So what happened was..
once the Frame 2018 specs were done and finalized, we had some time to experiment with some of the items in our wishlist for Frame 2019. One such item was an Art Tour. While Frame was out there, turning every space into a masterpiece, we secretly hoped that by bringing artworks into homes would also help people to gain a stronger appreciation for the art they display.
Frame was an art gallery by itself and it was a perfect conversation starter, a perfect medium to learn more about artworks and artists. So when we were blessed with the magic of time, that is exactly what we did - explore and experiment Art Tour capabilities on The Frame.
MY ROLE
Interaction Designer
YEAR
2018
Now, To begin with we were thinking..
of exploring all possibilities, including the not so practical ideas. For this reason, as we brainstormed on ideas we picked few ideas that were practical and had higher possibility of being shipped and also few that were experimental.
Design Approach
SO we researched…
the process of audio and guided museum tours to understand how visitors gained information about artworks. Along with in-person visits and tours, users often used websites and apps to learn about artworks from different locations. The journey of a user could be divided into three different phases, each with its own goals and outcomes. The different phases were Discover, Explore and Experience. We mapped this journey using Frame as the medium.
After initial brainstorming, we come up with three different themes to explore. Each theme was a different type of user experience. The different themes were.
THEME 1 : Frame as a THEATER
This theme concentrated on a solution that applied the traditional laid back TV experience and considered Frame as a theater that provided users with audio visual experiences.
Theme 2: Frame as a museum
This theme revolved around a solution that was more interactive, a non-traditional TV experience. Frame was a collection of artwork and it could be considered as a museum, as a navigable digital space.
Theme 3: Frame as an artwork
Creating an immersive experience, where Frame was considered as an artwork, with the help of VR, MR, AR and out-of home experiences. This would involve interaction with digital devices other than the TV.
When we thought of Frame as a theater, delivering a “TV-style” experience, it was evident that the user interactions should be minimal. Each interaction should be rewarded with a rich experience.
Adding a rich audio-visual experience…
was a fitting solution for an interactive medium like television. We wanted to enable users to learn more about an artwork by telling the story about and behind the artwork. And this was similar to the experience visitors got from museum, listening to stories and experiencing it.
With Frame we not only wanted to showcase artworks, but also artists and their process. This was a perfect opportunity to collaborate with artists, museums and studios to create relevant content.
Elements and Storytelling
As we researched on tours, we found that people gained information about artworks often times through stories. TV was a great medium for story telling and was capable of providing audio and visual experiences that could bring stories alive.
We wanted to tell the story of each artwork through three different angles, each focusing on a different component that lead to the artwork.
Artwork
Artwork highlights
Artist’s view of the artwork.
Making of the artwork.
Significance of the artwork
Related artworks
Artist
About the artist
Studio tours
Art process
Inspirations
Artwork collections
Art Style
Origin
Techniques
Significance
Popular artists
Popular artworks
We decided to add curated videos, 360 video contents , podcast and artwork collections related to a particular artwork. This would mean that the content selection of the Art Mode would not be just artworks but would include more curated audio-visual contents, maybe created exclusively for the Frame.
The Frame consisted of an Art Details page for every artwork that provided more information about the artwork. However, this was a very text heavy design, that required the user to read through paragraphs of texts. TV as a medium was not meant to be read from and it was evident that this particular feature did not utilize the medium to its potential. We decided to redesign this page to showcase the newly added content.
The first few iterations added interactive content to the details page but as the designs ent through iterations the designs concentrated more on content making the details page less text heavy.
The details page was redesigned to have less text and more audio - visual elements like Artwork Highlights, Videos of artist interviews, artist’s process, studio tours, podcasts, related artwork collections etc
With the addition of Samsung Bixsby to Frame TV, it was now possible to have voice commands. We wanted viewers to have a conversation with Frame, to enquire about the artwork or artist and this would pull up meaningful information through short audio - visual components.
Daily art would provide users with a new piece of artwork each day, curated as per the user’s taste and choices. This would help users to discover new artwork, artists and art styles.
