Digital Art Education

Digital Art through Social and Informal Learning App

Most social media platforms are built for consumption, not instruction. 'Self-taught' digital artists plateau not because they lack dedication, but because the feedback they receive — a like, a comment, a vague "great work" — teaches them nothing. ArtApp (rTap) is designed to fill that gap to replace passive scrolling with learning and wonder. It is a community-focused learning platform where digital artists grow through structured peer critique, hands-on practice, and social presence.

The core insight driving this project is that social media and Communities of Practice are highly complementary if the platform is designed with instructional intent. ArtApp (rTap) integrates Community of Practice theory, Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, and Norman's Emotional Design principles to create an informal, self-paced environment where learners acquire skills by doing, sharing, and reflecting together. The platform is designed to scaffold mastery and experiential learning where learners build agency through practice, peer interaction, and creative production.

Design Process

The process began with an exploratory review of Community of Practice theory and social media learning environments, establishing the conceptual overlap between the two as the theoretical foundation. Design Thinking (IDEO/Stanford d.school) then guided the development through Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test stages. The design process is anchored by a single learner persona, Mia, a self-taught illustrator stuck at a technical plateau with no structured feedback channel. A concept map translated the theoretical framework into an information architecture, connecting social theory of learning, emotional design, and multimedia principles into a cohesive platform structure.

From there, the design moved into feature development: an integrated Draw-over Tool for peer critique, an AR overlay for real-world perspective study, a tutorial library grounded in Gestalt principles, and a community gallery with structured participation incentives. High-fidelity screens were then produced for four core experiences: the homepage with AR art creation, the creation overlay on live locations, the artwork gallery, and the tutorials library. Each screen applies Mayer's multimedia principles to keep the learning experience focused and the interface intuitive.