ART FOR RENT APP- UX Design
ABOUT
Art for Rent is an online platform for patrons to rent art for events or spaces. The app promotes local artists and serves as a tool to help interested parties curate, select, and secure local artwork for a set period of time. The patrons are small business owners or representatives from larger organizations. They want to be able to search for art by specific criteria, type of event or space, rent that art to populate space, and support local artists.
MY ROLE
I led the branding strategy, user research, and wireframes design. From designing the corporate identity, coordinating the user interviews to lo-fi prototyping, I helped shape the vision of a seed-funded start-up.
TIMELINE & TOOLS
• 4 months (December 2017 – March 2018)
• Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketch
BRIEF
OBJECTIVE
To provide a platform for patrons to rent art for events or spaces. The app will promote local artists and serve as a tool to help interested parties curate, select, and secure different types of local artwork for a set period of time.
The app features a robust search function that allows you to filter art by characteristics like colour, theme, artist, size, and medium. One of the standout features is a built-in VR function that lets you “view” the art in your own space through the app. With a wide selection of local artwork available, curating your event space has never been easier!
DESIRED RESPONSE
We want the users to feel at ease and trust in the quality we deliver via the app. Many will be representing larger organizations, so trust is an important factor in whether these users will rent through our service.
Users should also feel like they’re getting premium artwork without having to commit to a purchase price. The aim is to encourage them to want to continue to rent with us, either on a subscription basis (for ongoing staging/curation of space) or for one-off events.
STIMULUS
Subscription deals and delivery discounts will be a focus to initially get consumers to use the app. Customer retention will be spurred by promoting and showcasing specific artists/talent.
DEVICE FOCUS
Mobile app. Imagery, the VR functionality, and the assurance of quality will be vital.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Small business owners or representatives from larger institutions/organizations who want to temporarily rent art for an event or space. They want to be able to search for art by criteria specific to their organization, type of event or space, rent that art to populate a space or event area and support local artists without necessarily limiting themselves to individual contracts.
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
Home-grown talent, quality, and curation. The art on the app is reflective of local talent, with artists’ bios and portfolios proudly demonstrating their uniquely local identities (in this case, Canadian identities, but the app has the potential to serve local needs internationally). A rotating selection of works allows for curation and a level of exclusivity that would be missing from a huge collective.
DESIGN PROCESS
Discovery stage
USER PERSONA
There are two User Personas that will use the app: the Artist and the Renter. I focused on the Renter as this is the person who will make it happen for the artists. I conducted user interviews with several small business owners and I realized that there are two important aspects to be taken into account when designing the app – the users want to trust the app that it will deliver in time and on terms and that ART FOR RENT will provide premium artwork at reasonable renting prices.
Discovery stage
CARD SORTING
The whole team conducted two sessions of card sorting. It started with an open card sorting deciding what the final categories should be and how they should relate to each other. This one was followed by a closed card sorting which has resulted in changes in labelling and important adjustments in the information architecture of the app.
Discovery stage
USER FLOW – ARTIST
We designed two User Flows. One for the Artist and one for the Renter, as the way each User category will access the app, is different. The Artist is the type of user who is interested in renting or selling their artwork. The Artist can either be using the app for the first time or be a returning user. For each case, the Artist has the ability to edit his/her listings, once they have created a profile.
Discovery stage
USER FLOW – RENTER
We created a User Flow for the Renter as well. The Renter is the type of user who is interested in securing artwork for a temporary period of time through renting. The Renter can search the artwork by keywords or he/she can browse by using filters. The Renter can view potential artwork selections in AR (Augmented Reality) prior to finalizing the order.
ALPHA stage
LO-FI WIREFRAMES AND PROTOTYPE
My team and I designed initially 10 low-fidelity wireframes and a lo-fi prototype, that were presented to the stakeholders.
Through these wireframes, we demonstrated to the stakeholders the hierarchy of information and also what content is supposed to be on each page, and how it will be arranged. We revised those wireframes based on the feedback we received and designed 12 more lo-fi wireframes in Sketch for the next stakeholders’ design review.
In these examples, the first wireframes deal with the Welcome Screen. This one is the first any user sees upon downloading and opening the app, where they have an option to chose between Renting Art (for patrons) or to Exhibit Art (for artists). The primary screen displays a collapsible hamburger menu, an icon that contains all the filters by specific characteristics at the top of the screen, next to the search button, and also the fix menu-bar at the bottom of the screen, containing the Browse button, My Gallery, Collections, and Cart.
