VenU
An art galleries artist bio app.
VenU is an app that brings physical artists first!
With its minimalistic UI that's easy to navigate, easy to book art exhibitions, and options to purchase art from your new or long favored gallery artist!
With VenU, the app, allowing the artist to be the front and center is the mission. Giving the audience/their following direct access to local (and not so local) favorites, updates on purchasables like prints, and up to date exhibitions!
VenU | The four steps taken
Below is the entirety of the four steps for VenU. Over time the design came together using these slides as a crucial guide for this projects design!
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November 2021
Early December 2021
Initially, for the UX Design course presented by Coursera, the idea for an app that can bring art galleries artists bio went in many directions. Not because of the route but because of the design. The first difficulty was how to make it so the apps best features were the artists and not the platform. But still, I had to make the user interface manageable to navigate without losing interest. I had to understand the user.
Then came the sketching and the wireframes!
I used the concept of creating an app that replicates a coffee shop since my initial idea had ideas for VenU was product purchasing.
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Below is the first two paper wireframes and the first digital frame in a Iphone mockup!
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Late December 2021 - Early February 2022
Then came the platform research and design.
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Notice the last two points. Systemically, they're backwards. I neglected to research outside of my own experience as a user of social media when building the sketches. This is because, with my daily social media app usage, I went off of experience of being a user.
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But as I noticed when doing the research. Whether it be on comparable apps in its genre or functions/wants from the user. When you pay attention to how platforms are constructed, they all have similarities and just slightly different differences. At least the most commons one. The swiping and scrolling was the most important. How could I organize the material so it flows in either direction was a concern.
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When the low fidelity model was ready for a user test. The first research and usability test shed light on a lot of aspects of the design. See below for the first concept! It is a combination of wireframing and the lo fidelity prototype!
February 2022 - March 2022
Here are some examples straight from the user tasking, user journey map, and a persona!
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A persona was used to evaluate things like how does the common or uncommon person benefit from this app. What kind of person would use it and how useful can it be to different people? How do you define differing people? And so on.
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March 2022 - May 2022
After getting to a point in the usability research where all data was collected, concentrated, and key areas of the concept were transformed. The design and app all together began taking on a new look!
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While translating the information from the test. Piling similar criticism was the key points to rework the product from. similar negatives showed that there was a problem here and it needs to be fixed!
March 2022 - May 2022
The newest mockup gets treated with a more detailed and complimenting asset pack. This includes illustrations to mimic avatars, defined boxes with accurate descriptions or captions, simpler pages, and a light profile with many more upgrades to showcase a new hi fidelity product.
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The final design, which ended up being mockup number three, is incorporated from the original idea and more are implemented from the results of the usability test. That includes keeping micro transactions for art pieces and artist (or art pieces) tour scheduling's! To be able to find an artist you can literally embrace at an exhibition brings a different sense of purpose in this app!
For the adventurous or one's who just enjoy the occasional trip to see art, VenU gives them a straight forward platform to experience.
March 2022 - May 2022
Below is a comparison of the old design to the new design!
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Plus the hi fidelity prototyp map!
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April 2022
At the end, I learned the ins and outs of good research, application, avoiding bias, creating accessibility with contrast of colors in mind, simplicity and application!
To create a smooth mock up, from scratch to finish, became a game of trial and error. In the end, once I dove into the needs of the user and adjusting according to their experience with the product. The biggest challenges became only a matter of tending to simple functions while producing a product that sticks to the mission of finding art!
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This has been VenU: An art galleries artist bio app.
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Below you can find a link to the Google Slides presentation, the prototypes link (made with Figma) and my personal information!
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I hope you enjoyed!
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Morgan James, NY
Sole UX Designer | Project Manager
Email:
Location:
Date of Birth:
Watertown, CT
August, 1994
