Asheville Pinball Museum App

Mobile App Design for the Asheville Pinball Museum

Problem: All the machines in the museum have stories, but visitors only get to play them; there is no easy way to learn their history or follow the museum’s events.
My part: Empathy maps, a persona, information architecture, app layouts in Figma.
Result: A five-feature app concept with a clickable Figma prototype.

Course: UI/UX Design
Semester: Spring 2024
Team: Nick Abramov, Jackson McDowell, Josh Hudspeth, Zakhar Baliuk
Tools: Figma
Prototype: Try it in Figma

Overview

Our team designed a mobile app for the Asheville Pinball Museum, a local museum of playable pinball machines and arcade games from the 1930s to today. The goal was an app that tells the stories behind the machines, lists upcoming events, and keeps visitors connected after they leave.

Research

We started by visiting the museum and playing the machines ourselves. The visit showed us the nostalgic, social atmosphere the app should carry, and the range of visitors, from retro-gaming fans to families.

Team visit to the Asheville Pinball Museum, photo 1

Team visit to the Asheville Pinball Museum, photo 2

Team visit to the Asheville Pinball Museum, photo 3

Team visit to the Asheville Pinball Museum, photo 4

Personas & Empathy Maps

Two personas represent the museum’s main visitors: Alex, 27, a web developer and retro-game collector, and Susana, 52, an educator who wants to share arcade history with her grandchildren. I made one persona and both empathy maps, capturing what they say, think, do, and feel on a visit.

Empathy map for Alex: says, thinks, does, and feels

Empathy map for Susana: says, thinks, does, and feels

Structure

Information Architecture & User Flow

A visitor usually comes to the app for one of three things: a machine’s story, upcoming events, or tickets and merch. The user flow maps each path, and the bottom navigation (Home, Events, Pinball, Tickets, and Profile) keeps every one of them a single tap away.

Information architecture diagram of the app

Mood Board, Wireframe, Prototyping

Mood board: pinball machines, arcade lights, and the color palette #F4EBDA, #DAC7A7, #EC346B, #00396E, #FFC000, #C93032, #501822, #380D15

Low-fidelity wireframes of the app screens

The Figma design file with all app screens

Key Features

Interactive Exhibits: videos, photos, and the story behind each machine.
Event Calendar: upcoming events, exhibitions, and workshops.
Push Notifications: reminders for special exhibits, events, and promotions.
In-App Pinball Game: a game for kids to play pinball at home.
In-App Store: merch, tickets, and memberships.

Try the interactive prototype in Figma

Three app screens: an interactive exhibit page, the event calendar, and the in-app pinball game — Interactive Exhibits · Event Calendar · In-App Pinball Game

Visual Style

Color palette: #FFC000, #EC346B, #DAC7A7, #FF6B00, #00396E, #380D15

Type specimen: STRENIOUS, Montserrat Alternates, and body text

Results

The final deliverable was a clickable Figma prototype with five features: interactive exhibits, an event calendar, push notifications, an in-app pinball game, and a store for merch, tickets, and memberships.

What I Learned

This was my first app project in a team of four. I learned to communicate with teammates, to take responsibility for my own part, and to step in with ideas on other parts when I had something to add.

We didn’t run usability tests with museum visitors; the prototype was checked within the team. Testing it with real visitors would be the first step in the next round.

This project was created as part of the UI/UX Design course at Montreat College in spring 2024.