aesthetic
digital student art market

the one stop marketplace to discover and buy new original artwork from up and coming artists
roles
user research
business strategy
prototyping
ux design
tools
figma
webflow
ux design
timeframe
sept ‘21 -feb 2022

For my minor in  ‘the next successful online startup’ we were challenged with creating a viable online startup business over a number of months. Thorough research was conducted (on macro, meso and micro levels), marketing and financial plans created as well as a social media marketing campaign and a final website prototype.

The resulting concept was for a digital art gallery and marketplace for new student artists to showcase and sell their work, earn some money and gain greater exposure, whilst making new original artwork easily accessible to the public.

backstory

In this minor we were given free reign to choose our business idea.  As this project was during lockdown, all work had to be carried out remotely and all solutions had to be digital. From my personal experiences in art school, and understanding of how difficult it can be for art students to gain exposure, I was led to the idea of a digital online marketplace where students could sell their work. Through desk research I quickly discovered that there was:

No dedicated digital student art platform in the Netherlands
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No digital original art marketplace dedicated to new artists in the Netherlands
91 user surveys
20 survey questions
6 virtual interviews

In order to understand exactly who my major stakeholders would be I conducted interviews with current art students, art teachers and potential art buyers. Online surveys were also used to gather further insight into user needs of which I managed to get 91 responses. I found:

99% of sellers want no posting fee and fair low commission rates
84% of sellers want an extremely easy method of uploading work
80% of sellers want to be able to connect with potential buyers
98% of buyers would like a wide choice in styles/mediums of artwork to choose from
81% of buyers want personalized recommendations
68% of buyers would like some professional sponsorship (from arts schools, for example)

making things concrete

After extensive user and market research, and competitor analysis was undertaken, a business model canvas was written to assess my business strategy and evaluate its exposure to risk. User personas were created from the insights found during research to define their expectations, concerns and motivations. This helped as a reference during each step of the design process to ensure that the product would satisfy users needs and be a success.

ideation

An MVP was created early on to help define feature prioritisation and provide an outline of the website. Competitive analysis data and personas were utilised to help define Artsthetic’s core features.

personalised gallery

A changing selection of suggested work based on users ‘liked’ products and past purchases

deep filters for easy sorting

Art is broad, very broad! Filters enable buyers to find exactly what they want when they want it quickly and efficiently

quick product listing

Students don’t like to spend too much time on things. A quick and easy listing process makes it seem less like a chore

message the artist

Buyers may love the style, but not see their dream piece. Messages enable commission requests and contact

Paper prototypes enabled me to quickly brainstorm and test the initial design. It also helped in  highlighting any major initial faults to the site's layout and architecture, allowing me to change them without focussing on the visual design.

As this work was undertaken during lockdown, clickable wireframes were created on figma and tested with users remotely. Users were asked to complete a series of tasks as I observed them, before a short feedback interview. I found that:

- The method of listing artworks  could be made more to feel more efficient by including all submission fields on one page
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- That users would like to be able to contact one another before ‘connecting’ (making a purchase) with them - make it clearer, not next to share but next to buy
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- Users would like the opportunity to request a private commissionArtists would like the opportunity to invite fellow artists to platform

In order to appeal to the user needs of a modern, eye-catching website, and thus be inline with the brand's identity,  I decided to make artwork the main visual element of the design. Art is incorporated into backgrounds and titles, offering a unique visual experience. When Individual artworks are selected, they are allowed to take centre stage. Text is kept neat and simple evoking the idea of art labels in a real life gallery.

testing

In order to test the viability of the project,, a facebook and instagram page were set up and an advertisement campaign was launched. This ran for two weeks on both platforms with half the posts targeting artists who may wish to sell, and the second half targeting potential art buyers, encouraging them to sign up to our newsletter for further updates and to register interest.

1,516 users reached
324 click throughs
78 sign ups

This  was conducted remotely  over figma and zoom. Each user set was asked to complete a number of tasks using the high-fidelity prototype. The tasks included:

students
- sign up
- list an artwork
- access messages
- invite friend to join
buyers
- sign up
-access personalised gallery
-contact a seller
-filter and find artwork
7
users
11
tasks
69%
success

In testing sellers noted that it would be more convenient for them to be able to list artworks immediately after signing up. This was implemented into the final prototype along with a listing preview visible before publication

The message feature was previously tucked away on the artists’ page. Users noted that that was inconvenient and difficult to find. Therefore message buttons were added on each listing of an artists’ work

Users mentioned that it was confusing how on the artists page, the artist’s work could not been seen, meaning users would lose time having to click through to each artists’ page to see their work. A scrolling preview of artworks was added to the artist icon on hover to solve the problem.

Users stated that they would like to see more recommendations other than only on the personal gallery page. Similar items, more from this artist and similar artist sections were added to the bottom of product listing pages to help users discover more of what they like

To save users time from finding artworks on the artists’ homepage and then favouriting them, the favourite feature was added to all listings throughout the site, making the personalised gallery more responsive to users likes and personal taste

research is everything

The surveys and user interviews provided different results to my assumptions and the end product ended up being fairly removed from what I had initially envisioned. Connecting with users during research helped expel these assumptions and ensure that I  was designing for them, not for me.

time is everything too!

Conducting online interviews and user testing resulted in some long delays through difficulties with technology, people forgetting, personal circumstances etc etc. From this I learned to always allot more time than you think when undertaking these sort of tasks.

design to be adaptive

As this whole project was desktop based, I neglected to think about users on mobile when designing. Despite the large success during testing, I realised that the interface was difficult to use on mobile. Designing with this in mind would make developing a mobile version much easier in the future.

next steps...

develop mobile app

While most buyers said they would prefer to use the desktop site, most sellers stated that they would likely use a mobile app more. I would like to develop a mobile version adapted to each user set, and test if it would be a more useful platform for both.

approach art institutions

While most buyers said they would prefer to use the desktop site, most sellers stated that they would likely use a mobile app more. I would like to develop a mobile version adapted to each user set, and test if it would be a more useful platform for both.