Avaulte


Original Art E-commerce Platform
.Context
Project Type
In house Project at Avaulte

My role
UX designer & developer

Methods
User journey maps
Wireframes
Prototype
Customer feedback
Usability testings

Tools
Figma
usertesting.com

Team
1 UX designer & developer
1 Data analyst

Duration
6 months
Avaulte is an online original art marketplace that offers resources for both buyers and artists, facilitating the commission of custom art and supporting artist development.

It features a curated selection of pieces from both established and emerging artists.

As the UX Designer and Developer at Avaulte, I was responsible for designing the website's UX & UI from the ground up, as well as developing the MVP.

Making Art Accessible

Avaulte’s mission is to create a platform where buyers can discover and acquire art that complements the ambiance of their spaces, while  providing emerging artists with the opportunity to sell their works online. This approach reduces the need for physical gallery space and associated costs. By lowering the entry barriers to art sales, Avaulte aims to expand the marketplace supply and, consequently, increase its revenue.

I designed the website’s first MVP, including the buyer-side marketplace and the artist experience, from onboarding and application to artwork management.

Define the Audience

Buyers:
People buy arts online are most probably:

• 30-80 years old
• Middle/Upper class
• Interior designers/home decorators/corporate buyers


Artists:
People sell arts online are most probably:

• 20-40 years old
• Emerging/young artists
• Art students

Now we can divide the product’s audience further into 4 main groups:

  1. First time buyers
  2. Recurring buyers
  3. First time artists
  4. Recurring artists

They all have similar motivations, but slightly dierent needs. More guidance is needed for new buyers/artists and more eciency is needed for recurring ones.

Buyer user story

First time buyers


Buyer user story

Recurring buyers

Understanding each audience group’s context & needs



1. First time artists’ context

 While going through the online art selling process, this is the usual context for first time artists:

  • When. I assume artists start working with our site when they are already at an advanced stage of content writing, at which point they start checking what their selling options are.
  • Where. Artists apply to Avaulte using their laptops, desktop computers and maybe tablets from anywhere — home, coee shops, co-working spaces, airports etc. 
  • Feelings. Excited, anxious. Emerbging artists might feel overwhelmed by aspects of selling they weren’t even aware of.


Then, I mapped out the first time artist onboarding user journey by including all touchpoints. This analysis demonstrates that artists typically experience 4 emotional stages: awareness, consideration, decision, and delight.
I also mapped out the buyer user journey and this analysis demonstrates that buyers’ experience shares the same 4 emotional stages with artists’:

List ideas

For artists:
Art e-commerce involves a lot of aspects — communicating with Avaulte liaisons, item description copywriting, working with shipping companies and more. I think building a dashboard allowing artist and  to work on these tasks from their laptop/desktop, as they are already used to, would provide them with the best experience.

The post-publishing experience could be more relevant for mobile, so artists can track their buyers’ statistics and payments on the go.

For buyers:
These are the criteria buyers could filter arts:

• Color tone
• Style
• Price
• Canvas size

Moreover, rather than browsing individual paintings listed on the website, buyers need to visualize the artwork in real spaces to fully appreciate the atmosphere it creates. Once their interest is piqued, it's essential to provide quick access to the product detail page to facilitate their buying decision. A product hotspot feature will perfectly meet this need. 


I integrated the listed ideas and user journeys and developed a new website sitemap:



Based on the sitemap, I created wireframes and converted them into high-fidelity prototypes:
The Launch

In the 6 months after my involvement on the project, the team continued to evolve and polish the UX & visual design, as well as finesse the finer functional details as the website was being built. Although I was not part of this process, it was great to see most of my work brought to life.




Homepage 



Product Hotspot Feature




Artist Onboarding Application 



Shopping Cart



Seller Account - Workspace



Seller Account - Artist Profile


Impact

For the product: improved the key metrics.

1. Increased the artist registration completion rate by 13%.

2. Increased features retention over time by 15%.


For business: acheived business goals and increased sales.

If artists use our marketplace and choose to do that again for their next painting, there is a big chance their initial experience with the marketplace was positive.