INTERFACE DESIGN, INTERACTION DESIGN, UI/UX DESIGN
A high-fidelity concept for a supplemental app for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture that focuses on enhancing exploration, intrigue, and learning during the user's museum experience.
TOOLS
Figma
Illustrator
After Effects
Premiere Pro
Procreate
COURSE
Interface Design 1
TEAM
Lee Hardisty, Emily Hao, Aidan Moeck
CLIENT
UW Design
DURATION
Eight Weeks, Team
PROMPT
We were initially prompted to design an app that catalogues a collection. My group and I decided to take this prompt and use it to guide us through making a supportive mobile experience to the Burke Museum.
USER RESEARCH
Once my team and I identified the Burke Museum as our app topic, we began our process by conducting a variety of interviews with employees, active visitors, and prospective visitors of the museum. With our interviews, we aimed to figure out exactly what the needs of the users would be across boundaries of age, knowledge, and experience.
Alongside our interviews, we analyzed several museum apps and collections databases to ascertain what the best user flows and interaction models were in the existing landscape, and what flaws existed.
DESIGN ITERATION
As a group, our first challenge was identifying and unifying under a cohesive visual language that communicated the feeling of the Burke without directly copying their brand.
We chose to construct the information architecture of the application to mirror the physical architecture and experience of being in the Burke. We organized the home page by the floors of the museum so that guests could explore the exhibits exactly how they'd experience them in-person. From there, we added centralized locations in the app to view the Burke's events and news, as well as the ability to scan artifacts within the museum to learn more about the Burke's collections.
We also added an additional "Reflection" section for users to participate in if they'd like to deepen their experience at the Burke. This was specifically targeted at some of the younger visitors of the Burke, but is also for all ages to enjoy!
USER TESTING
Once we had made a preliminary version of our app, we moved on to the user testing phase. User testing was essential for us to learn whether our design decisions were effective in helping users navigate the Burke Museum and its offerings. Since we had such a wide variety of features, we were very focused on making sure our app was clear and easy to approach.
DESIGN SYSTEM
Because there were so many different sections to our app and my group was coordinating across four different people, we decided very early in the process that we needed to have a design system to follow within our app.
The most important design system decisions we made pertained to our font and color choices. Since the Burke Museum's mission is focused on inclusivity and diversity, specifically in the Pacific Northwest, we made a lot of choices specifically to uplift these goals. Our biggest consideration here was choosing a font called Radio Canada that supported Native American syllabics—the Burke Museum works very closely with the Coast Salish peoples, and it was incredibly important to be able to correctly spell names within our app.
We also chose specific colors in our design system to demarcate different floors and exhibits and evoke both the Burke's brand and the natural world. Finally, we chose to incorporate illustrations and drawings to maintain the playfulness and childlike wonder that the Burke also hopes to evoke within its guests.
REFLECTION
It was wonderful to work with such an efficient and focused group on this project! We were able to accomplish so much more than we expected through sheer passion for our subject and interest in expanding our knowledge of UI/UX design. Many thanks to my dear friends Emily, Lee, and Aidan for being such wonderful group members. We are so proud of this app and so excited to share it!
