About the Project
Easel is a passion project connecting student/emerging artists to novice buyers.
My Role:
UX Designer & Owner
Year:
2025
Skills Used:
UX Design, User Interface, UX Research, Business Strategy
Process
Defining the problem
Spoke with emerging artists & art buyers to understand barriers in discovering and purchasing affordable, original art.
For the novice art buyer
Accessibly priced quality art is either drowned out by low-grade work (Etsy), buried by algorithms (Instagram/TikTok), or gated behind intimidating galleries.
"It's taken me years to purchase an original work of art because I didn't know where to look."
ISABELLA
RECENT PURCHASER OF <$1000 ART
For the emerging artist
Discovery is dependent on galleries that charge 40%+ commission or on art fairs that only draw in a portion of the market.
"I'm not on etsy anymore because of the monthly fees, and all of the online galleries are too complicated to get on. I only got on Artsy because a gallery sponsored me."
LILY
ARTIST IN WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, NYC
Market & User Research
Designed and ran a survey among peers to learn about their art-buying habits, price expectations, and discovery channels.
Reviewed existing platforms such as Artsy, Nala and Cohart to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in user experience.
| Competitive Research
Results
Leverage social-style video content = brings pieces to life, helps buyer feel more personally invested
Simplifying discovery = too much art online
Mapping the Core Experience
Core Product Pillars
Discover
Buy
Sell
Connect
Account
Primary User Types
Sitemap
Sketching & Wireframing
Prototyping
Coming Soon!
Feedback Sessions
Coming Soon!
High-Fidelity Design
Coming Soon!
Design System
Coming Soon!