ArtHive- an educational mobile app that makes art history approachable, engaging, and relevant. The app provides a progressive learning experience -from beginner-friendly introductions to expert-level insights -so users of all backgrounds can learn at their own pace.
How ArtHive solves the problem:
Layered learning: Introductory, expanded, and expert pathways reduce intimidation, as well as provision of additional learning resources.
Relevant modules: South African art themes tie learning directly to local culture and museum exhibitions.
To make the app more fun and interactive to help retain what was learned, the app was introduced with an option to take short quizzes about the module and option to learn further about a specific artwork.
ArtHive
Problem
Solution
From the parent feedback and survey data, I was able to create User persona and - journey map:
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Paper-Wireframes
Mockups
Prototype
Personas and User Journey
Design
My Role:
UX / Product Designer
Duration:
12 Weeks
Kaitlyn
Bio
Grade 10-12 Art teacher
AGE 32
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Kaitlyn, a dedicated high school art teacher, with the goal to make the learning of art fun, easy and engaging for her students, Frustrated by disjointed information during exhibitions make it hard to create memorable learning experiences for herself and her students. Despite these obstacles, she envisions an app that offers a seamless, visually appealing journey, helping her transform her teaching and inspire her students.
|
|
Frustrations
Goals
To find credible, digestible content that she can share with her students for school projects.
To attend exhibitions feeling more prepared and informed, so it’s intimidating.
To connect students with local culture through art in ways they can understand
Finds museum descriptions inaccessible for everyday learners.
Struggles to keep her students engaged during gallery visits.
Wants to enjoy art in her free time but doesn’t want it to feel like “studying.”
Zaineb
Bio
Marketing Manager
AGE 29
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Zaineb is a 29-year-old marketing manager who lives a busy, fast-paced life in Bloemfontein. She loves exploring cultural activities on weekends as a way to unwind and broaden her perspective, but often feels that the art world is not designed for “normal people” like her. With limited time to dive into dense theory, she wants a simple, engaging way to understand art so she can confidently enjoy exhibitions and share those experiences with friends.
|
|
Frustrations
Goals
Learn about art in a way that’s relaxing and enriching during free time.
Explore exhibitions without feeling like an outsider.
Share cultural experiences with friends or family.
Finds traditional museum explanations too academic and alienating.
Has limited time to engage deeply with complex theory.
Feels disconnected from events because she doesn’t understand the background.
Interactive formats: Audio, transcripts, and notes cater to different learning styles, making complex concepts easy to absorb.
Direct link to exhibitions: Content is designed to spark curiosity and build anticipation for visiting events in person.
What I Learned
Progressive learning paths matter. By designing tiers (Introductory → Expert), I gave users confidence to start small and grow deeper over time.
Designing for both users and business is important. Aligning user and business goals from the start was critical, making sure both business - and user needs were met.
Areas for Improvement
Event integration: The app introduces exhibitions but could go further—like allowing users to book tickets directly or get personalized event recommendations based on their completed modules.
Gamification & rewards: To drive repeat engagement, adding badges, progress tracking, or event-based rewards could make learning more motivating.
Working Around Constraints
Limited content creation resources: One of the biggest constraints for this project was the limited resources in terms of local art history content. This lead me to explore national South African art history recourses to include in the various learning modules.
For this project I didn’t conduct any formal interviews with participants for persona development and usability study. Instead I conducted lightweight interviews to get proxy feedback as well as secondary research which gave me patterns and pain points I could identify and validate
Audience diversity: Designing for students, professionals, and casual learners is a broad spectrum. A workaround would be personalized onboarding flows that adapt the app’s content recommendations based on user goals.
Business Impact:
More engaged audiences primed to attend exhibitions.
Increased opening night attendance → secured funding sustainability.
Expanded reach through educational partnerships.
Project Impact
Let’s Connect
Art history often feels intimidating and disconnected from everyday people. Or atleast this is how the art enthusiasts of Bloemfontein described their experiences at local art exhibitions. Truth is they want to feel part of the rich history of art South-Africa has to offer. Unfortunately they don't know where to start learning, and let's be honest people don’t need theory-heavy lectures to appreciate art. Ultimately learning need to be accesible and inclusive for everyone- and that's exactly what we designed for in this project.
