Artif allows artists to personalize their introduction in the most expressive way. By customizing their profile, artists control how they tell their story.

Where did it start and what inspired it?

1. Social distancing prevents events like art fairs, gallery and museum visits from happening.

2. More professional and amateur artists start to work from home and work online.

3. I have encountered artists who sell their work and commission through Instagram and Discord, and I found the experience poorly structured.

I decided to make a concept map that focused on particularly the art commission process. It helped me have a bird's-eye view to discover the key moments of the entire experience and identify some of the leverage points that I could further tackle into.

Two different surveys for two target groups: The artists and the buyers

In both surveys, I asked 5 simple questions to gather data like what kind of platform people are currently using for selling/buying artwork; what are some frustration people have encountered in their art e-commerce experience.

There are eight total artists and buyers from my surveys who signed up for a further interview. That was the next step for me to understand two different users’ mental models and how they navigate their art world.

I collected some information about the current platforms they are using or know from my user interviews. I went onto these six websites and explored their features and interactions. I captured the parts I liked and the elements that I might learn from or further implement into my product design.

With the key takeaways from scrutinizing other existing platforms, I captured the potential core value of my product - Artif

Many professional and amateur artists who don’t have their personal website already developed their “lingo” on Instagram, such as: “DM for commissions,” “commission: open/closed,” “Do’s and don’t,” “terms and conditions.” Moreover, all of the artists shown above have a common documentation process under the story feature: commission, work in progress, and sale.

These process documentations are part of the artist’s story and facilities their way of work, so I want to put personalization and storytelling as the emphasis on my product.

I gathered insightful information from interviewing Jamie, where I learned the new dynamic that lives inside the art community during the pandemic. I also learned the different layers of connection and interaction that underlying their culture.

Since most art events have been all online while we practice socially distancing, it’s less about viewing the artwork instead of learning artists' stories by talking and interacting with them. Jamie’s insights validated the ethos of my brand - story-driven, community-based, and building connections.

Artif is a community-based, two-sided online platform that facilitates the process of buying and selling artwork. On the one side it enables artists to sell their work seamlessly and share their story and workspace. On the other side it provides buyers a space to explore and purchase art, connecting and getting deeply look of their art stories.

I created a user flow to guide me through which screens I should focus on wire framing, and it also gives me the bird’s-eye view to see how Artif facilitates all of the steps from the exploring phase to the post-purchase phase.

Prototyping & User Testing

I used Marvel software to prototype my low-fidelity screens and tested it with potential users. Here are some major feedback I got:

1. Unexpectedly, there are fewer options for the buyers. Users would be stuck in an “either-or” situation.

2. There is too much content on the artist’s main page. Users can get lost while deciding where to go on the screen.

3. Introduction screens before the artwork seem unnecessary because they can be distracting: buyers are redirected from an existing page to Artif to view art and further options. The introduction screen and required signup screen can potentially make users forget about their primary task.

4. The questions are hard for artists to answer. These questions are supposed to help artists understand themselves better and help the buyers see who they are.

After the initial wireframing and user testing, I proceeded with an iterative design method - Build-Measure-Learn to help me refine my screens while consistently testing them with the users. To elevate all of the screens from low to mid then to high fidelity screens, I went through multiple rounds of iterations. Here showcases how I approached to refine each screen:

From previous low-fidelity testing feedback, users found the question hard to answer. One of the users suggested that the Hinge app has easy-to-answer questions yet mesmerizing at the same time. So I looked into Hinge app and other questionnaire-based apps to help me develop questions that are approachable and adequate for shaping artists' stories.

• Reflection

  This project started with the focus on helping artists to sell their work seamlessly. As the project progressed, it has slowly transitioned to something that aligns with my passion, which is to help the artists to tell their stories and make these meaningful connections. I learned that every stunning artwork has many stories and processes behind it. Moreover, this project reminds me why I love design, storytelling, and helping people connect with each other. I feel humbled to interview and work with a diverse group of artists and art lovers (buyers). I was able to see the art world from different perspectives as well as to design something that speaks for them.

• What’s Next?

  Artif app contains many UI components, and conducting more usability tests with the entire high-fidelity prototype would help me know if all of the parts are feasible to implement.It’d also be interesting to know where Artif would stand in the art community and what kind of relationship and dynamic artists could create by using Artif if it was a real launched product.