Role:

UX/UI Designer

Time:

4 weeks, 120+ hours

User Interviews

Given my background in art business, I tapped into my network for insight on how artist websites are evaluated for content. I conducted remote interviews with three art world professionals that represented the private and public sector of the art world.

Insights

1. Participants consider all forms of information and are constantly keeping connected on what is relevant to the artist they are researching.

2. Art professionals have a must-have list to assess an artist’s potential when considering them for an exhibit or other opportunity.

   • This list includes biography, CV, gallery, exhibits, and images (variety).

3. The information must convey the artist’s growth and their experiences in chronological order.

4. Although gallery and site visits are captured through mobile devices, including posts to social media, most art professionals are gathering their research on a desktop or laptop.

Takeaways

Users visiting the website would be looking to become educated on Firelei Baez’s work while simultaneously interacting with the artwork in IRL and posting about it in social networks.

Sketches, Wireframes & Prototypes

From Sketches to Wireframes

The wireframe screens (Landing, CV, Bio, and Contact) combined ideas from my Crazy 8 sketches that would show users Firelei Báez’s art while also providing pages to illustrate her expertise. The sketches were a result of the interviews and user flow.

Landing

• I included an about me, news, gallery and email newsletter section.

CV

• I moved the CV from her current biography page to have its own location in the navigation bar.

Biography

• I added a hero image with text overlay, moved her biography under the hero image and included additional images of her art work.

Contact

• I created space for each form of communication a user would want based on their end goal.

  • Purchase art

  • Visit studio

  • Follow social media

Usability Testing

The usability test sought to understand how users would navigate the prototype and based on the results, revise and improve upon the current website version.

Affinity Map

Users’ responses were organized by themes or opportunities that would enhance the experience.

Success

• Overall, users liked the color palette, typography, images and felt it was personal and relatable.

Struggles

• Users were unsure where contacts led, and the images in salon style confused users.

Observations

• Users were interested in learning about any news related to the artist. They also wanted to guidelines to know who they were contacting.

Suggestions

• Users wanted a clear understanding of who they were contacting, more images, and news about upcoming shows.

Prioritization Matrix

The prioritization matrix helped me organize the themes and opportunities into quadrants based on what suggestions provided the most user value while using the least effort.

1. Organizing images into a grid and making them more prominent.

2. Clarifying where contact form leads with descriptions.

3. Adding a banner for events.

Revised Prototype

Based on the feedback, I changed the gallery images from salon style to display them in a grid. In addition, I included an announcement bar for upcoming shows, the hero has her artwork and the content has been rearranged to focus on making website navigation easier and seamless for the user.

Landing

• Rearranged layout to focus on her images in the hero.

• Included an announcement bar.

• Revised gallery layout of art to be in a grid format instead of salon format.

• Updated section titles.

Overlay

• Included an overlay for users curious about the artist’s artwork and details.

Upcoming Shows

• Included a section for upcoming shows or events.

Contact

• Added descriptions to help users understand who to contact based on the information they were interested in learning.

Outcomes

The revised prototype is about allowing users to seamlessly view her art work, learn about the artist and how to connect with her. The updates help users navigate her website so they can find the information that conveys her growth and presence with the market.

For next steps, I intend to develop mobile mockups of her website. This next phase is based on user interview feedback. In the interview, the user shared their love of posting about artist on social media. If an art enthusiast is in a gallery they’re naturally using their mobile phone to post and creating a responsive mobile experience would enhance Firelei Baez’s reach.