aditi gunna

PROJECT TITLE: SOMETHING SOMETHING 

[USER RESEARCH]
[UI/UX DESIGN]



What is the main question addressed in this project?A brief paragraph orienting the reader about the context of this case study, with important phrases highlighted.  

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Project
For a major telecom client at Cognizant Time Frame 
4 Weeks, October-November 2023  My Role
Ideation, Visual Design, Prototyping



Design Solution 

 A brief overview of what the proposed design solution was, with important phrases highlighted.

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Solution title oneBrief text explaining the solution or feature proposed and how that addresses a concern, with important phrases highlighted.
 





Solution title oneBrief text explaining the solution or feature proposed and how that addresses a concern, with important phrases highlighted. 

 


DESIGN PROCESS

 

Research/Requirements

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Header 3

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Museum of Modern Art(MoMA) was the most visited museum (100% of the respondents visited it in the last year). MoMA was also the museum most respondents visited more than once in the past year.
Based on the volume of visitors and the frequency of their visits, we identified MoMA as the site of intervention for our project. 

Header 3

The MoMA website currently has a series of maps, for the different floors of the museum. Users are required to download the pdf file on the browser to be able to use it. 

If users wish to navigate to a an artwork, they need to look up the piece on the website to find the number associated with it. Then, they need to find the corresponding space on the map.
The Museum of Modern Art Website, on a mobile browser (Safari), as on November 2, 2023.
MoMA’s guide, as available on the Bloomberg Connects App, as on November 2, 2023.
















While MoMA doesn’t have an app they run or maintain, the museum is available on the Bloomberg Connects App. The app is an interactive guide to over 200 museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens and cultural spaces.
 
While the platform has a feature that allows you to plan your visit, it is not available for MoMA. 
Research Insights

After analyzing all the research we conducted, we organized user insights using affinity mapping. From which, we were able to synthesize the following findings:

1. A need for in-museum way-finding. With the existing tools, there is a major disconnect between physical signifiers and the digital markers.
 
2. Users engage with the museum artifacts by using the extra aids and material provided by the museum. The current interfaces(audio and text on the wall) may be limiting for consumption while in the museum. Having to download an app can be a major deterrent to using extra interfaces. 

3 While majority of users are for using their devices while in the museum to augment their experience, there is a niche who find digital screens/interfaces distracting from the physical experience of the museum. 
We distilled our research findings to identify two kinds of user personas that the design proposal will cater to. 








Helen
Working Professional, New York City resident
  • Newcomer to the world of art; eager to learn and makes frequent visits to museums around the city.
  • Plans her visits before, locates the exhibits and does some background research.
  • Wants to engage with the art, beyond just looking at the exhibits - wants to understand the context of the piece.
  • Feels disheartened when she is unable to comprehend the piece due to a lack of readily available content; she knows she doesn’t have the time to go back and look into it.
  • Feels frustrated when she struggles with navigating in the museum - breaks from the experience.








Martin
Art Student, New York City resident
  • Working towards his MFA in Fine Arts, frequently visits museums and galleries around the city.
  • Enjoys the experience by getting lost in a museum, likes to allow the space and art dictate the flow rather than a plan.
  • Doesn’t like using his phone too much while inside, believes it takes away from the immersive experience.
  • Uses his phone to take photos of memorable exhibits, make notes that he refers to later and look up important information.
  • Interacts with the supplementary content to understand the intent behind the exhibit, as a narrative - willing to open links or scan codes.

User Flow 

Based on our research, we identified a need for a navigation system to be integrated into the existing museum interfaces. 

Our proposal would allow for users to 
  1. Plan their visit to the museum, map out the various available exhibits and save routes.
  2. Navigate while in the museum and add essential services(like washrooms or seating areas) to the  route, when required.
  3. Allow users to browse supplementary content about the exhibit, curated by the museum.
  4. Send route to a smart watch, reducing interaction with large screens.

We began our design ideation by creating a user flow diagram detailing the different steps in the user journey before and during the museum visit. 

Our final user flow diagram:

Ideation 

We began designing paper prototypes for both devices, a phone which would contain a comprehensive navigation experience through the museum and exhibits, and a smart watch for a seamless immersive experience. 



We designed a navigation interface, where users can search for specific stops and create a ‘saved route’ that includes places they want to go to.



Users can access routes they created and navigate along them in the museum. Other services can be accessed along navigation routes.



These routes and services can be accessed on phones as well as smart watches.




Visual Design

Our early visual design borrowed from MoMA’s current visual language. We soon found that the saturated colours made for a challenging interface.
MoMA’s design language from their website and maps, as on November 2023


We found that using similar saturated colours led to decreased contrast, making it unreadable and harder to delineate interactions. 

With the existing colours of the map (in the background) we tried various iterations of interactive buttons. Most fell short of readability and contrast.


We designed a formal UI Kit, based on the current design language.


Design Proposal 

We built a high-fidelity prototype on Figma using our design language.  [See Figma Prototype here]

 
  
Key features of our design proposal include,

1. Planning and Saving routes. Users can search exhibits and add them to their route, they can also plan in advance and save routes.
 


2. Navigating routes. Users can launch routes, visit the different exhibits. They can see the next steps in their journey, even look for alternative routes. 


 3. Add essential services.  Users can add services like washrooms, seating areas and information desks to their route. 



4. Navigate on Smart WatchUsers who prefer to not use their phone while in the museum can choose to navigate on their smart watches.

 


Users who prefer to not use their phone while in the museum can choose to navigate on their smart watches.

In future iterations, we think it might be helpful to expand the design proposal to include a more comprehensive design language for the physical spaces as well, allowing for a clear correlation between the two interfaces. Based on user research, users may also prefer a physical version of the interface(a pamphlet or brochure, maybe even a kit that users may borrow from the museum) - those who choose to avoid screens entirely during a museum visit. 

Note: This project is an academic endeavor, undertaken as part of coursework in Parsons School of Design and does not have any commercial intentions.

Team

This project was undertaken as coursework, part of the Designing for Usability course at Parsons School of Design. 

The team consisted of me (Aditi Gunna), Isha Agarwal and Siyuan Fu. 
We were adivsed by our faculty, Jacklyn McKay. 

We worked together and collaborated on almost all aspects of this project. I’m grateful for my robust team, we kept moving forward despite many obstacles! I’m also grateful for Jaclyn for her constructive feedback and optimism!
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