Key User Problem:
Normal working individuals felt art was “too academic” to enjoy casually.
Students lacked accessible, credible resources for projects.
The general public felt excluded from the cultural experience.
Business Goal:
Increase exhibition attendance to secure continued funding.
Build excitement around art and opening night events.
Make art history approachable while retaining depth and accuracy.
KPIs:
Opening night attendance
User engagement (session length, repeat visits)
Event conversion from app → exhibitions
Educational adoption (schools/universities)
User satisfaction
Action
Tasklist
Feeling
Adjective
Business
Impact
Search for art history apps on app store
Research and compare art history apps
Save favorite apps for consideration.
Explore app and master navigation
Save and take note of key learnings
Check schedule to attend
Engage with exhibition art
Feels disconnected from art,
App downloads, awareness growth
Marketing oppertunities
Increased adoption & session starts
Higher engagement & repeat sessions,
Conversion - exhibition attendance
Opening night attendance KPI met
Unsure where to start,
Curious, discover engaging features
Engaged, intrigued by relevant topics
Excited, anticipates attending
Inspired, socially connected
Download an app that fits her needs
Explore app features,
Selects a beginner-friendly module
Notices module links to an upcoming exhibition,
Attends exhibition with more context & confidence
Grethan Pienaar 2026 | Designer | grethanpienaar@gmail.com
ArtHive
My Role:
UX / Product Designer
Duration:
12 Weeks
Art history often feels intimidating and disconnected from everyday people. Or atleast this is how the art enthusiasts of Bloemfontein described their experiences at local art exhibitions. Truth is they want to feel part of the rich history of art South-Africa has to offer. Unfortunately they don't know where to start learning, and let's be honest people don’t need theory-heavy lectures to appreciate art. Ultimately learning need to be accesible and inclusive for everyone- and that's exactly what we designed for in this project.
Key User Problem:
Normal working individuals felt art was “too academic” to enjoy casually.
Students lacked accessible, credible resources for projects.
The general public felt excluded from the cultural experience.
Business Goal:
Increase exhibition attendance to secure continued funding.
Build excitement around art and opening night events.
Make art history approachable while retaining depth and accuracy.
KPIs:
Opening night attendance
User engagement (session length, repeat visits)
Event conversion from app → exhibitions
Educational adoption (schools/universities)
User satisfaction
Problem
ArtHive- an educational mobile app that makes art history approachable, engaging, and relevant. The app provides a progressive learning experience—from beginner-friendly introductions to expert-level insights—so users of all backgrounds can learn at their own pace.
How ArtHive solves the problem:
Layered learning: Introductory, expanded, and expert pathways reduce intimidation, as well as provision of additional learning resources.
Relevant modules: South African art themes tie learning directly to local culture and museum exhibitions.
To make the app more fun and interactive to help retain what was learned, the app was introduced with an option to take short quizzes about the module and option to learn further about a specific artwork.
Solution
From the parent feedback and survey data, I was able to create User persona and - journey map:
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Paper-Wireframes
Mockups
Prototype
Personas and User Journey
Design
Kaitlyn
Bio
Grade 10-12 Art teacher
AGE 32
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Kaitlyn, a dedicated high school art teacher, with the goal to make the learning of art fun, easy and engaging for her students, Frustrated by disjointed information during exhibitions make it hard to create memorable learning experiences for herself and her students. Despite these obstacles, she envisions an app that offers a seamless, visually appealing journey, helping her transform her teaching and inspire her students.
|
|
Frustrations
Goals
To find credible, digestible content that she can share with her students for school projects.
To attend exhibitions feeling more prepared and informed, so it’s intimidating.
To connect students with local culture through art in ways they can understand
Finds museum descriptions inaccessible for everyday learners.
Struggles to keep her students engaged during gallery visits.
Wants to enjoy art in her free time but doesn’t want it to feel like “studying.”
