Innovation & Culture
Younger audiences in India lack sufficient knowledge to confidently invest in art and are hesitant to buy it online due to its tactile nature
Design an art platform for a sub-50 demographic that provides educational resources to empower informed purchasing decisions, while enabling users to experience the tactile qualities, scale, and presence of art in a digital environment
I worked in a team of 3 over the span of ~6+ months, leading formative research, product design and testing
Reached product market fit and generated 1 M in sales ~3 months from product launch
Terrain engaged our studio to build an art sales and education platform from the ground up. Founded by Aparajita Jain, who directs one of India’s leading galleries representing prominent national artists, Terrain was created to make art more accessible to a broader urban Indian demographic. Unlike her gallery’s premium clientele, Jain wanted Terrain to reach a mass audience comfortable with purchasing art online. To achieve this, she sought our expertise in research to refine the target audience and understand their needs, as well as strategic support to identify and define the website's key features and functionalities based on our findings.
I worked with a team of three designers on this project, collaborating closely with Terrain’s engineering, product management, business, marketing, and curation teams to define and plan the product. I was actively involved in both primary and secondary user research and conducted workshops with the Terrain team to develop the site map. Additionally, I played a key role in shaping the website's interface, establishing its design system and testing the product with users.
We began with primary research (surveys and interviews) to understand the preferences, challenges, and needs of urban Indian art enthusiasts, students, and buyers. Complementing this with secondary research—including benchmarking and landscape analysis—we identified emerging trends and innovative solutions in art platforms, specifically examining how others addressed the challenges highlighted in our primary research. Using these insights, we developed a visual language for Terrain's MVP and launched the platform. We then conducted rolling research, including Google Analytics and user testing, to refine and iterate on the product, improving the overall structure. Finally, we created a comprehensive design system to enable Terrain's team to continue developing the platform independently.
Additionally, we targeted students interested in deepening their understanding of art, with the goal of nurturing them into potential customers in the future. This approach allows us to tap into the evolving art market in urban India, where demand for accessible art is on the rise.
This group consists of individuals who are already familiar with art and are actively seeking new pieces to add to their collections.
These users may not have extensive knowledge of art but are eager to learn and invest. They represent a younger, tech-savvy demographic, aged 25 to 50, who are increasingly comfortable purchasing art online, thanks to their growing disposable income.
We engaged with business stakeholders to gain insights into their vision for the platform. Subsequently, we conducted two surveys with over 300 people to explore what urban Indian audiences seek from art platforms, their challenges in purchasing art online, and where they consume information and learn about art. We also investigated the criteria they use when buying art. To complement this, we performed comprehensive benchmarking to examine how other platforms successfully meet customer needs and challenges, while also identifying innovations and trends in the art sales landscape.
Users are eager to learn about artists— their backgrounds, processes, and approaches— and show a preference for contemporary art, indicating a significant opportunity for platforms to educate and engage audiences, especially young adults who lack adequate resources in the Indian art education landscape.
The majority of users prefer conventional art mediums like paintings and sculptures due to limited exposure to non-traditional formats. Additionally, the lack of physical interaction with art, coupled with a reliance on virtual consumption, restricts their ability to fully engage with the artwork, underscoring the need for platforms that can bridge this experiential gap.
The current landscape of art education in India is fragmented, with users needing to navigate multiple sources to access information. This complexity makes it difficult to track artists and news, suggesting that a centralized platform could streamline access and enhance user experience.
Based on our insights, we focused on creating a platform that serves as a comprehensive, unified space for learning about and purchasing art. We aimed to support a diverse range of art mediums and provide immersive experiences to help users visualize artwork in real space. Additionally, the platform was designed to spotlight Indian galleries and the broader Indian art ecosystem, offering in-depth profiles of artists and their work.
Indian buyers prefer to engage with art through learning and immersive experiences rather than directly from a shopping section. This insight highlighted the need for a more exploratory approach rather than a conventional e-commerce model.
To align with user needs, the platform was restructured to use experiential sections and virtual exhibitions as primary entry points, allowing users to experience art before reaching the shop section.
By showcasing various art mediums and offering detailed artist and gallery profiles, the platform provides users with both educational depth and access to a wide range of artwork.
Centralizes virtual exhibitions and curated artist insights to provide an immersive entry to the shop
Features an Indian art timeline and in-depth articles, supporting users who want to expand their art knowledge
Includes comprehensive profiles of artists and galleries, creating a resource-rich space for those interested in the broader Indian art ecosystem
Our initial design exploration leaned toward the typical art website aesthetic—black, white, minimalist, and modern. However, after discussions with the Terrain team, we shifted toward a more approachable visual style. Most art websites feel visually exclusive and highly niche, which can be intimidating. Instead, we aimed for a friendly, accessible design akin to Google Arts & Culture, creating a platform that feels welcoming. This intentional shift was designed to appeal to a broader demographic, especially those newer to art, fostering a comfortable, inclusive experience.
We created multiple sections focused on art education, featuring comprehensive artist profiles with CVs, notable acquisitions, video content documenting the artists’ practices, and voice notes for a more immersive learning experience. Additionally, we included profiles of galleries, an art history timeline, curated virtual exhibitions, and article sections, allowing users to explore artists and their work through rich, experiential content.
The platform integrates diverse experiential elements to enhance user engagement and support multiple art modalities. Artist profiles feature videos and voice notes, allowing artists to share insights about their practices and works. The art piece description (PDP) page includes "view in room" and AR viewing options, while 3D objects for NFT artworks and large-scale installations can be rotated for detailed viewing. Additionally, the platform is built to support VR experiences, enabling immersive virtual exhibitions.
The platform leverages blockchain to verify artwork authenticity and offers provenance details, backed by a dedicated team of researchers and curators tracing each piece's history and the artist's practice. Additionally, we focused on creating a seamless user experience, integrating transparent insurance and shipping costs to make purchasing art as straightforward as shopping for clothes online.
We conducted ongoing post-launch testing using Google Analytics and user testing to suggest incremental improvements based on user flows. Additionally, we ran functional testing sprints and provided continuous UX feedback and reviews throughout the website’s development.
The initial homepage was centered on explaining website sections, requiring multiple clicks for users to reach product pages. By launch, Terrain had gained press as a cutting-edge tech platform and India’s first NFT art platform, but the homepage didn't reflect this positioning, and high bounce rates indicated users were deterred by excessive clicks and scrolling. We redesigned the homepage to spotlight Terrain’s technology in the first folds, moved the "Explore Art" section to the second fold for direct access to product pages, and added a direct link to the exhibitions page for a streamlined, engaging entry experience.
“I signed up as I did not yet have an account. After doing so, when you get to the part where Terrain generates a new wallet for you, I had no idea what to do. I don't know what a transaction pin is, and I wasn't sure whether to click download. What is a user supposed to do with the keys when you download the pdf?”
The initial website had a confusing sign-up process, which we redesigned by adding coach marks for user guidance and allowing users to exit the flow after creating a username and password, enabling them to return later to complete their profile before making a purchase.
Launching at the peak of the NFT boom, Terrain.art quickly gained credibility with features in major media outlets like BBC, Vogue, the Indian Express, and Architectural Digest, rapidly capitalizing on the NFT craze. Through ongoing testing and redesigns, we helped Terrain achieve product-market fit, generating ~$1M in sales within three months. Today, Terrain.art remains active and thriving, with a robust social media presence.
Next Project
FIELD
CONCORDANCE
Using LLMs to generate actionable briefings for humanitarian aid workers