Venturing onto my second user-experience (UX) design project, a new challenge arose in the topic of art showcase. This time, our challenge was as follows:
To craft a design direction for a museum kiosk application that delivers a unique interactive experience to visitors in celebrating artists' work.
We were allowed to select our artists and research their styles and stories that formed their art history recognition to transform into an engaging and meaningful experience ultimately.
Discovering Culture: Research
The first step was to find artists of interest, and I recalled my teenage-hood days when I was introduced to the Pop Arts movement of the '60s and '70s. It was a fascinating culture then, but I wasn't able to appreciate it much before, and I decided to give it a re-visit for this challenge.
The one name I never forgot was Andy Warhol. But, he wasn't the only great pop artist. Together with Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein, these were the three that I decided to research.
Based on the data I gathered, I crafted three biographies of their profiles.
References
“Bio: Keith Haring.” Bio | Keith Haring, www.haring.com/!/about-haring/bio.
Keith Haring. 19 June 2020, www.biography.com/artist/keith-haring.
“Keith Haring.” Artnet, www.artnet.com/artists/keith-haring/.
“Keith Haring.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Keith-Haring.
References
“Andy Warhol Biography.” The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts - Andy Warhol Biography, warholfoundation.org/legacy/biography.html.
“Andy Warhol.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 6 Mar. 2020, www.biography.com/artist/andy-warhol.
“Andy Warhol.” Fairhead Fine Art Ltd, www.fairheadfineart.com/biographies/andy-warhol.
References
“BIOGRAPHY.” Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, lichtensteinfoundation.org/biography/.
“Roy Lichtenstein - Biography - 1923-1997.” Artelino, www.artelino.com/articles/roy_lichtenstein.asp.
“Roy Lichtenstein.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 19 June 2020, www.biography.com/artist/roy-lichtenstein.
“Roy Lichtenstein.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 Oct. 2020, www.britannica.com/biography/Roy-Lichtenstein.
Analysis of Style: Concept Maps
Based on the information I learned about these artists and their works, I crafted three concept maps with brief information about them and their known accomplishments in their fields. It was challenging to scope through their extended careers over the years. However, I took upon this effort to scope down to the information that best represented their legacy.
Brainstorming Content: Site Maps and Content Listing
Common Content Additions (Blue), Specific Content Additions (Orange)
I observed in my research that a lot of information is present online for these artists. Some were available from organizations representing them, others from museums/galleries that also carry their works. I also considered the artists' unique style and used it to revolve the experience from this trademark.
Thus, I drafted a content listing focused on two areas:
Extending Information about the Artist's Work
Discovering Individuality through Interaction
Each artist has a distinct set of information online. For example, Warhol's library contained numerous stories, media, and personal artifacts. Haring's mainly consisted of artifacts and some features, but his work had a novel, simplistic style which spread widely across the world. Lichtenstein's work was more singular, but it adopted a unique technique that became his hallmark.
This information allowed me to generate content ideas that were informative and interactive, which I saw as a good balance for visitors to learn more about the artist and revel in their speciality through compelling interactions.
Notes and References
Keith Haring Interactive Map The Interactive Map of Drawings' idea was inspired by a segment of the Keith Haring Foundation website highlighting key landmarks of his work worldwide. The present idea suggests expanding the dataset to include the past and present artworks that were located around New York City (subways and streets), which were the root of Haring's widespread presence at the time.
Murals Map: Keith Haring. www.haring.com/!/archives/murals-map.
Roy Lichtenstein Virtual Installation Some of Lichtenstein's work was flat representations of 3D spaces, which delighted viewers for its use of his trademark Benday Dots as well as its strong outlines and patterns. It created an imaginative space that drew people into, and I was inspired by the possibility of leveraging past showcases to re-create that experience so that people can "live" and explore within this reality – drawing closer to Lichtenstein's work.
“Roy Lichtenstein 3d Room.” Moco Museum, mocomuseum.com/stories/roy-lichtenstein-3d-room/.
“Roy Lichtenstein Pops into 3-D: Studio 360.” WNYC, www.wnyc.org/story/sideshow-roy-lichtenstein-pops-3d/.
I drafted a sitemap for each artist from the content listing materials, suggesting collating information/experiences in the product design. I separated the two to highlight the distinct differences in the "genre" of information. However, that might subject to change in the later stages.
Visualizing A Structure: Initial User Interface (UI) Sketches
Draft UI Sketches for the Keith Haring Exhibit
Haring's style was based on vibrant prints of figures, often made with outlined containers (boxes) in a padded grid, which is emphasized on the home screen. The artwork page was focused on his work with larger landscape posters and murals with the horizontal space utilized to scale his work appropriately. Functions such as View in Augmented Reality/360 and Info Touchpoints were suggested to add depth to its understanding.
Draft UI Sketches for the Andy Warhol Exhibit
The Warhol exhibit design was based on his pop art style, which was often in collages/diptychs with repeating imagery in different tones. I wanted to capture that touch with the home screen design, this adopting a similar style.
Draft UI Sketches for the Roy Lichtenstein Exhibit
Lastly, Lichtenstein's work was designed with his reputation for his comic-book style prints. The design idea follows a series of cards laid out in a horizontal scroll to envision a storytelling technique to invite users to different sections of his work.
Developing these sketches was interesting. It was different – hosted on a tablet device – and there were more considerations involved with the interaction (touch vs click) and accessibility standards. I reviewed various documentations on best practices for accessibility and created a simple map of areas to consider when designing the interface.
This guidance allowed me to develop ideas that afforded better accessibility, including features such as a lower position, labels for possibly-ambiguous symbols, and options for enhanced accessibility modes. More considerations will likely come later, but this was a good starting point.
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