ART UNDERGROUND

2015. Mobile application.

Individual Masters project (MSc Digital Media Design) to design and develop a working mobile application. The app I designed is a digital companion to the commissioned artwork installed around the New York City subway system.

My role was to design a mobile application using UX Design methods and processes. I also developed the app using HTML, CSS, and JQuery Mobile. Additionally, I photographed the subway artwork for use in the app.

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge for my Masters project in Digital Media Design was to design a web or mobile application. I chose to design an iOS mobile app that informs the public of the large collection of artwork throughout the New York City subway system, and helps users locate and understand each work. More than 5.7 million people ride the subway on an average weekday, yet out of the five commuters I interviewed, only one was aware of the existence of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) arts programme. The application was created using a combination of HTML, CSS and Javascript (JQuery Mobile), and the open source framework, Adobe PhoneGap to deploy it as an iOS mobile app. Personal photographs were used to populate the content of the app, while descriptions were based on information provided on the MTA Arts and Design website, artist websites, and personal observations. The result is an easily navigable app that presents subway artwork grouped by subway line and station.

RESEARCH

I started out by conducting competitive analysis and discovered that at the time this project was created, there was no existing mobile app that provided the same information. However, the MTA does maintain an official website with extensive information about the commissioned art projects and though the information is detailed, the site makes use of Flash and therefore cannot be viewed on a mobile phone. I also discovered that a lecturer from Columbia University created a similar app in 2011, but had since removed it from the app store. The MTA also provides API keys on their website, http://datamine.mta.info for developers interested in creating transit mobile apps or websites. However, they only provided data related to timetables and locations of trains and buses. No API existed for the Arts and Design programme. I also analysed existing mobile apps created by various museums around the world to learn how some of them engage their users through the app. 

I conducted user interviews with five people, all of whom were daily subway commuters. Out of the five interviewees, only one was aware of the existence of the official collection of artwork throughout the city's subway system. All five, however said they were interested in learning more about the art and were likely to download the app if given the opportunity.

PERSONAS AND SCENARIOS

Based on the user interviews, I created three personas and scenarios. I structured them based in part on a table titled “What a design-oriented persona-scenario should consist of” in the article “Exploring Persona-Scenarios - Using Storytelling to Create Design Ideas”, by Nielsen and Madsen. 

The three personas were all interested in art to some degree. Two were New York City daily commuters and one was a visiting tourist. Below are the scenarios I created for each persona.

Scenario 1: Fiona, a daily commuter is aware of some of the famous and more obvious art that exists throughout the underground and notices the artwork whenever she walks past one. She wants to be able to find out more information about the artwork or installation whenever she encounters one.

Scenario 2: Jurgen and his spouse are on holiday in New York City for five days and notices some of the art in the subway. They have a busy schedule touring popular museums, landmarks and attractions in New York City, but are curious about what art they can see while traveling on the subway.

Scenario 3: On the way to and from work, Abby notices decorative steel cables at the Brooklyn Bridge Station of the 6 train that she takes everyday. Abby does not know who the artist is or what the work represents. She hurriedly walks through the station, but has several times been curious about the installation.

DESIGN

I wanted the app's design to be familiar to users, so I recreated each subway line icon in the same style that the official MTA subway uses. I also wanted the design to mirror familiar navigation processes, such as those that one might use in other transit maps. Librarian Thomas Mann refers to the Principle of Least Effort (Mann, 1993), which theorised that users are more likely to make use of a tool that is familiar, rather than trying to learn something new that may appear to require more effort.

I created a clickable prototype on Adobe XD based on the third persona-scenario I came up with. In this scenario, the user is curious about an art installation she walks past every day at the Brooklyn Bridge station. The user flow begins when she opens the app, and begins by selecting her subway line, the 6 train. Next, she scrolls to the station she is interested in which is the Brooklyn Bridge stop. She is presented with thumbnail images of four different art works at that station. She chooses the one she is interested in (steel cables), then is able to swipe through several photos of the work, and read information about the work. 

BUILD

I built the app using HTML/CSS and Javascript/JQuery Mobile. Rather than native iOS development with Swift, I decided to make use of the open source framework, Adobe PhoneGap, for ease and time constraints. PhoneGap converts HTML/CSS files into a .ipa file for download, which stores the iOS app. The .ipa file could then be launched via iTunes and submitted to Apple's app store. I included 43 unique art installations in the app, with over 140 photographs. This is a relatively small subset of the official MTA collection, which at the time of this project, had over 250 commissioned artworks throughout the 231-mile subway system.

USER TESTING

I tested the clickable prototype on five users between the ages of 23 and 42 who all commuted via the New York City subway system on a daily basis. Users were asked to perform the following tasks:

Task 1: You are on the C train and transferring to the L train. You notice a bronze sculpture on the ground in the form of an alligator. Use the app to find out more information about the sculpture.

Task 2: You heard that a famous American painter, Al Held has a mural at the 51st Street station of the 6 train. Use the app to find out where you can find it.

Task 3: Use the app to find out about all the art that is installed in Grand Central Station. 

Overall feedback was positive and some users likened the interface to other subway map apps they use for navigation. Two of the five users were unsure what to do on the home screen, and recommended that I include instructions such as “choose your line”. This is something I had considered in initial mockup designs, but had not included in the prototype for testing. One user had also mentioned that the buttons felt too small to tap. Two users mentioned they would like to be able to search or filter by artist, but due to time constraints of the project, this is something I would include in a later version of the app. When asked if they would install and use the app if it became publicly available, all five participants said they would. 

LESSONS LEARNED

Looking back on this project, I would have spent more time collecting user research data through both quantitative and qualitative methods, in order to better understand the variety of users from the subway-rider population of over 5.7 million. 

I would also have conducted the user testing in actual subway stations, rather than outside of the environment in which the app was intended to be used. I believe I would have gotten more valuable feedback testing on-site in real scenarios.

In next versions of the app, I would include features that allowed users to search and filter, as this was something that came up in the user testing. 

Other ideas for future development are around gamification of the app to encourage user engagement and participation. One could imagine a game feature that required users to compete to “collect” as many works as they could through a location-aware feature that confirmed the user was in fact in the vicinity of the artwork and gave them the option to add the piece to their collection. Users could collect points for each artwork, where some of the more obscure or difficult to find works would be worth more points than others.

I would also consider including the ability to share locations and photos with other users from the app through email or instant messaging. 

Another opportunity for future development could be to expand the app to other cities with similar art programmes. The city of London’s Transport for London, for example also commissions artists to install their work in the underground and overground tube stations. They have created a print brochure called “Art Map”, available to take at various stations, which provides information on each of the commissioned installations.

TRY IT OUT! Working prototype (HTML/CSS/Javascript) available here. (Note: if on a desktop, please resize browser to mobile phone size.)