Designing a Personalized Art Discovery App That
Drives Engagement and Return Visits
A mobile app concept that helps users favorite, revisit, and emotionally connect with art they love, boosting retention through thoughtful UX.
Overview
Gallery Pal is a concept app that lets users explore, favorite, and revisit artworks they’ve seen in galleries or museums. Inspired by the idea that people want to remember art they connected with but often forget, the app solves a simple problem: how do you make your art experience last beyond the visit?
I designed Gallery Pal to help users create a personal relationship with art, encouraging exploration, collection, and emotional re-engagement, all of which increase the likelihood of return visits, deeper usage, and shareability.
Business Opportunity
Apps like this are sticky not because they sell, they engage. The more users favorite, the more they return. The more they return, the more opportunities exist for monetization (ticket sales, memberships, gallery promotions, etc.).
My design goal was to increase user retention, session length, and return frequency through personalized UX patterns and emotional design.
My Role
Solo UX Designer
Created concept app from research to prototype
Designed key flows for saving, organizing, and revisiting art
Focused on personalization and light gamification
The Problem
People visit galleries and discover art they love but forget the names, lose their notes, or never revisit it. Platforms that rely on cultural engagement (like museums, gallery partners, and artist marketplaces) lose out on user loyalty, word-of-mouth, and conversion.
Design Goals
Make art feel personal and collectible
Reduce user friction to save and revisit work
Encourage re-engagement through emotional UX cues
Key UX Features I Designed
✅ Tap-to-Favorite with Visual Feedback
Users can tap a heart or star icon on any artwork
Immediate feedback + animation creates emotional reinforcement
✅ “My Collection” Interface
Art is saved in a scrollable grid
Users can tag works: Love, Want to Learn More, Visit Again
Filters by artist, mood, or gallery
✅ Revisit Nudges
Optional notifications like:
“You saved 3 works at the Met — want to revisit them?”Gently encourages repeat engagement
✅ Minimalist UI for Emotional Space
Simple, quiet UI that lets the artwork lead
Soft animations, blurred backgrounds, gallery-focused palettes
Strategic Impact
🧠 More saved items = more reasons to return
⏱️ Longer session time as users browse their collections
💬 Increased shareability: users share what they love → word-of-mouth growth
💸 Foundation for monetization: premium features, exhibit promotions, membership tie-ins
Even though this was a concept, the UX decisions were rooted in real business logic: how to make users come back and emotionally invest in your product.
What This Project Proved
When people feel connected to what they save, they return.
And when they return, they engage longer and spend more.
This project helped me design not just for delight, but for emotional retention the kind that turns interaction into habit, and habit into value for both the user and the platform.
