Museum Mate

UX/UI design project focused on a public art museum to advertise exhibitions and tours, provide additional museum information to patrons, and enable patrons to schedule tours.

Difficulty finding relevant event information

Users struggled to quickly locate event details such as date, time, and availability.

Site map

Overview

Role: UX Designer
Tools: Figma
Timeline: 10/8/2024 - 4/28/2025

Problem

Museum visitors often struggle to fully engage with exhibitions due to limited access to contextual information and inefficient scheduling tools. While museums provide physical signage, it is often not enough to support deeper understanding or personalized experiences.

Research

Research was conducted through competitive analysis, user personas, and usability testing.

Research was conducted using a combination of:

  • surveys

  • moderated usability testing

  • unmoderated testing (Maze)

  • preference testing

Key findings included:

  • High interest in the product concept
    Participants showed strong engagement and interest in using the app

  • Strong task success rates
    Users were able to complete key tasks like scheduling with a 100% success rate and minimal errors

  • Need for clearer structure and labeling
    Users experienced confusion with icons, navigation, and feature expectations

  • Typography impacts usability
    Users preferred Open Sans over Lato due to better readability

  • Feature value perception matters
    While users liked the added features (audio, extra info), they were unsure if they were worth paying for

Pain Points

Unclear navigation and feature expectations

Some users were unsure how to move between sections like events, camera scanning, and profile.

Information overload and poor structure

Users prefer summarized content, but some screens contained too much text or lacked hierarchy.

Persona

Design Process

Wireframe

Final Design

The final design focuses on improving clarity, usability, and engagement while maintaining a clean mobile-first experience.

Key design improvements include:

  • Improved navigation clarity
    Icons and labels were refined to better match user expectations and reduce confusion

  • Enhanced event scheduling flow
    The process was simplified to clearly guide users from event selection to confirmation

  • Integrated QR scanning feature
    Users can scan artwork to instantly access detailed descriptions and audio playback

  • Content hierarchy improvements
    Important information is prioritized at the top, with additional details accessible progressively

  • Consistency across UI components
    Spacing, buttons, and layouts were standardized to improve usability

  • Accessibility improvements
    Contrast issues (such as icons) were corrected to improve visibility

Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of testing designs early and iterating based on real user feedback.

One key takeaway was that users can complete tasks successfully even when the experience is not optimal. While the app achieved a high success rate, usability testing revealed confusion in navigation and labeling, showing that success alone does not equal a great user experience.

Another important lesson was the impact of small design details:

  • icon clarity

  • text readability

  • spacing and hierarchy

These small issues significantly affected how users perceived the product.

I also learned that:

  • Users prefer clear, guided flows over flexible but unclear systems

  • Feature value must be clearly communicated (especially when payment is involved)

  • Consistency across screens is critical for trust and usability

If I were to continue improving this project, I would focus on:

  • refining visual hierarchy across all screens

  • improving onboarding and guidance for first-time users

  • enhancing interactivity (animations, feedback states)

Prototype Link

Next Project

Confusion around icons and functionality

For example, users mistook certain icons (like search) for different functions.

Prototype