Overview
Timeline
November 2022-December 2022
Role
Act as UX Designer Independent Student Project for Google UX Design Course
Stating the Problem
Busy individuals who lack the time or energy to regularly enjoy museums and the tours that go along with them.
As someone who has found themselves in a very similar situation as others wanting to learn more and explore museum guided tours but having not found the time to do so. I found that the problem was one that was very close to home but also something that others have found to be an issue as well. Time was something that people wanted to get back, but because that is impossible (sadly) other avenues had to be explored.
Solution
Building a Website is key to giving users the full “Tour” Experience!
Learning More about the Problem at Hand!
A way to reach museum goers (and not goers)
According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, “ In 2017, 24% of the U.S. adult population had visited a museum or art gallery in the previous year.” Which believe it or not was an INCREASE of people that were frequenting museums during that time period from the previous year. In a more recent study conducted by Beatriz Lopes da Silva in 2022, she claimed that “people don’t have free time” and “there isnt good means of transportation to visit these cultural spaces.” This just further proves that users would more likely attend a museum if given the specific set of resources!
Statistics like the ones stated above are not to be overlooked as they are the main contributors to why people arent frequenting museums more often!
Competitive Analysis
The competition is guiding us in the wrong direction!
The competition was able to capitalize on certain aspects of the portable museum tour niche however, I do believe that they fell flat on certain aspects of it as well. For example Museum Buddy was a very informative resource however their website was lacking to say the least. The closest competitor to attacking Museo’s user base was Google Arts & Culture, however what they had in website integrity they were lacking in presentation of information, leaving the user to feel a bit cluttered. This cluttered experience is exactly what I was trying to target to further Museo’s user experience.
The Met Museum Buddy Google Arts & Culture
User Interviews
Interviewees were all making the same mistake when it came to researching for their children!
6 different interviewees were chosen who had visited a museum in the past 5 years. During the interview process they had claimed that they would have liked to visit the museum more often then they had currently been attending. I asked the below questions to help identify why that is and whether they’d be open to a change of pace.
Research Questions:How often do you look for museum tours?
Do you have any peers that enjoy museums and the tours that go along with them?
When was the last time you visited a museum?
Do individuals effect whether you would visit a museum?
Do you enjoy time away from work?
Would you consider yourself overworked or busy often?
Takeaways
There was a common denominator when it came to what the interviewees did when it was time to learn something new.
Although the reasonings for not attending had differed, the common denominator for users not visiting was boiled down to time. This led me to believe that if users schedules weren’t so busy, or if they could find the time to go, they most certainly would have attended museums more often than they currently do.
Persona
Maurice Jones’s Persona
Things to Work on For Next Time
The importance of acknowledging mistakes
When first designing Museo’s dedicated website I had planned to include a way to get personalized feedback while going through a virtual tour, because I believed that it would be a very personal experience. However, it was very early on in the design process when I realized that the capabilities for that were not really in my scope of talents so early on in my design journey and the idea was scrapped and was saved for more of a dedicated application functionality.
Improvements through the Project
Major Improvements That Were Made
Through the aid of feedback, interviews, and peers these were 3 changes that helped iterate the design of Museo’s Website
The Final Website
Completed Version of “Museo (Website)”
Museo (Website) Full File Here
Onward and Upward
Always Looking for Improvement!
Museo (Website) was my second ever case study I produced, where I had combined all of the skills throughout the certification process, and although I am proud of my accomplishments so far there is always something that can be improved upon. With that being said here are three of the greatest things that I’ve learned throughout the entire process!
Conduct further research on how productive the app is and whether it is giving useful advice to all of the targeted users.
Iterating on a design is something that never really “stops”. As days go on there is always something that can be improved upon or changed, so staying up to date and realizing iterating is a neverending process the better off you will be.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
There are so many people on this planet and although everyone does not want your best interest at heart (trust me) there will however be those that do and finding those people and asking them for help can change everything. Early on in the process especially I was ashamed to ask for help because I was just starting and I didn’t want to look like a fool for not knowing how to do something. But that’s the thing, everyone has to start from somewhere so simply get the headstart on others and ask for that extra helping hand.
Mistakes are only the beginning of the process.
We’re all human (I think) and everybody is going to make mistakes regardless of who they are. I think that coming to terms with that and seeing that as a good thing and not something that can affect you negatively really is a game changer. So moving forward I will treat every mistake as what it truly is a step in the long road of eternal learning.
Feel Free to View the Full Case Study Slides Below
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my second UX Case Study if you like what you see or have any questions or just wanna chat feel free to reach out at yani2x4@gmail.com
Thanks again and have a good one!