05 - museum mobile — theoneone

JODIE ZHANG

Museum Mobile
Case Study
Product Design. 2019

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) draws over a million annual visitors with its collections in painting, sculpture, photography, design and media arts. Its cultural importance to the city is undeniable. Drawing on UX usability research and on-site analysis, this project proposes a new mobile strategy to help visitors navigate the museum’s offerings.

Problem

How might digital features fit into a museum context?

We visit museums to get away from our phones and screens, so why conflate the two? How might we create a digital experience that enhances the in-person museum experience, while also engaging users online before and after their visits?

Research

On-site and online research

The museum is a container for multiple experiences. The Sfmoma is comprised of two buildings circa 1995 and 2015 (built respectively by Mario Botta and Snohetta), whose exterior separateness belies the unified interior experience of the museum. In addition to the ticketed gallery experience, visitors have access to free public spaces, including a vast lobby, a restaurant, and the museum store. Beyond the public and gallery spaces, a third layer of experience, usually reserved for researchers and education purposes, can be accessed by appointment.As part of the research process, methods incuding user-centered practices and business-centered analysis were used. The following details the process and results of four research methodologies: card sort, user research, business outline, and website tree test.

Final screens

A tailor-made mobile experience

A user-friendly Sfmoma mobile site can help bridge the gap between visitors’ in-person and online experiences. Rather than creating a separate native app, the mobile site is a great way for users to explore the site before their visit, and offers a more fluid experience for the casual visitor.

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