Zaineb
Bio
Marketing Manager
AGE 29
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Zaineb is a 29-year-old marketing manager who lives a busy, fast-paced life in Bloemfontein. She loves exploring cultural activities on weekends as a way to unwind and broaden her perspective, but often feels that the art world is not designed for “normal people” like her. With limited time to dive into dense theory, she wants a simple, engaging way to understand art so she can confidently enjoy exhibitions and share those experiences with friends.
|
|
Frustrations
Goals
Learn about art in a way that’s relaxing and enriching during free time.
Explore exhibitions without feeling like an outsider.
Share cultural experiences with friends or family.
Finds traditional museum explanations too academic and alienating.
Has limited time to engage deeply with complex theory.
Feels disconnected from events because she doesn’t understand the background.
Interactive formats: Audio, transcripts, and notes cater to different learning styles, making complex concepts easy to absorb.
Direct link to exhibitions: Content is designed to spark curiosity and build anticipation for visiting events in person.
What I Learned
Progressive learning paths matter. By designing tiers (Introductory → Expert), I gave users confidence to start small and grow deeper over time.
Designing for both users and business is important. Aligning user and business goals from the start was critical, making sure both business - and user needs were met.
Areas for Improvement
Event integration: The app introduces exhibitions but could go further—like allowing users to book tickets directly or get personalized event recommendations based on their completed modules.
Gamification & rewards: To drive repeat engagement, adding badges, progress tracking, or event-based rewards could make learning more motivating.
Working Around Constraints
Limited content creation resources: One of the biggest constraints for this project was the limited resources in terms of local art history content. This lead me to explore national South African art history recourses to include in the various learning modules.
For this project I didn’t conduct any formal interviews with participants for persona development and usability study. Instead I conducted lightweight interviews to get proxy feedback as well as secondary research which gave me patterns and pain points I could identify and validate
Audience diversity: Designing for students, professionals, and casual learners is a broad spectrum. A workaround would be personalized onboarding flows that adapt the app’s content recommendations based on user goals.
Business Impact:
More engaged audiences primed to attend exhibitions.
Increased opening night attendance → secured funding sustainability.
Expanded reach through educational partnerships.
Project Impact
Action
Tasklist
Feeling
Adjective
Business
Impact
Search for art history apps on app store
Research and compare art history apps
Save favorite apps for consideration.
Explore app and master navigation
Save and take note of key learnings
Check schedule to attend
Engage with exhibition art
Feels disconnected from art,
App downloads, awareness growth
Marketing oppertunities
Increased adoption & session starts
Higher engagement & repeat sessions,
Conversion - exhibition attendance
Opening night attendance KPI met
Unsure where to start,
Curious, discover engaging features
Engaged, intrigued by relevant topics
Excited, anticipates attending
Inspired, socially connected
Download an app that fits her needs
Explore app features,
Selects a beginner-friendly module
Notices module links to an upcoming exhibition,
Attends exhibition with more context & confidence
Let’s Connect
Grethan Pienaar 2026 | Designer | grethanpienaar@gmail.com
ArtHive
My Role:
UX / Product Designer
Duration:
12 Weeks
ArtHive- an educational mobile app that makes art history approachable, engaging, and relevant. The app provides a progressive learning experience—from beginner-friendly introductions to expert-level insights—so users of all backgrounds can learn at their own pace.
How ArtHive solves the problem:
Layered learning: Introductory, expanded, and expert pathways reduce intimidation, as well as provision of additional learning resources.
Relevant modules: South African art themes tie learning directly to local culture and museum exhibitions.
To make the app more fun and interactive to help retain what was learned, the app was introduced with an option to take short quizzes about the module and option to learn further about a specific artwork.
Solution
Interactive formats: Audio, transcripts, and notes cater to different learning styles, making complex concepts easy to absorb.
Direct link to exhibitions: Content is designed to spark curiosity and build anticipation for visiting events in person.
Business Impact:
More engaged audiences primed to attend exhibitions.
Increased opening night attendance-secured funding sustainability.
Expanded reach through educational partnerships.
Zaineb
Bio
Marketing Manager
AGE 29
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Zaineb is a 29-year-old marketing manager who lives a busy, fast-paced life in Bloemfontein. She loves exploring cultural activities on weekends as a way to unwind and broaden her perspective, but often feels that the art world is not designed for “normal people” like her. With limited time to dive into dense theory, she wants a simple, engaging way to understand art so she can confidently enjoy exhibitions and share those experiences with friends.
|
|
Frustrations
Goals
Learn about art in a way that’s relaxing and enriching during free time.
