San Francisco Asian Art Museum App Prototype
Overview
During this 3-month long case study, I conducted an audit on the current app of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. I identified areas of user pain points, and used those insights to design a prototype on Figma that addresses areas of weakness.
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Final prototype was presented to museum stakeholders and given feedback.
Tools
Figma
Canva
Skills
Product Design
UX Research
Prototyping
Timeline
April 2025 - June 2025
Usability Testing
During the ideation phase of the project, I conducted user interviews to build new personas and to inform the design. I prepared an interview script with open-ended questions, focusing on our target audience (people aged 20-30 that regularly attend art museums). More specifically, I focused on their values, motivations, and daily routines. In 8 days, I recruited and interviewed 10 users remotely. I referenced the user interview findings throughout the entire design process.
Major gathered insights were:
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UI lacked a unified system and used inconsistent colors, typography, and components that made the app difficult to navigate.
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Weak brand association; users couldn’t connect the app to the SF Asian Art Museum.
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Users felt that the app prioritized on-site content over other workflows, meaning that purchasing tickets and looking at exhibits felt secondary.
Problem Statement
The SF Asian Art Museum app lacks a coherent system and clear purchase flow, leading to confusion and weak brand association. Usability tests with 10 users showed that many struggle to buy tickets and find the interface unclear, suggesting the app prioritizes on‑site content over core tasks. The goal of the redesign is to:
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1. Unify the design and strengthen the SF Asian Art Musuem branding
2. Create a clean user experience that streamlines ticket purchasing
3. Incorporates user flows focused on spotlighting Asian artists and artwork
1. Unified design
Simple and cohesive bank of fonts and colors to ensure consistency throughout app design.
2. Clean user experience with streamlined ticket purchasing
2. User flows that spotlight Asian artists and their work
Final!
Learnings
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Slow and steady wins the race - I found that when I tried to rush the process between drawing wireframes and prototyping, it made it more difficult to create the final prototype. Making sure to take my time during each phase (ideation to final) will produce the best outcome.
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Validate assumptions - Researching and designing for an app used by museum goers, a demographic I am not very familiar with, showed me the importance of user research. I was able to delve into 3 niche frustrations and target them in my redesign.
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Prioritizing simplicity - It was initially difficult to fight the urge to create a complex design. However, within UI/UX, simplicity is the way to go. By creating a bank of fonts and colors, using minimal text requirements, and streamlining workflows, I created an interface that is easy to navigate.
Next Steps
Based on feedback from my presentation to museum stakeholders, I can try incorporating more on-site features (recordings about certain art pieces, etc.) of the app within my prototype.
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Given more time, I can also reiterate more gray scale prototypes and wireframes to Hi-Fi versions to create a more fully fleshed prototype.
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Another interesting thing to add would be an interactive map of the museum's layout and exhibits.
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