WHAT DOES ART MEAN TO YOU?
Why Interviews?
Beyond testing task flows, I wanted to understand what role art and museums play in people’s lives. By asking open-ended questions, I could capture values, motivations, and feelings that aren’t visible in click paths. These insights formed the basis of empathy maps, personas, user stories, and journeys.
INTERVIEW GOALS
1. Understand how different visitor types relate to art and what they expect from a gallery.
2. Learn what makes an online art experience frustrating vs. inspiring.
3. Capture emotional drivers behind visiting, donating, or exploring archives.
4. Translate these insights into personas that guide the redesign.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What does art mean to you personally?”
“When you visit a museum’s website, what are you looking for first?”
“What makes you decide to actually visit (or not)?”
“What would make you want to support or donate to a gallery?”
ART LOVER’S EMPATHY
To move beyond surface-level issues, I created empathy maps that captured what participants do, think, feel, and say when interacting with PLATO’s website. By clustering insights through affinity mapping, clear behavioral patterns emerged. These were synthesized into personas that reflect distinct audience groups: each with unique goals, frustrations, and expectations. These personas became the guiding lens for every design decision.
USERS’ STORIES
Designing for PLATO meant balancing what users want to know, do, and feel. Synthesizing goals from interviews and empathy maps gave me a lens to think beyond functions: not only what the site should do (clear navigation, direct CTAs, accessible archives), but also how it should feel (inspiring, trustworthy, inclusive). This shift from tasks to emotions made the difference between a good experience and a great one.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM USERS’ JOURNEYS
Mapping the journeys of our personas revealed a common pattern: users arrive with clear intentions: visit, learn, support, but lose momentum because of nested navigation, dense content, and missing CTAs at decision points. Whether it’s buying tickets, booking a class, exploring archives, or donating, friction at the final step creates frustration and drop-offs. The website needs to function as a cultural portal: efficient, inspiring, and community-driven.