Project Overview
Artroom is a conceptual e-commerce website that connects artists and shoppers. Artroom allows artists to easily upload their artwork and set a starting bid price, message clients, keep track of orders and learn from other artists. Buyers can browse artists in their city, outbid other shoppers for artwork and be the first to know when an artist they follow lists a new piece of artwork.
Scope of Work
Research, Product Designer, UX, UI
Project Goals
Learn how artists are currently selling their artwork online
Research competitors to find what is and isn’t working
Understand problem areas of selling artwork
Challenge
Artists, designers, and crafters have a hard time standing out in a sea of artists and selling their artwork for premium prices.
Solution
Create and design a website that allows shoppers to follow artists they love, discover new artists in their area, and place bids on 100% handmade artwork.
Process
This project was created with my passion for handmade artwork in mind. I have been an Etsy seller since 2016 and have always struggled with knowing my worth as an artist. Over the years, Etsy has also turned into a marketplace of non-handmade shop owners looking to cheaply mass-produce items. With these two difficulties, I found myself wondering how I could thrive in the online artist world. Was I the only artist who felt this way?
Research > Develop > Revision
Competitive Research
Where are artists selling their artwork right now?
The first step of my research project was to find out what websites artists are currently selling their artwork on. I selected the four below and dug deep into their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. After researching, I wanted to make sure that Artroom offers the following:
Easy-to-upload artwork for artists
Low fees and artist-friendly pricing structure
Multiple mediums of artwork for buyers to shop
Quality control to ensure 100% handmade items
User Interviews
"I haven’t been able to find an online website that represents my artwork the way I’d like to be represented.”
I interviewed five artists who sell their artwork online or in-person to understand if their problem areas were similar to mine. I also talked with an artist who doesn’t sell his artwork online because he hasn’t been able to find a website that helps him achieve his goals as an artist. To learn more about their selling process, I asked the following questions:
What platform do you sell your artwork on and what makes it easy to use?
What problems do you run into when selling your artwork?
What are your goals in selling your artwork?
Affinity Map of Artist Interviews
Wants:
Ways to gain exposure
Easy-to-upload listings
Business tools for taxes and shipping
To earn top dollar
Pain Points
Keeping up with existing clients
Finding new clients
High artist fees
Busy schedule
Pricing artwork
Goals
Feeling connected to customers
Earning enough for talents and time
Gain new clients
Sell to existing clients
Meet Julia & Stephanie
I narrowed my research down to create two artist personas who have different wants and needs. These personas are what kept me on track for the rest of my design process. Julia is a part-time artist looking to gain more clients and sell her artwork at higher prices. Stephanie is a full-time artist looking to connect with her existing customers and with her community.
How might we help Julia and Stephanie?
The last step in my research process was to formulate How Might We questions to answer the main problem areas of artists. The three questions below were what jump-started my ideation and development phase to ensure a successful product.
How might we help artists reach new customers?
Discover or For You page
Featured Listings to showcase artists and artwork
Offer a way for artists to Boost listings
How might we help artists earn the most for their artwork?
Bidding feature so shoppers can place higher bids
“Buy it Now” price for shoppers who don’t want to compete with bids
Low fees
How might we help artists stay in touch with existing customers?
Add a “Following” section so customers can follow their favorite artists
Add artist profiles so customers can get to know them
Offer email marketing or campaigns to stay in touch
Research > Develop > Revision
Creating Solutions
For the development phase, I needed to narrow down the most important pages of the website. I put myself in the users shoes and created Task Flows to start creating pages for the important steps. As you can see below, I first wrote out the task at hand, then created Mid-Fidelity Wireframes based on each step.
UI Design
Since Artroom is a conceptual website, I created its branding from the ground up. This phase was one of my favorite parts of this project because I was able to flex my graphic design skills and craft a feeling with UI Design. UI Design has a powerful way of conveying emotion and I was able to express the wants and needs of my users through color and design. This included:
Logo Design
Font & Color Selection
Icon Creation
High-Fidelity Wireframes
Logo Design
I came up with the name Artroom as a call to childhood being in my favorite class at school, art class. The art room was where I went when I wanted to escape from my day and fully immerse myself in my senses. Whether it be drawing, painting, photography, or any type of medium, the art room was the most relaxing, calming place in the world. I wanted to convey that feeling of creativity in the logo. See my steps below for how I ended up with the final logo.
Color and Font Selection
I selected Artroom’s colors based on the values of connection and worthiness, the main goals of the artists I interviewed. Blues: Connection, unity, inspiration, tranquility, and dreaming. Purples: Inspires a sense of self-worth. Oranges: Creativity, movement, warmth, welcoming, wisdom. I chose the font Lexend Deca because of the wide range of sizes and widths, and how easy it is to read. It’s accessible while still feeling fun, playful, and artistic.
Research > Develop > Revision
What could make it better?
When user testing, I found that users had trouble creating an account since the top right button said: “Sign In” instead of “Join | Login”. They also discussed their wants of rearranging the website architecture and feeling distracted by the background gradient. After listening to their feedback, I was able to tweak the formatting, colors, and layout to help navigate the website more smoothly. Below are a few revisions and a button to view the final prototype.
Closing Thoughts
From user research to UI design, understanding your users and putting their wants, needs and goals first throughout each step of the design process is crucial. Listening and talking to users in interviews and testing was the backbone to this project. Artroom will help artists reach their goals by:
Making the most money for their artwork with the bidding platform
Connecting with buyers in their area
Staying top of mind to the shoppers that follow them
Connect with other artists to learn business tips
Gaining new clients with additional online exposure
