A.F.E.K.T
Exploring a New Way to Connect with Art
At - A - Peek
*Note - The term art spaces will include art galleries, exhibitions, pop ups, installations, art events & shows.
The art scene in London is diverse and vibrant & as a result, the average art enthusiast or regular person interested in art often finds it difficult to find latest exhibitions, artists, pop-ups, galleries or shows to attend, because they aren't advertised in the city, on social media, television, or newspapers unless they work in the industry. This is a situation that not only I faced, but thousands of art goers and enthusiasts. With art space visitation set to decrease, rethinking this set-up will ensure people are happy and can easily enjoy partaking in art spaces.
Tools Used
Figma
Invision
Photoshop
Illustrator
My Role
Ux Design
UI Design
Product Design
Research & Strategy
Branding
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Timeline
10 Weeks
Introduction
What does AFEKT want to do?
National gallery's survey has shown 70% of Art goers stated a lack of awareness and advertising on smaller less known shows in comparison to the larger commercial ones ’’ The National Gallery research survey 2021 stated the public appeal for major exhibitions, has dwindled down compared to smaller art spaces by almost 80%. The choice of a specific type of art space of the users' preference is not easily accessible or available to find & if you are not lucky to have friends in the industry who help & recommend art spaces, it's near impossible. Social media linking them back to the same old galleries
''The number of visitors to major museums and galleries fell by nearly 1.4 million in 2019, the first decline in a decade due to a lack of variety''.
The Challenge
To identify the major challenges encountered by the everyday art enthusiast interested in art spaces and would like to have a more enjoyable experience locating them. Design a solution that will assist and provide information on whatever art enthusiasts, lovers and everyday people would want to know through digital platforms.
The solution
Design An Interactive Application
AFEKT aims to focus on users communicating with each other through reviewing, favouriting, streaming previews of art spaces and posting their experiences. It will inform users of large, medium and small art spaces as a digitized solution to word of mouth. This aims to address the issue of finding art spaces without direct contact with fellow art enthusiasts. Before attending, users will have sufficient information so they can make an informed decision. Ultimately, users will be able to go anywhere based on recommendations, previews & ratings allowing decision-making to be easier than before. Users will also be notified when upcoming art spaces are available and for how long. There will also be a function within the app that will allow the user to live stream or stream previous visits to art spaces for a short period.
The Process
From Product to Live Concept
Research
Comparative Analysis
User Persona
User Stories
Synthesis
Site Map
Brand Identity
Prototype
Sketches
Wireframes
Hi-Fi Prototypes
Design Systems
User Research
Understanding Business Needs and User Needs
Comparative Analysis
It was important to understand other platforms offering digital services similar to Afekt, to help me understand the limits of their app's features. It is also a good way of identifying if my solution is authentic, functional and can stand out when used amongst art goers/enthusiasts/lovers.
Timeout magazine and Tate Britains website were the main competitors. Although these sites introduce users to exhibitions, they are advertising platforms catering more for sellers than users. They also do not allow a choice of art spaces based on preference as they are more commercially orientated and offer a hand full of options for a period. A few blogs are focusing on this issue,
User Persona
To make sure that my decisions moving forward in the process are user-centred, I wanted to have a clear understanding of who Afekts users are. Using patterns gained from my empathy map & user interviews, I created a user persona to represent who I will be designing for - Meet James.
How might we
help the everyday art enthusiast/goer/lover discover unique & exciting art spaces in the city easily?
Experience Mapping
After completing my user persona, I created an experience map to depict the highs and lows James experienced when trying to search for a new art space to attend - what he had difficulties with, this gave me a chance to locate & provide a solution to some of his frustrations.
User Story
One Epic was chosen to provide a better understanding of the user flow and solution. The main epic allows for a more robust digital solution, especially as the two are connected: The first allowing the user to find art spaces is the core function of the app, however understanding what users have to say through reviews is just as influential in shaping a decision being made.
Primary Task Flow
Secondary Task Flow
Read about up-and-coming artists so that I can enjoy new art trends
Share with the art space feedback so that other art enthusiasts are informed of what is worthwhile.
As an art enthusiast, I want to Read about up-and-coming artists so that I can enjoy new art trends
As an art enthusiast, I want to Share with the art space feedback so that other art enthusiasts are informed of what is worthwhile.
Task Flow
I created multiple user stories that I grouped into epics. The idea for the task flow is for the user to be able to use most elements of the app. In order to do this i broke th flows into two sections, primary & secondary.
Primary Task Flow : Research Exhibition
Selected User Story As an Art enthusiast i want to read about up-and-coming artists so that I can enjoy new art trends
Prototyping
Design System
Mood Board
I gathered inspiration from Pinterest - looking through precedents and how they showed their brand attributes. I observed the way colour palettes, logos, typography and imagery to set the direction of their branding.
What is AFEKT
A. - Art , Ambience, Amazing, Arousing( A representing Art)
Fekt. - Positive, Calming, Curiously, Happily, Excitement, Optimism.
(Fekt for Effective feeling of emotion taken from going to exhibitions.
Slogan/Wordmark/Logo
The Afekt brand will include a slogan, logo & wordmark as a package. These can be broken down into single entities or used alongside each other. A play around with Lettering in conjunction with the logo itself allows for a variety of options.
Logo Design
After establishing the branding direction, I started the logo design to represent the brand. I sketched elements i thought connected the project and what came to mind. I narrowed the options down to three i felt were the most successful and functional in conveying Afekt's identity.
Iteration I
Iteration II
Iteration III
Style Tile
Whiles designing the logo,i finalised the visual identity of Afekt by continuing to implement a balance between Afekts bold but relaxing, friendly nature, while still maintaining their approachability & reliability. The color palette was chosen also overpower whiles keeping things energetic.
Colour Palette
Typography
UI Sample Library
Atoms
Iconography
Live Interactive Map
Explore the Interactive map & List view, searching for events by exhibition name, venue name, artists or art space.
Reviews
Check out & leave reviews on the latest art spaces & events to help make decisions easier when booking. See what fellow AFEKT users are saying about the events & art spaces.
Next Steps
Reflection
Design is everchanging and ongoing. Everything done requires a reason, the user should always be at the forefront of your decision making
With the app now in HI fidelity mode, a strong marketing campaign will be beneficial to moving Afekt to the next level both online and offline.
I plan to make more changes to the screens and the current interactions to develop a more seamless version.
I want to explore other task flows especially the booking of events, art spaces on the app & the process involved.
There will be more testing to affirm the changes were correctly implemented​.
