How we built the all-new Smartify

It's been just one year since we started making the first sketches for an all-new Smartify.

Fast forward 12 months and everything about our app and platform has changed.

There's a brighter, more accessible design. New ways to discover art you'll love. And new tools and tech to support our partners.

Simply put: it's Smartify, smarter

A world of art that keeps getting bigger

Since 2015, we've been the go-to destination for arts and culture lovers to learn more about what they're looking at.

"We started with an app that would scan 2D or 3D artworks," our product manager Gwendoline Knybuhler says.

"Then we became a platform for castles, art galleries, gardens, public and private museums of all sizes, street art festivals, city public art schemes and more.

"All of a sudden, our definition of what a venue was and what an object was became too narrow."

Down the rabbit hole

That's when we decided to rethink, from the ground up, the entire user experience.

Our dream to create the ultimate arts and culture app started out with a simple question: how do millions of artworks, artists and venues fit together?

"It's what I call the 'rabbit hole effect'," says Gwen.

"We have three million objects, more than 70,000 artists and hundreds of partners around the world from Singapore to Hawaii.

"How do we show our users more content? And how do we show them the right thing at the right moment?"

More than just a makeover

Smartify 2.0 is a completely new experience. We've rebuilt our database from scratch. There's an updated analytics engine. And there's a revamped dashboard that gives our partners more control over their collections.

And that's without mentioning a new design system that you'll see in use everywhere from our apps to our marketing.

The only thing that isn't different is our scanning technology – though even this has had an upgrade.

"It's ambitious and it's exciting," Gwen says.

"The goal wasn't just to give our apps a fresh new look. It was to create a foundation for what we want to make in the future."

What's next?

We've already given our users two entirely new ways to experience arts and culture.

Home displays more of the things they'll like based on their previous interactions with us and where they are.

And Explore introduces them to artists, artworks, places and stories. ("You can discover artworks by movement," says Gwen. "That is super-exciting.")

Now these are built, we're doubling down on features that will revolutionise the visitor experience.

"The things that we're going to launch in the next few months are going to be amazing," says Gwen.

"For example, everyone expects a museum app to be able to tell them, 'What is this thing that I'm looking at?' and, 'Where the heck am I right now?!'

"We're going a step further to let our users experience tours based on their own tastes and the time they have to visit. That's really cool.

"And we're going to add an extra layer of wayfinding to guide you step-by-step around the museum without any intrusive systems or technology."

We can't wait for you to experience the all-new Smartify, and we're excited to share more of our journey with you.

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Words by Martin Jefferies , Head of Marketing. Photography by Chris Ison .

With special thanks to Ashmolean Museum, Oxford .