Waterfront Seattle
Art page redesign
We want to design a new art page to showcase artworks that will include along Elliott Bay. It aims to be an efficient guide to engage people with the artists.
Client:
Waterfront Seattle
Role:
Lead UX Designer
Project length:
9 months
Brief:
Redesign the website's art page to enhance the user experience and highlight the artist's works.
I was a lead UX designer on the team for 9 months. I worked closely with the project manager and three developers to create a better experience to bring people a more pleasing experience while exploring the Waterfront's projects.
Over2 months, I collected the information from clients, project managers, and artists to better understand their needs and expectations. I researched and designed a solution for a desktop and mobile. I then worked with the developers during the building phase to make sure that the design not only presents the art well but improving the user experience.
After it launched, we saw a huge increase in the website's traffic and they spend more time on the page than before. (more than 70%)
Visitors love having the map along with the artists which helps them visualize where the arts install and who creates it. However, it was not clear which artworks are installed and which are not. Also, the artist's layout was too overwhelming and doesn't have options for the user to see each artist's work. Here are old designs:
Old desktop design
Design process
Overview
I was a lead UX designer on the team for 9 months. I worked closely with the project manager and three developers to create a better experience to bring people a more pleasing experience while exploring the Waterfront's projects.
Over 2 months, I collected the information from clients, project managers, and artists to better understand their needs and expectations. I researched and designed a solution for a desktop and mobile. I then worked with the developers during the building phase to make sure that the design not only presents the art well but improving the user experience.
After it launched, we saw a huge increase in the website's traffic and they spend more time on the page than before. (more than 70%)
Problem
Visitors love having the map along with the artists which help them visualize where the arts install and who creates them. Also, the artist's layout was too overwhelming and doesn't have options for the user to see each artist's work. Here are old designs:
Previous art page's design
Previous artist page's design
Goal
We evaluated and measured the success of the projects based on the click rates and the percentage of the mailing list we received.
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Increase click rates by 12%
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Help visitors see the value of connecting with an artist
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Encourage visitors to engage with the projects and get involved in future events.
Challenge
There is no seamless experience that invites residents and visitors to visit the waterfront that can keep them up to date with the new artworks. Also, designing a product that had complex content and needed to be linked to a map is quite a challenge and we did not know if the concept can carry all the content and also be easy to navigate.
Constraint
Solution
Keeping in mind what information was valuable to visitors and what we could do better, I began brainstorming in different directions and bringing my ideas to the creative process with my project managers, creative director, and developers.
I was responsible for the whole creative process: project analysis; ideation; conducting the facts & the importance of the artwork's contents; user research, sketches, wireframing, and usability testings to then perform a final design of the products.
Mind mapping
Research
Because we don’t have a research team. I had to conduct user research by collaborating with the PMs and asked to be involved in their outreach event in 2 weeks.
We drafted out the list of the questions that help understand the user behavior and also plan out the languages and methods to do that. I also mapped out the artist’s highlight information to understand what information can we offer to the user that keeps them engaged longer on the page. My goal was to find out what are users’ current pain points, which feature they want the most, and what to avoid.
Style guide
Process
I wanted to create a vision that allows design and art to come together to reveal and develop the unique character and identity of this site. Also to emphasize the project's purpose: to physically reconnect downtown Seattle to Elliott Bay, and to develop a program that will engage artists and the public in reconnecting Seattle to Elliott Bay culturally. Here are the processes:
Rough sketches
Wireframe
Previous map design
New map design
New map design
Previous art page design
New art page design
Previous artist's page design
New artist's page design
Lessons learned
This project taught me how to collaborate with developers effectively and hand off the final design. I also practiced and learned how to quickly find solutions after making mistakes.
I learned that it was important for me to prove that somehow the results we learn from user analyses are different from the expectations, the most important thing is to continue to refer to the user research to see if any changes if needed, and keep testing and validating new ideas.
Result
The final design has received a lot of visits and 82% of visitors are spending more time on the site than before and click rates increased by 17%. We saw a significant increase in the number of users interacting with the map as well.
Click the button to experience the art page.