Artsy & Google Arts - Interactive features.
Brooklyn Museum - Allows users to ask questions, get information, and share insights via live, one-on-one texting with one of their knowledgeable experts.
V&A - Floor plan to help visitors navigate through the museum.
DEFINE PROBLEM & SOLUTION
FRAMING THE PROBLEM
With all the information we gathered from the user interviews, we created a fictional persona, Rose. Through Rose, we hoped to overcome her two main pain points which were related to navigation and learning within the Gallery.
1. PROBLEM STATEMENT
Rose needs a way to confidently navigate the Gallery, learn more about exhibits and individual pieces because she currently struggles to learn new things from the signage at museums alone.
2. Feasibility Map
Taking into account the brief, our user research and competitive analysis, we mapped out the feasibility of our functionalities and chose to solely focus on the features that would address the core needs of our users.
What we found was that all of the functionalities, that are highlighted in the diagram above, relate to exhibitions. This discovery spurred our decision to make the app exclusively about exhibitions and helped us outline the three main goals of the app:
FIND, INFORM & HAVE FUN
DESIGN, TEST & ITERATE
The Design
Feature 1: Interactive Map
The first feature we designed was an interactive map. We thought it would help users navigate themselves within the gallery and learn more about the various pieces of art.
We developed our concept further into a low-fidelity prototype to also include the rest of the journey.
FLOOR PLAN
EXHIBITION PAGE
INTERACTIVE MAP
We tested the prototype with nine individuals and learned that it was not as intuitive to them as we had initially expected. Users found the process:
The Feedback
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Cumbersome
Got lost in the journey and functionality.
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Took away from the gallery experience
Users did not want to be staring at their phone.
The Solution
We needed to amend our design to give it a more engaging experience. We decided to divide and conquer by solving each issue separately.
Feature 1: Interactive Map
We created a two-screen map system that highlighted the rooms associated with the exhibits. It could also locate restrooms and other museum services quickly with the help of a drop-down menu.
Users found this more practical and manageable.
Feature 2: Scanner
We introduced a scanner feature so that users could get more information instantly about a particular piece of art. This new feature allowed users to interact directly with the art and still feel present in the space.
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The scanner feature also provided more highly curated information such as trivia, fun facts, multimedia content and the possibility to save and share.
Users felt that it was more interactive and engaging and gave a sense of discovery within their journey.
Feature 3: Onboarding
To help the user navigate through our app, we designed onboarding screens.
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The top portion of the screen illustrates the app’s benefits with language and graphics that set the tone. The bottom portion describes the functionalities that encapsulate those benefits and introduces our primary icons.
Feature 4: The Cool Feature
Throughout the design process, we had been thinking about incorporating a cool feature for our users to enjoy. One that would deliver tangible rewards to visitors. More than that, we decided it should be hidden to reflect the museum’s sense of discovery within the app.
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Our cool feature allows users to create and share unique custom images.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
Prototype Walkthrough
REFLECTION
One Team, One Dream
As a first group project in a design sprint, our team managed to work together to deliver a final product that we all believed in. I feel very lucky to have worked with an extraordinary group of talented and forward-thinking individuals. We might have had our differences at times, but we managed to put them aside to work towards a common goal. We worked hard, and pushed ourselves, and enjoyed every minute of the process.
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As this was a time pressured concept project, we would have liked the time to have:
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Done an accessibility review of the app so that everyone can get the most out of the gallery experience.
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Researched ways to build loyalty amongst the members to prompt others to join and commit to supporting the local east London community.
