UX Design · UX Research · UI Design
The Community Exhibition is a local art venue situated in the lobby of the new Vancouver Art Gallery. Each month, it showcases remarkable artworks by BC artists, each centered around unique themes. Local artists have the opportunity to submit their works online, aligning with the monthly theme. The top 10 voted artworks are then exhibited in the Gallery's lobby for one month.
Role
UX co-director
UX Researcher
Prototyper
UI Designer
Team
Strategies
Tools
Muhan H.
Terrance X.
Andy C.
Ethnography
Persona
User journey map
Prototyping
Storyboarding
Participatory workshop
User testing
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Premiere
Duration
9 weeks client-based project for an interaction design course
Period
January 2023
Client
Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is one of the largest and most innovative art museums in Canada. The museum is a non-profit organization, and hosts temporary exhibitions and educational programs, making it a vibrant cultural institution in Vancouver. Their mission is to use art to foster community engagement, share perspectives, and shape our collective future.
Ethnography
Data collection
Interview
We interviewed visitors about their visit to the gallery, how often they visited, and different ways they accessed information about the current exhibitions. We in-person interviewed 25 visitors; conversing with interviewees so that our answers where more qualitative and less static.
Online Survey
An online survey was created to gather additional quantitative information about people’s experiences when they previously visited. We gained a total of 72 responses. Based on the methods of data collection, half of the online survey questions were different from those in the interview. This survey helped us get a different audience from those we’ve interviewed in person, as most respondents weren’t frequent visitors.
Zoom Meeting
We did a group interview with Vancouver Art Gallery’s Director of Strategic Communications & Branding and Director of Publishing & Content Strategy. We dove into any concerns that they wanted us to look into, as well as some of their current and future goals.
Research Insight
Exhibition Marketing
Majority of the interviewees visited the Vancouver Art Gallery without a specific exhibition or event in mind, and 48% of respondents visited the VAG only for entertainment. One possibility is to look into ways of boosting awareness of new and current exhibitions, thereby influencing new visitors and retaining current ones.
Design Focus
How might we create a sense of community and identity within the Vancouver Art Gallery that can be felt by regular and first-time visitors?
Key Insight
1. We found that there is a larger focus on establishing a sense of community through shared experiences and learning each other’s perspectives.
2. In order to promote a sense of community, having a diverse and inclusive environment where people can engage is important.
Persona
Because our research insight is centred on promoting exhibition marketing, our main targeted audience is frequent visitors with experience in artistic creation and first-time visitors. Frequent visitors are categorized as owners of memberships and visit 4~5 times a year. First-time visitors may come from other provinces who are interested in local art.
User Journey Map
Muhan assumed the responsibility of designing the journey map, while other team members contributed to the content creation. Based on our previous research and our personas, we mapped out the journey they may go through before, during and after their visit at Vancouver Art Gallery. We used these journeys to find pain points we could focus on and try to find the solution.
Storyboard
Terrence took the role of developing the storyboard. He presented a visually captivating narrative that revolves around the journey of an artist and the exploration of local artwork by a visitor. The story unfolds through a sequence of illustrated panels, capturing the artist's submission process and the visitor's interaction with the art exhibition.
Participatory Workshop
The workshop was led by Andy, with collaborative content creation from all team members. The objective of this workshop was to bring together individuals from diverse roles and engage in intensive exploration and discussion to generate potential solutions. By employing workshop methods and tools, we aimed to broaden our perspectives and foster creative ideation. Among the workshop participants, there were individuals who had never been exposed to participatory workshops, making it challenging for them to grasp the workshop's process and methods. Prior to each step, we introduced the methods and rationale behind them. Additionally, as the workshop planners, we meticulously reviewed the process beforehand to ensure its seamless execution.
Solution
Community Exhibitions
Community Exhibition is a local art space located in the lobby of the new Vancouver Art Gallery. The space displays outstanding works by BC artists on different themes each month. Local artists can submit their artworks online that fit the monthly theme. The top 10 works voted for will be displayed in the Gallery's lobby for one month.
Why?
Community Exhibition works to create engagement with artists and art enthusiasts. It provides artists with opportunities to showcase their artwork and visitors to see and experience it. People can also vote online to be involved with the selection of artworks at the exhibition.
Feature 1.
Sort and Filter
Users are able to sort the submissions into the most recent submissions, the most voted for, and the most viewed. Moreover, users can also filter the medium of the submitted artworks.
Feature 2.
Artist Highlight
In addition to voting directly on the artwork, users can also click the "Learn More" button to view the artist's background and enlarge the image of the artwork.
Feature 3.
Avoid Double Vote
Each person has only one chance to vote. Enter the mobile phone number to prevent the same user from voting twice.
Feature 4.
Community Submission
Every BC artists has the opportunity to submit their work quarterly. Before being uploaded to showcase, works are initially approved by Vancouver Art Gallery staff to ensure artworks are suitable for public visiting.
Prototyping and user testing
After completing the initial mockup, I used Figma to create a prototype with the most important process for user testing. This process allows us to step back and understand the user experience as a beginner. I updated the submission page of Community Exhibition based on feedback from potential users to provide a more user-friendly interface for artists to submit their work.
Takeaways
I have developed Community Exhibitions as a means to foster the creative passion of local artists and generate interest among visitors in the local art scene. This initiative allows artists to submit their works aligned with the monthly theme, while visitors have the opportunity to vote for their favorites. However, we have encountered challenges regarding the initial verification process for the submitted works. It appears that the Community Exhibition overlooked the qualifications of the Vancouver Art Gallery staff responsible for verifying the submissions, as well as the financial and human resources required for the event. Our client has informed us about the upcoming construction of the New Vancouver Art Gallery in 2027, which will provide ample space. We propose the idea of allocating a dedicated area in the lobby to showcase local artworks. Nonetheless, it is important to note that the specific spatial structures of the New Vancouver Art are unavailable yet, making it uncertain whether placing the top 10 voted works by local artists in the area in front of the ticket office on the lobby floor would be a feasible arrangement.