MUZI Case Study
You’re visiting a museum. Each room in the building is full of art. It’s almost sensory overload. The sheer amount of information to absorb here can be overwhelming. When you leave, you find it hard to recall many of the things you saw or read. Did you walk away more enlightened? Did you just lose value on your museum ticket? How could the experience work better for you?
Many museum goers find themselves lost with an overabundance of choices, which can lead to anxiety and a bad experience. How do you know which art to go see? What if you miss out on something really special? People sure seem to like that one piece, but why? You might find yourself asking, “what am I missing?”
Meet MUZI, the tour guide that lives in your pocket.
MUZI is a museum companion app that aids your museum experience by providing information, directions, and peace of mind. You don’t need to leave the building with lingering FOMO (fear of missing out) anymore. MUZI helps you plan your visit by letting you save various artworks to your list and mapping them out for you. It also provides detailed information on each piece, so that you walk away knowing more about the art, the artist, and the intention. Now you can leave the museum feeling confident that you’ve made the most of your visit.
This product was produced by myself in a Design Sprint. Over the course of a single week, I ideated solutions, designed hi fidelity screens, and tested MUZI as a solo project. The design sprint process pushed me to consider the MVP (minimum viable product) like never before. I had no time to waste on tertiary features or UI elements. I had to build something that worked. Although MUZI is not yet complete, the sprint was a success and led to a robust prototype.
Let me walk you through the process.
The Challenge
To design a mobile platform that would enhance the experience of visiting a museum in one week.
The Users
Research was handed off to me by Bitesize UX for this Sprint. Through surveys and interviews, they had acquired meaningful insights from users who frequent museums and galleries.
Sometimes I’ll do a quick Google search for a painting while on my phone while at the museum…but I usually just find long articles that are super overwhelming. — Nick
I enjoy looking at art, but sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on the full experience by not knowing any background information of context. — Anna
I don’t really enjoy group tours because I like to do my own thing…but sometimes I listen in to learn a few facts about the artist or the piece itself. — Ryan
I like to form my own opinion about art, but it can be hard to do that when I don’t really know anything about the artist, or what their intentions were in creating the work. — Jane
There are so many times I find myself saying ‘how did the artist do that?!’ — I would love to know more about their process and technique. — Dana
I may do a little research before my visit, but I always find a work of art that catches my eye that I didn’t read about beforehand. — Claire
These insights led to our persona, Angela
Personas are the amalgamation of data points and insights drawn from our users through research. They personify the needs, behavior, and goals of the overall user base. Using this helpful tool, we can focus on human centered design that will put our users first.
Ideation
In order to fulfill the persona’s needs, I needed to sketch out a solution that would enhance her experience at the museum without keeping her glued to her phone’s screen. I wanted to create an experience that highlighted the art itself and not get in the way.
I sketched several solutions, from AR information cards floating around in the gallery, to informative artist statements that could be listened to while you look at the piece. I went with the Crazy 8’s method to quickly come up with diverse potential solutions.
I chose what I believed to be the most effective starting point and sketched more screens to create a potential user flow.
Design
Given the short nature of the Sprint, I moved on to designing high fidelities right after sketching some screens. In a small amount of time I was able to enhance my sketches’ information architecture, create a brand identity using one color and a handful of fonts, and actualize the solution into a high fidelity design.
The idea is to give Angela more control and freedom over her experience all while keeping the actual product on the sideline. The goal is to enrich Angela’s interaction with the art through interacting with the product.
Testing & Iterations
My first prototype was tested by several participants who found the experience very intuitive and delightful. However, the AR information cards in the “Lens” page presented an opportunity: the information was literally covering the artwork it was describing. I abandoned the idea of floating artist statement’s in-camera and went back to my Persona.
To better suit their needs, I changed the floating card to a simple information screen with a play button, so that you could listen while gazing at the art itself.
This iteration became my second prototype, and after several rounds of testing another opportunity presented itself: users wanted more navigation capabilities. I decided that the saved page could be used for so much more. Instead of navigating to a single piece of art, why not map out your whole experience based on your saved pieces? This change really put the product in a great position to meet my Persona’s needs.
Future
Lessons learned
- Don’t fall in love with “fun” design elements, like 3d cards that cover up beautiful paintings.
- You can never go wrong with giving the user more control over their experience.
- Good design stays out of the way of the experience, but lives in every part of it as well.
Next Steps
The iterative process is never complete. Although the main focus of the platform has been formalized in my design, there are gaps and areas for improvement. Some future implementations could include:
- Adding an onboarding experience and profile set up.
- A social aspect to share and comment on profiles.
- An overarching navigation system highlighting utilities.
Conclusion
After completing my first Design Sprint, I felt more capable than ever in my abilities as a designer. I worked on this project by myself, and can only imagine the products that I will design with a full team by my side. The sprint cycle helped me become a more lean UXer as I was pushed to trim the fat, edit my process, and deliver a solid MVP.
