Minneapolis Institute of Art
Mobile museum experience with AR intergration
An interactive AR map providing directions to museums and detailed exhibit information. By simply opening their camera, users are able to click on an exhibit title and satisfy their curiosity. Users can select personalized audio tour experiences, categorized by ‘most popular’ or ‘renaissance art’ or ‘one hour tour.’
THE PROBLEM
After testing the MIA’s virtual presence a lack of mobile facing experiences was found. Currently, ther is one audio app which exclusively lists out all exhibits with audio companions.
OUR GOAL
Aid the MIA in servicing new & returing visitors through a personalized mobile experience.
Meet Jessica.
A 35 year old marketing professional. She is introverted but has a passion for at history and frequently visits museums to satisfy her curiosity. When she’s in a museum she expects to feel prepared and discover new exhibits but she often feels embarrassed asking gallery staff for help when lost.
After completing market, demographic and psychographic research we found it necessary to create a more holistic experience, that includes feature beyong an AR map.
The user decision tree helped identify general pain points visitors face when going to the MIA. Our decision tree began from users first interaction on the MIA’s website, searching for hours to navigating the physical space and finding exhibits.
We wanted the user to not only be able to use the app for navigation but also for supplemental information on the art, allowing them to become more connected to the pysical space and exhbitions. Our final navigation was comprised of three distinct sections: map, audio, virtual (AR) and exhibits.
We aimed to make the MIA App a one stop shop for any information visitors would need while emphasizing the in-person features such as the map and AR camera.
When drawing on aesthetics for the final prototype we were guided by the MIA’s recent branding update. To mimic these changes a minimalist design approch was utilized. We wanted the app UI to remain black and white to allow the art to be showcaseded throughout the app.
After creating our aesthetics and branding for the app, we underwent three rounds of user testing and feedback.
From these sessions we learned users preferred a more personalized and guided audio/AR tour experience. Additionally, we created cleared navigation labels and icons, specifically for the AR map. Further categorization of the audio tours was along implemented along with greater information for current ticketing on the landing page.
LANDING PAGE
EXHIBITS & AUDIO TOUR
MAP & VIRTUL