Product mock-up video
The You-Seum
Problem and Background
College students enjoy immersing themselves in arts and culture, but they don't like museums. Since the content of museums isn't the problem, my group sought to enhance the museum experience by creating a product that curates a personalized and engaging experience for each museum-goer.
User Research
We interviewed several of our peers, who said that museums were "boring," "hard to navigate," and that they have trouble finding what they could actually be interested in.
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From our findings, we established our target user: "A college student who is looking to become more involved in the arts, who needs personalized direction through museums in order to find artwork that is meaningful and inspirational."
Industry Research
We hypothesized that college students have trouble enjoying museums because we are the generation of instant gratification, so we are not well-versed in the contemplation and self-reflection that art asks of its viewers.
With this in mind, we derived inspiration from apps that are wildly popular with our generation, such as Instagram and Tinder. These apps prompt users to make a snap judgment about whether they "like" what they are being shown or not, and are highly effective in holding the attention of their users.
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Another trend we looked into is the recent rapid growth of the "experience economy," which indicates that that many people would rather spend their money on experiences than a physical good or object.
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Our final consideration was the quickly-growing space for customized products. From sneakers to music stations to college majors, consumers both want and expect personalized products and experiences.
Takeaways
What I learned
For this project, I spearheaded interviewing target users and industry research, helped create the storyboard for our vision video, and had my debut as an actress!
Next Steps and Additional Applications
Based on feedback, we identified several features that could be added to improve future versions of the You-Seum.
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Since museums are often a shared social experience, a "link-up" feature would optimize the tour based on the artistic preferences of all the members in a group.
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Target users expressed interest in a personalized audio tour that accompanied their route around the museum, as well as the ability to take pictures of and with the art.
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This technology has potential applications beyond art museums. Similar guidance could be useful in grocery stores to help people find obscure ingredients for new recipes.
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Group members: Edward Johnson, Thuy-Vy Nguyen, and Kiera Jackson