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  Affordable art fair™

native app & augmented reality

 

Case study, done with Ciri Stowell

MY ROLE: Market Research | Usability | User Research | Analysis

The Opportunity


This was a passion project wherein Ciri and I came up with the idea together. We were challenged to work not just on a native app, but to also look at how to challenge or use new forms of technology.


PROBLEM: We both know many avid art collectors who have visited the Affordable Art Fair™ and who have had issues purchasing art because they are often overwhelmed with the number of options. Consequently we came up with the following problem statement:

 

As an art collector, I want to be able to visualize how a specific piece of art will look in my space so that I can decide easily if it is the right fit for me.

 

SOLUTION: We created an app wherein the user can take measured photographs of their walls and then go to the Affordable Art Fair™, use the QR scanner to read the art (and its dimensions), and then be able to move the art around accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

The design


Although Ciri was the lead in designing this app, she and I worked closely together to see what we could do and how. Together, we had to consider all of our options and even consulted with engineers who could vouch that the technology is applicable and could be used and applied with ease. Though we had over 5 iterations, here I will show the pre- and post- engineer iterations.

 

 

PRE-ENGINEER ITERATIONS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post-Engineer Iterations:

 

After we got the go ahead, Ciri touched up several of the screens and added a few more options to make the UI as user friendly as possible. To stay within the style of the Affordable Art Fair, she kept brand loyalty by using the same fonts and colors as the Afforadable Art Fair. Here are examples of the loading screen, the "Edit Art on Wall" screen, and the "My Walls" screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Testing


In total, I tested with over fifteen users. These tests were all done in person and recorded for the benefit of Ciri and I. While I tested, Ciri would process the previous recommendations and we would determine if any design changes would be necessary. Here's an example test:

The Research

 

While Ciri researched the different technologies that could be applied, I concentrated on the competitive and comparative analysis. I discovered that there are relatively few affordable art fairs (priced up to $10K) and of those none had long lasting, native apps. Therefore, I also looked at how online affordable art retailers function, how much they charge and their history. Here are the results from the top three possible competitors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also created this business model canvas to better understand the Affordable Art Fair™ and its business goals and needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sent out surveys to understand how people buy affordable, but still fairly expensive, art. Since this inquest was for such a small market, we only received twenty one responses over the course of three separate surveys. Still, it generated some interesting results.  First of all, it allowed us to see that everyone had their own description of affordable. Secondly, we realized that people of all walks of life and ages are very interested in purchasing art, but that they all tended to have similar issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From here, we interviewed at least seven people about their individual experiences and created an affinity map to understand the similarities between them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this information, I then compiled the following personas, using the ages, interests, and concerns that we had gathered from our interviewing and surveying. Here's our main persona that we chose to use:

next steps

 

  • Start developing from prototype to app

    • Add the ability to have a catalog of art that will be shown

  • Work on ability to switch from portrait-mode to landscape

  • Prepare app for use in any other Affordable Art Fairs™

    • Look into offering distance measuring both in feet and meters

    • Adapt to the art and galleries that will be at those other, international, Affordable Art Fairs™

  • Propose contact option with individual curators (follow up)

  • Create a method of social media sign-ins and facilitate sign-in, sign up functions

additional deliverables

 

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