Artco
Bringing creativity and camaraderie together
OVERVIEW
Survey data demonstrates that most of us stop drawing once we reach adolescence, and this discontinuation is being observed in progressively younger children. Pablo Picasso famously said: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Art, often pursued as a solitary practice, lacks the supportive structure provided by a communal or classroom setting. This leaves the learning process to unfold independently, making it challenging for individuals to sustain practice and commit to improving without the support of accountability. Introducing Artco, a community-based platform where creatives come together to learn, refine, and express their artwork within a supportive community of like-minded users.
Cultivating creativity through community
Artco fosters a sense of accountability and feedback for individuals seeking creativity by establishing structured cohorts. These cohorts consist of small groups of dedicated users committed to submitting artwork at regular intervals throughout a defined period. Artco cultivates accountability through a peer-led classroom environment and facilitates personal growth by offering regular feedback.
RESEARCH
I wanted to further understand the challenges people faced throughout their creative journeys, so I began my research with competitive analysis and user interviews. My goal was to discover the challenges faced by those seeking to develop their creativity, the resources that were used to inspire and learn from, and the solutions people have tried to practice art regularly.
Competitive Analysis
There is a multitude of resources available that offer creative inspiration, online learning, and opportunities for social connections. I found that despite the availability of free and paid services for learning art, I noticed a gap - a lack of platforms providing a more intimate setting for connecting with peers on the subject of creativity. Additionally, most of these resources prioritize teaching a new skills rather than fostering a consistent exercise of one’s own creative abilities.
User Interviews
Five interviews were conducted with people across the age range of 22 to 37. My goal was to understand the responses to the following questions:
When was the last time you did something creative?
What challenges do you face when trying to practice creativity?
What resources have you used to either learn a new skill or inspire creativity?
How do you recognize progress and how do you share your work?
Key takeaways:
Group settings provide the opportunity for you to ask others for immediate feedback.
Having peers allows you to hear about and understand the challenges they’re experiencing and realize you are not alone in your adversities.
The primary reason most do not exercise creativity more often due to the lack of motivation and time.
Many acknowledge there are online resources offering inspiration and learning tutorials, but they fall short in contributing to motivation.
IDEATION
How might we help people learn creative skills in a group environment to allow for collaboration and feedback?
User Persona
Based on the results of the user interviews, I created a user persona named Grace to represent the target audience.
Problem Statement
Creativity is exercised significantly less after entering adulthood, primarily due to lack of motivation and time. People need a community of like-minded creatives to provide inspiration, accountability, encouragement, and feedback to help them pursue their creative journeys.
User Flow
I created a user flow to understand the steps a user would experience when completing the task of joining a cohort in order to identify gaps in the user experience.
DESIGN
Early Wireframes
Low fidelity wireframes were developed to understand the scope of the MVP.
Branding
Artco is an app for creatives seeking inspiration and support. To reflect this, the brand was crafted using colors that evoke a sense of calm and acceptance. The colors, along with playful lines and shapes, aim to create an imaginative atmosphere.
The initial palette was inspired by one of the fundamental rules of art, that mixing primary colors creates all other colors. This concept evolved into an analogous color scheme, replacing yellow with purple. The resulting colors aim to capture a cool and tranquil environment, reminiscent of scenic landscapes at dusk or the gentle glow of neon lights in a city after dark, a perfect backdrop for artistic inspiration.
Logo Design
The logo is inspired by the app's name, Artco, an abbreviation for "artist collective." An artist collective is a gathering of creative minds collaborating, sharing resources, and working collectively to realize shared artistic objectives. The playful design aims to mirror the creative community within Artco.
UI Library
A component set was developed, integrating the brand's color palette and infusing the playful style featured in the logo.
ITERATE
Draft High Fidelity Screens
The first draft of the high fidelity prototype was developed and prepared for usability testing.
Usability Testing
I conducted usability testing with five participants to pinpoint pain points within the task flows and gather valuable feedback on areas needing potential design enhancement.
Reiterations
After conducting usability testing, I integrated refinements into the high-fidelity screens based on the received feedback. The following outlines some of the most critical changes implemented to enhance the platform's design.
Creating a more intuitive onboarding experience
During usability testing, I identified a challenge for first-time users to intuitively find the right cohort based on their personal preferences. Typically, this task involves utilizing the filter tool on the cohorts page. In response to this discovery, I designed an onboarding experience to assist new users in selecting their preferences, mirroring the options provided by the filter tool. This enhancement aims to streamline the process and enhance the user experience for those joining Artco for the first time.
Visual development of the home screen
The product’s landing page needs to capture attention, educate the the user, and encourage action. It was important for the visual design of Artco’s landing page to make an impactful impression and therefore underwent various iterations before coming to a design that met the needs of the product.
Adding features to support accountability
Structure and accountability are critical objectives provided by Artco, and it was essential to make sure these objectives were well executed by the tools provided in the product. Additional features were added in order to further support meeting these objectives.
DELIVERY
Below are the final high fidelity screens and prototype of the MVP.
REFLECTIONS
Here are several opportunities to further enhance the development of Artco:
Explore additional avenues for user to user interactions
Develop the task flow for a user to create customized cohorts
Design the UI elements for notifications to encourage users to keep up with their cohort deadlines
Further refine iconography and component design