Explore exhibitions without feeling like an outsider.
Share cultural experiences with friends or family.
Finds traditional museum explanations too academic and alienating.
Has limited time to engage deeply with complex theory.
Feels disconnected from events because she doesn’t understand the background.
Kaitlyn
Bio
Grade 10-12 Art teacher
AGE 32
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Kaitlyn, a dedicated high school art teacher, with the goal to make the learning of art fun, easy and engaging for her students, Frustrated by disjointed information during exhibitions make it hard to create memorable learning experiences for herself and her students. Despite these obstacles, she envisions an app that offers a seamless, visually appealing journey, helping her transform her teaching and inspire her students.
|
|
Goals
Frustrations
To find credible, digestible content that she can share with her students for school projects.
To attend exhibitions feeling more prepared and informed, so it’s intimidating.
To connect students with local culture through art in ways they can understand
Finds museum descriptions inaccessible for everyday learners.
Struggles to keep her students engaged during gallery visits.
Wants to enjoy art in her free time but doesn’t want it to feel like “studying.”
Action
Tasklist
Feeling
Adjective
Business
Impact
Search for art history apps on app store
Research and compare art history apps
Save favorite apps for consideration.
Explore app and master navigation
Save and take note of key learnings
Check schedule to attend
Engage with exhibition art
Feels disconnected from art,
App downloads, awareness growth
Marketing oppertunities
Increased adoption & session starts
Higher engagement & repeat sessions,
Conversion - exhibition attendance
Opening night attendance KPI met
Unsure where to start,
Curious, discover engaging features
Engaged, intrigued by relevant topics
Excited, anticipates attending
Inspired, socially connected
Download an app that fits her needs
Explore app features,
Selects a beginner-friendly module
Notices module links to an upcoming exhibition,
Attends exhibition with more context & confidence
Personas and User Journey
From the parent feedback and survey data, I was able to create User persona and - journey map:
What I Learned
Progressive learning paths matter. By designing tiers (Introductory → Expert), I gave users confidence to start small and grow deeper over time.
Designing for both users and business is important. Aligning user and business goals from the start was critical, making sure both business - and user needs were met.
Areas for Improvement
Event integration: The app introduces exhibitions but could go further—like allowing users to book tickets directly or get personalized event recommendations based on their completed modules.
Gamification & rewards: To drive repeat engagement, adding badges, progress tracking, or event-based rewards could make learning more motivating.
Working Around Constraints
Limited content creation resources: One of the biggest constraints for this project was the limited resources in terms of local art history content. This lead me to explore national South African art history recourses to include in the various learning modules.
For this project I didn’t conduct any formal interviews with participants for persona development and usability study. Instead I conducted lightweight interviews to get proxy feedback as well as secondary research which gave me patterns and pain points I could identify and validate
Audience diversity: Designing for students, professionals, and casual learners is a broad spectrum. A workaround would be personalized onboarding flows that adapt the app’s content recommendations based on user goals.
Project Impact
Let’s Connect
Design
Paper-Wireframes
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Mockups
Prototype
Art history often feels intimidating and disconnected from everyday people. Or atleast this is how the art enthusiasts of Bloemfontein described their experiences at local art exhibitions. Truth is they want to feel part of the rich history of art South-Africa has to offer. Unfortunately they don't know where to start learning, and let's be honest people don’t need theory-heavy lectures to appreciate art. Ultimately learning need to be accesible and inclusive for everyone- and that's exactly what we designed for in this project..
Key User Problem:
Normal working individuals felt art was “too academic” to enjoy casually.
Students lacked accessible, credible resources for projects.
The general public felt excluded from the cultural experience.
Business Goal:
Increase exhibition attendance to secure continued funding.
Build excitement around art and opening night events.
Make art history approachable while retaining depth and accuracy.
KPIs:
Opening night attendance
User engagement (session length, repeat visits)
Event conversion from app → exhibitions
Educational adoption (schools/universities)
User satisfaction
Problem
Grethan Pienaar 2026 | Designer | grethanpienaar@gmail.com