GalleryGo

Discover Plan Visit the best exhibition

The product:

An app & website help people discover, plan, visits exhibitions

Project duration:

July 2024 - Feb 2025

The problem:

Exhibition information are scatted around internet, every gallery have their own opening and closing time.

The goal:

A platform to gather all the information, making it easy to discover new exhibition & gallery

“I’ve always been aware of this issue since my art school days. Discovering new galleries and exhibitions often relies more on word-of-mouth. Sometimes, you only learn about something after it’s already closed.”

Process

User research

Based on research and conversations with industry insiders, I have discovered that the majority of individuals rely on either art-specific websites or social media platforms, or newsletters from galleries, for information pertaining to the art world.

Pain point 1

The selection of exhibitions featured on art-websites are heavily depends on the writer’s preferences and priorities. New galleries or smaller exhibitions may not receive the same level of attention or visibility.

Pain point 2

Gallery Newsletter is specific to the gallery and may vary depending on the director’s selection of exhibitions to curate.

Pain point 3

It can be challenging to locate suitable exhibitions for newcomers to the city.

Persona

Emma

Age: 23

Education: Undergrad student

Hometown: Brighton

Family: Live with her family

Occupation: Student

Goals

Become a full-time painting artist.

Finding inspiration, and building a network.

Frustrations

Missing an exhibition due to knowing too late.

Lack of industry connections.

Duncan

Age: 38

Education: Master / doing his PHD

Hometown: London

Family: Live with his partner

Occupation: Art teacher in University

Lucy

Age: 33

Education: Master

Hometown: London

Family: Live with her husband and 2 daughters

Occupation: Lead designer

Goals

Become a full-time painting artist.

Finding inspiration, and building a network.

Frustrations

Missing an exhibition due to knowing too late.

Lack of industry connections.

Goals

Become a full-time painting artist.

Finding inspiration, and building a network.

Frustrations

Missing an exhibition due to knowing too late.

Lack of industry connections.

Problem statement

Emma is a busy art university student, who needs an app to help her discover exhibitions quickly and know when it’s closing time, because it will help her not miss exhibitions.

Duncan is a researcher working at an art university, also doing a PhD, who needs an app to help him explore, plan, and book exhibitions because it will save lots of time in planning and make sure he goes to the one that will be helpful for him.

Lucy is a busy designer and a mother of two, who needs an app to help her discover and plan exhibitions quickly, because it will help her go see exhibitions more often to help with her work and inspire her children.

Competitor research

I identified three websites that provide similar services. I evaluated each website based on its features & user experience, visual design, and distinctive offerings.

New Exhibition

Distinctive offerings

Detailed information of exhibition across uk, written by professionals

Visual design

Consistent throughout the website design, but the style is crowded, lacking breathing space.

Features

The website has all features to find a suitable exhibition, including details. However, it lacks search function. It does show opening and closing times on the quick view page.

User experience

The user interface is intuitive, with all functions conveniently accessible. However, the map doesn’t zoom out when you close a tab on an exhibition. Individual pages lack a back button, and navigation is slow.

Art Rabbit

GalliersNow

Distinctive offerings

A crowd-sourced database enables individuals to organise events

Visual design

A well-designed map with clear boundaries. However, the sections could be better defined, making it difficult to distinguish between them, particularly on the first page.

Features

Clear and effective information, user-friendly search function. But lacking open&close time.

User experience

Adaptive map to reduce cluttered, new page for detailed information. It is straightforward to resume from the previous point on map. A comprehensive submenu is provided for all website features, and a search function is accessible on every page.

Distinctive offerings

Detailed information of exhibitions across the world. They offer gallery membership for some galleries.

Visual design

A clear and consistent visual design throughout, all functions are easy to understand. However, the map was cluttered with numerous labels and performance-demanding elements.

Features

Ongoing exhibitions of the month are available in a downloadable PDF file, good for offline use. However, the extensive data can be overwhelming to navigate and find specific information about an exhibition.

User experience

Despite its intuitive layout and user-friendly navigation of the website. The non interactive map lacks a search function, making it less usable.

Information Architecture

Ideation

Exhibition detail & my list
Home page & Map
Map
Creating new trip
Ideation of note page
Ideation of trip page
Ideation of home page

Wireframe

User profile

First testing

Plan:

Goal: Testing the main user flow of the website (1. Discover 2. Save 3. Plan), Prove of idea.

KPIs: Time on task, User error rate, usability scale

Methodology: Moderated study

Location: Online (Zoom)

Participants: 1 art tutor, 1 gallery worker, 1 curator, 3 art lovers

The initial usability study was planned and based on the wireframe. However, during testing, I discovered that the stripped-down nature of the design lacked essential information for users to comprehend. Consequently, the results may not have been as precise as desired. Nevertheless, the study yielded valuable insights into user flow and the diverse interactions users had with the interface.

Problem:

Participant didn’t fully understand the add exhibition page, which wasn’t clearly labelled. (Could be due to lack of information on cards.)
When being asked to discover a new exhibition, some participants clicked on the new trip option.
The exhibition details functioned well; some participants clicked on it before I asked them to.
We couldn’t test save functions due to limitations of Sigma; however, all participants showed an understanding of the function.
Users were asking how the time duration is decided.
The menu is a little confusing with the main topic in the middle and the sub-menu on the side.
The grey colour theme were not encouraging for further exploration

Insights:

The initial usability study was planned and based on the wireframe. However, during testing, I discovered that the stripped-down nature of the design lacked essential information for users to comprehend. Consequently, the results may not have been as precise as desired. Nevertheless, the study yielded valuable insights into user flow and the diverse interactions users had with the interface.

Function as intended, people found it useful.
A comprehensive tutorial elucidating the functions would significantly enhance user experience.
Providing actual content will facilitate users in grasping each function a effectively.
A simplified menu system would improve user navigation and efficiency.
Users anticipate the release of mobile app.
A more vibrant colour scheme will draw greater attention.

Mobile Information Architecture

Based on initial testing feedback, I’ve decided to start with mobile version for this stage of development. This ensures I can close the main user loop(discover, plan, navigate, note taking). Location-based services like exhibition details and note-taking will be the main focus.