Overview
THE PROBLEM
Due to Covid, people were not physically going to art galleries and attending in-person auctions which resulted in a lower amount of sales.
THE GOAL
Design an art auction app that allows users to virtually experience being in an art gallery and quickly and easily view artworks, place bids, and/or purchase artworks.
PERSONA
The busy, professional art lover
PROJECT DURATION
October 2021 to February 2022
MY ROLE
UX designer designing an art auction app for an art gallery from conception to delivery.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Conducting interviews
Paper and digital wireframing
Low and high-fidelity prototyping
Conducting usability studies
Accounting for accessibility
Iterating on designs
TOOLS I USED
Figma, Google Meet, Zoom
Research Insights
70% of surveyed galleries reported a decline in revenue for 2020 (ADAA, 2021).
The group that does most of the bidding tends to be busy professionals who appreciate artwork.
The waiting period after placing the bid is too lengthy.
Too many pop-ups and slow-loading sites deter users from bidding online.
Users prefer a quicker checkout method which includes the option of Apple Pay or PayPal.
Persona
Pain Points Across User Journey
The bidding and after bidding were the most problematic parts of the user journey so I decided to create design improvements that would address them.
User Flows
The biggest frustration users pointed out was that bidding takes too long and they don’t like waiting. Therefore, I made sure to include two options in the app: placing a bid or buying the artwork.
Option 1: User flow of placing a bid
Option 2: User flow of buying at asking price
Wireframes
BIDDING PAIN POINT IMPROVEMENT
“I don’t like clicking through multiple pages to make my purchase.”
In the wireframes below, users can select the type of shipping, enter their address information and their payment information all on one page.
BIDDING PAIN POINT IMPROVEMENT
“Bidding takes too long and sometimes I don’t want to wait. I just want to buy the artwork.
User Testing
I conducted two rounds of moderated usability studies. There were other features I tested but for purposes of keeping this short, I chose these 3 insights that relate to users’ original pain points.
Round 1
Users need better cues for inputting their information before placing a bid.
Users want a different way to display the costs/ summary section.
Round 2
Users need cues to explain the difference between “add to cart” and “bid."
Mockups
Part of the bidding process:
Based on the first round of usability studies, placing a bid on one page was not user-friendly.
I made changes to split the pages and include a progress bar to allow users to see how many steps there are and where they are in the process.
Bid Amount & Shipping
Address
Payment
Place Bid
The second round of usability studies revealed that users didn’t know what the difference was between “Add to Cart” and “Bid.”
View the Art Auction App high-fidelity prototype.
Takeaways
IMPACT
80% of participants reported in the high-fidelity usability study that the bidding process was simple, quick, and easy to use.
One quote from peer feedback: “I think it's a really clean layout, like really simple which I think works really well.”
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
1. Research and interview a larger group of people who place bids on artworks.
2. Place real bids on apps and websites to gain first-hand bidding experience.
WHAT I LEARNED
While designing the art auction app, I learned the importance of all the steps in the UX design process. Most importantly, conducting usability studies and receiving peer feedback.
I realized that not all the ideas you think are great are always exactly what users really need. Conducting usability studies and receiving peer feedback help influence ideas which results in the iteration of the designs.