Making art investing approachable.

"Art is a physical, tangible asset that is globally transportable, marketable, and can be transacted in any currency; and there is no better market environment than today's to illustrate art's value as the alternative real asset in any investment portfolio."

So why don't more people invest in art?
Here's how some of my conversations about art investing went.
Art and investing. Two topics that I'm very interested in, which led me to discover Masterworks, a company that is striving to democratize art investing.
Cryptocurrency and NFTs are rising in popularity yet still quite nebulous to the general public, so I thought investing in physical art, which people have been doing for much longer, would be more digestible.
Even so, I found myself hesitant to invest in art myself.

Let's Frame the Problem

People have been investing in alternative asset classes for a long time - traditional ones like gold, real estate, and oil, as well as newer ones like cryptocurrency and NFTs as they've become more mainstream in the last few years.
Art is a $1.7 trillion asset class, but it has historically been an elusive, opaque, and elitist asset class that most people don't invest in because it's unattainable and difficult to understand as an investment.
Masterworks is trying to solve this problem by removing the barriers to investing in art.

The Challenge

How might we make art a more approachable asset to invest in for the average investor?

Where I Started

I had signed up for a Masterworks account early out of curiosity without making any investments. Over the course of a few months, I started to identify opportunities to better achieve their mission of democratizing investing in art.
High management fees
This already creates a huge barrier to entry. Why would someone choose to invest in Masterworks' art when they can invest in other asset classes without large management fees and a huge cut of any potential profit?
Negative sales call experience
I received an anonymous sales call in the middle of my work day, where the sales rep immediately started asking me questions without asking if it was a good time to chat.
No Native App or Mobile Experience
Creating a mobile experience that makes investing in art approachable, accessible and simple for an average investor is crucial to scaling growth and optimizing the customer journey.

Exploring a native app experience

First, I wanted to find out how people felt about investing in art.

Insight

People invest in assets based on people they trust in their immediate network.

Action: Establish Credibility

Present art as a credible asset by showing how others are investing in it.

Insight

Most people want long-term growth in their investments; however, they're willing to invest in riskier assets if it's popular or trending and are only willing to invest in money they can lose.

Action: Drive conversion through guidance

Make art investing an easier decision by guiding investors on discovering artists and artworks that may be a good investment.
Curate discoverability throughout the app to guide users to learn about certain artists that may be of interest to others and are perceived as a good investment.
Creating a robust artist profile that allows users to learn about an artist's notable works and having a central repository of their work and historical data will help art be a more digestible subject and increase knowledge and confidence about investing in it.

Insight

Art is subjective and difficult to ascribe value to. Most people find it obscure and don't know how to find historical data or know enough about it.

Action: Educate your audience to build trust

Create an educational experience that will help investors understand value, performance & risks of art as a long-term investment.
1. Database
Users can learn about art in different formats through the app's Database tab.
2. Art Investing 101
Create an introductory guide to art investing to that feels approachable and will make novel investors feel more comfortable with the concept.
3. Objective Data and Context On Artwork Offerings
Even if art is subjective, presenting historical data and performance of an artist and their artworks can help position art as a viable investment and guide investors to an investment decision.
4. Schedule an advisor call
Generate qualified leads by allowing interested investors to schedule a call and learn more about art and Masterworks.

The mobile app experience

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How did I get here?

4 moderated user testing sessions
7 survey responses
*Quantitative results may not be statistically significant.

Usability Testing Goals

System Usability Scale Score: > 75%
Task Success: Completion Rate > 75%

Results

100% completion
for 3 out of 4 tasks
14.3% abandonment
for 1 task
78% average SUS score

Key Wins

4.0 avg
This app is easy to use.
4.29 avg
This app has a clean and simple presentation.
4.0 avg
The information on the app is trustworthy.
4.14 avg
It is easy to navigate within the app.
See how I used qualitative feedback from moderated tests to iterate from the original design

Fun challenges from this unique industry

Data visualization is hard.
I can understand why companies outsource data visualization. Not only is it challenging to design for in a native app, but I had to think of ways to display data in a clear manner taking both hard numbers and the visual importance of artwork into consideration.
The hype is not real (yet).
It takes a lot of learning upfront before people feel comfortable investing in an asset they are unfamiliar with. There are also opportunities to explore how to build more of a network effect on investing in art through a company like Masterworks. After all, people trust other people within their own network when it comes to investing.

This is the end.

Go back

This is the end.

Here's some of my other work you can check out:

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