The Artback Murals

QR Code project & Responsive website

‍Timeline: 3 month, 30+ hours/week

Role: Lead UI/UX Designer, Website builder

Team: Katinka Bryk; Content

Project Overview

The Artback Artist's Cooperative is a 501c non-profit formed in 1992 with hopes to shape the future of visual arts in the community while increasing civic pride. They are dedicated to bringing art into the local arena to benefit and educate the largest and most diverse population possible.
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Many people know and love the murals but few know the complete history and stories behind them. The Artback wants to create more access to the murals to better share the stories and create a stronger bond to the area and community. Based on our research we found the best way to achieve this was by creating a responsive website with maps, events & tours in conjunction with individual QR codes for each mural.

Research

The Artback needs some updating

We started with writing down our initial assumptions. Who would benefit? What are our goals?

Our research began by looking at other mural organizations and how they spread awareness of their projects. This was helpful to see what resources other organizations use to promote their artworks.

Next, I conducted three 1-on-1 interviews with local business owners that have murals painted on their buildings. I wanted to find out what people currently know about the murals and what they would like to learn.

Observations #1

Business owners have a limited knowledge of The Artback murals

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Insight #1

If business owners have limited knowledge of murals then tourists have even less and are missing out on local history and a more engaging experience

Observations #2

Tourists are primarily gaining insight from their own observations

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Insight #2

Tourists need to be able to access information by themselves/ through the murals

Observations #3

Estacada has been stagnant and lacking community engagement

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Insight #3

Self-promotion and making the murals more interactive could bring more foot traffic to downtown area

Understanding the users & their frustrations

There are two main user groups I felt would benefit the most from more accessibility to the murals. The first being local business owners that want more foot traffic around their business' and second, people interested in visiting public art

Tanley Owens

Local business owner

“The murals are an important tourist attraction and could bring us more business”

Janice Riely

Public art enthusiast

"I've want to visit the murals but I can't find any information about them"

Define

What is thejob-to-be-done?

Using the job-to-be-done framework, we can discover the different jobs our persona, Janice, might hire from the Artback. The minimum job is the ability to discover where all the murals are located. During the interviews we were able to discover how visitors like Janice are currently getting the job done and what their frustrations and roadblocks are with the Artback. Based on the above findings we found that in order to help Janice we need to create more access to the murals, provide more background and historical information, and create an experience that connects her to the community.

Ideate

Brainstorming

The research showed that there needs to be access to the locations and information about the murals directly on each work. I explored different options such as VR, simply writing the website on each mural or a pamphlet holder at each mural.

We found that attaching a unique QR codes to each mural that directs the viewer to the corresponding webpage found to be the most efficient and widely accepted way to share information such as the murals back story but also the walking tour and events

Tourist scanning a QR code

PROTOTYPE/USABILITY TESTING

The 'job' is to increase exposure to the murals

ARE PEOPLE ABLE TO FIND THE MURAL MAP, EVENTS & INFORMATION ABOUT THE MURALS & ARTBACK?

Based on usability testing we found that:

The website and QR codes are a necessary tool for learning more about the murals
All users were intrigued by the QR codes and what additional information was provided
The majority of people selected the walking tour map that was on the mural information page in order to find the other murals

So, we can assume that this feature will help increase foot traffic around downtown Estacada

Takeaways

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Get out of your bubble

I was able to gain much more insight about the wants and needs of the community regarding the Artback by asking people outside of the organizations and its affiliates. People were excited to be involved and have their voice heard

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It takes a village

This was my first time working with a community organization and being involved in the bureaucracy of decision making. There were many people from the town involved in approving the project that may not fully understand the scope of our idea and goal, I learned that it is important to have everything written and explained in detail in order to minimize confusion

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Start collecting information ASAP

One of the biggest hurdles I had was getting the lead artists of the murals to send me background information about their murals. I assumed that the artists involved would be eager to share the information with me but it took a lot more effort that I expected. I learned that if there is information needed, start asking ASAP

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