ARt at the Park
Engaging Community at the Intersection of Art, Technology & Place
Clients: Los Angeles' Grand Park & the Downtown Center Business Improvement District
Team: Nikola Jovanovic, Crystal Munson, Cole Grodnisky, Juliana A., Axel Ruiz, Ruben Montanez, and Miguel LucasMy Roles: Project manager, UX researcher, conceptual designer, 3D artist, visual storyteller, pitching to stakeholders
Project Goal: Devise a way to both guide traffic toward Grand Park and develop a greater sense of local community.
Problem
Grand Park regularly hosts activations to attract new visitors and promote public interest in the arts. Costs, however, both for artists to present their work, and for Grand Park are incredibly high, prohibitive, and slow. Installing art in public spaces is a complex process that requires additional funding and manpower. Furthermore, on non-event days, the park lacks any CTA’s prompting visitors to share their experience at the park on social media.
Key Insights
Despite the diverse population, Artists and Angelenos still long for connection and intrinsic purpose.
Exposure to art and participation in creative activities fosters a sense of community.
Creating and experiencing art raises serotonin levels and enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system.
Solution:
Art at the Park uses the Hoverlay app to merge art and the environment into an interactive augmented reality experience that allows artists and creators to share their stories with visitors of Grand Park to connect, engage, and increase a sense of belonging in the community. Additionally, it helps visitors connect with local artists in a way that engages and encourages sharing of both Grand Park and artists’ work through social media.
I attended The Other Art Fair in Santa Monica to interview local artists and get a feel for the Los Angeles Art Scene.
Prototype testing at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.
Concept Validation
To test the Art at the Park concept, we asked users to scan a QR code, download the AR app Hoverlay, and open a location-based augmented environment which the team and I previously set up using public domain images as proof of concept. The app's functionality allows for text placement and link redirects, which enables the park to increase conversion of Social Media followers and Survey-takers.
Bringing the Concept to Life
Our team's concept was chosen (among 8 competing teams) to be further developed and on October 22, 2022, Grand Avenue Augmented was launched in Grand Park (Downtown Los Angeles).
Reflection
It may seem strange at first that our final product's goal was to foster a greater sense of local community through digital means. And that was our thought process at first; we wanted to stay away from a typical app because we thought it would be counterintuitive to our goal. However, after many user interviews, journey maps, personas, and affinity diagrams later we discovered that what we thought would be best for our users did not match the needs that our users expressed. So, we had to change our mindset in order to view things through the perspective of our users. They showed us that the easiest way for them to navigate the park and experience different perspectives was found inside their phones.
Through empathy, curiosity, flexibility, and constant iterations we designed an experience in an app that incited exploration to be done outside of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a talented group of designers whose creativity, open mindedness, and care for our users guided our designs to where it is now.
Through empathy, curiosity, flexibility, and constant iterations we designed an experience in an app that incited exploration to be done outside of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a talented group of designers whose creativity, open mindedness, and care for our users guided our designs to where it is now.
"One of the greatest gifts that art offers us is the ability to see the world (and our lives) through a new lens. This perspective shift is invaluable and augmented reality art is the perfect tool to create it."
- Heather Smith
Created Using Adobe Firefly
Created Using Adobe Firefly
