Product and visual designer creating digital and physical experiences that give art, objects, and stories identity, accessibility, and space for people to connect.

INFO

The Virtual Art Museum

A mobile app concept that helps users discover new art, explore exhibitions nearby, and personalize their museum experience.

UX/UI Design, Case Study

October - November 2023

Role: UX Researcher, UX Designer

Art discovery is fragmented across museum websites, making it difficult for casual users to know where to start or find work they connect with.

I designed a mobile app that centralizes discovery through a visual-first, personalized experience.

Context

While interest in art is high, many users feel overwhelmed in museum environments and instead rely on social media or online browsing to discover new work.

Existing platforms either focus on events or static archives, lacking a personalized and intuitive way to explore art based on individual taste.

Solution

A mobile app that combines location-based discovery, personalized recommendations, and visual browsing to help users find artists, exhibitions, and inspiration.

Focus

  • Make art discovery approachable for non-experts

  • Replace search-heavy exploration with visual, intuitive browsing

  • Consolidate fragmented museum and exhibition information into one platform

  • A survey was distributed to students and non-art peers across creative and non-creative fields

  • Shared via social media and group chats to capture a range of familiarity with art

Data

Overview

Research Methods

Quick scroll through of the Google Form sent out to my peers and posted on social media platforms.

Key Insights

  • High interest in art, but low confidence in how to explore it

  • Users struggle to know where to begin or find relatable work

  • Discovery is driven by social media and word of mouth

  • Traditional tools (like audio guides) feel passive and unengaging

Opportunity

Art discovery can be reimagined as a personalized, visual-first experience that reduces friction and helps users explore without needing prior knowledge.

How do you find out about exhibitions/museums?

Features Included

  • For You Feed
    Personalized stream of artworks and exhibitions based on user interests.

  • Scan Feature
    Allows users to scan artwork in real time to access contextual information.

  • Location Discovery
    Map-based interface for exploring nearby galleries and exhibitions.

  • Visual Filters
    Users explore art through intuitive inputs like color, movement, and medium.

Most users discover exhibitions through word of mouth and social media.

Scanning feature for artwork recognition (Smartify)

Do you use audio guides/tour guides in person or via an app?

Audio guides are rarely used, reinforcing preference for visual exploration.

Competitive Analysis

Smartify

  • Strong: artwork scanning + clean UI

  • Weak: lacks personalization, discovery is search-based

SeeSaw

  • Strong: location-based exhibition discovery

  • Weak: limited to events, no deeper exploration

Opportunity

  • Combine location + personalization + visual discovery

Map-based gallery discovery (SeeSaw)

Design Direction

Initial wireframes explored how to translate art discovery into a mobile, image-first experience, focusing on simplified navigation and intuitive browsing patterns.

  • Bottom navigation simplifies access to core features (feed, map, scan, profile)

  • Layouts prioritize artwork over UI to maintain a gallery-like experience

  • Early concepts explored personalization, location-based discovery, and scanning

The visual direction translates inspiration from platforms like Pinterest and Spotify into an art discovery experience, combining gallery minimalism with personalized, visual browsing.

Visual Approach

  • Image-first layouts that prioritize artwork over interface

  • Minimal UI to replicate the feeling of moving through a gallery

Interaction

  • Inspired by Pinterest (saving, visual boards) and Spotify (personalized “for you” feeds)

  • Emphasis on browsing over searching to reduce friction for casual users

Personalization

  • Discovery driven by feeds, visual filters (color, medium), and recommendations

  • Visual inputs replace traditional text-heavy filtering

Color & Tone

  • Neutral base to keep focus on the artworks

  • Soft accents used to guide interaction

Wireframe

Final Prototype

Final interface translating research into a visual-first, personalized discovery experience.