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Artspace is a non-profit center located in downtown Raleigh where artists and members of the community can come together to engage in the visual arts. Although I have enjoyed every event that I have attended at their center, I do not have the same positive experience when visiting their website.
The Pain Points
As a user, the Artspace website is extremely frustrating because the navigation (one of the most important aspects of web design) is overwhelming. For starters, there are two navigation bars that could share information and easily be combined into one. For example: the ‘Mission & History’ statements can be included in the ‘About Us’ page. One less link is one less thought the user has to process! In other words, the current navigation system of the Artspace website requires too much thinking with the separated navigation bars. It gets worse- a THIRD navigation bar shows up on the side when going to a different page, not to mention all the content that’s crammed into each category. To top it off, the website does not have a search bar, and if they do, it is not visible which is just as bad! This results in a user who has to think more than they should and try to skim through “pages” of information due to the absence of a search bar.
The Process
These design and user experience issues are founded upon a poorly organized navigation system, so that’s where I started. I mapped out what the new navigation would look like and did some content organization that would make sense for the user.
I then tackled the design of the home page (another factor that breaks or makes a website). I created a wireframe with a simplified design that is easier for the user to navigate.
The Final Design
Considering the user’s reasons for coming to the Artspace website, I inserted a carousel of upcoming events for the current month next to easy-to-skim information on those who want to visit the center. Underneath are quick links to some other pages that the users may be coming to the site for.
In the design, I also wanted to exhibit a more art focused theme with a sleek presentation. To meet these aims, I chose a painting done by a current artist at Artspace for the home page banner that will take the user to the artist’s page with an expanded image of the artwork.
I kept the staple Artspace color, orange, and paired it with neutrals and grays for a more professional look.
Current Home Page
Case Study