Open Studio
Web Product Concept
Overview
Open Studio is a web product concept that is an art learning and sharing platform for young people. This project done for a Topics: Web/Mobile taught by Allan Yu and Lydia White at Parsons School of Design.
Year
Fall 2019
6 Weeks
Team
Individual Project
Role
UX/UI Designer
UX Researcher
UX Methods
User Survey
User Flow
Wireframe
Prototype
Research
I surveyed 14 high schoolers (14-18 year olds) who enjoy making art and are not a part of Artists for Humanity’s program. These were my key findings:
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70% of students were not taking art class at school, despite establishing that they enjoyed creating art.
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When asked on a scale from 1–5, how important is the input or critiques of their peers, 10/14 students marked 3 or above.
Snippet of survey results.
A space dedicated to young people that mimics the experience of an art class, without the grades or commitment.
Problem
Teenagers don’t have the time or resources to express and grow themselves creatively.
Solution
LEARNING
CREATING
SHARING
CONNECTING
Open Studio's Cycle of User Engagement
Wireframe
Upload
Users can upload their art on any page through the button on the navigation bar or post after reading the Weekly Challenge prompt.
Crit
Crit Wall is where users can ask for input on current projects, give others input, or find inspiration. From the Crit Wall, users can give other users crit through crit boards, which have a selection feature to make critiquing more clear.
Learning
Learning Portal is where users can pick up new skills from video lessons. The lessons are created and updated weekly by mentors and teens at Artists for Humanity based on the current week's weekly challenge. This gives teens in AFH’s program an opportunity to share tips and tricks they’ve learned at AFH, building their leadership skills in the process.
Introduction
Challenged to create a digital product for a nonprofit, I chose to create a digital extension of the nonprofit, Artists for Humanity, an organization dedicated to giving teens a space to be creative. Artists for Humanity offers urban teens employment through the arts, however, their mission can only service as many teens as they can fit into their building. Therefore, I wanted to create a product that would help Artists for Humanity spread their mission outside of its building.
Takeaways
A key takeaway was the importance of user research. In the beginning of my process, I made a lot of assumptions on what users would need. But after conducting the surveys, I learned that some of my assumptions were wrong. I also learned how to design a product that retained users through creating a cycle; each task in the product leads users to another task.
