Amulink
Enhancing the Artist Alley experience
Team: Emily Gui (UXD), Ross Bonifacio(UXR)
Role: Physical–Digital Integration • Hardware Prototyping (ESP32) • Systems Design • Contextual & In-Situ Testing • Interaction Design + UX
Year: 2025
tl;dr
A year-long capstone project for Georgia Tech’s MS-HCI program exploring how to make the Artist Alley experience at fan conventions more seamless and connected. I led the research, system design, and physical–digital prototyping of the Amulink app and Amulet device, a 0→1 ecosystem that reimagines the Artist Alley experience through a connected wearable, mobile app, and organizer analytics dashboard.
Highlights
Amulink app: personalized discovery & lasting connection
The app helps attendees discover artists and merchandise that match their interests before the convention and reconnect with creators afterward. Designed to reduce overwhelm, it streamlines exploration and strengthens long-term fan–artist relationships.
Amulet device: tactile navigation in crowded spaces
A lightweight wearable that uses subtle haptics and LED cues to guide attendees through dense aisles without relying on their phones. By providing glanceable, hands-free navigation, the Amulet makes it easier to locate booths, save favorites, and stay present in the convention experience.
Amulink Backstage: actionable insights for artists & organizers
The analytics dashboard offers real-time and post-event data on attendee behavior, booth engagement, and overall crowd flow. It helps organizers optimize layouts and programming, while giving artists meaningful insights to prepare inventory, attract aligned audiences, and make stronger business decisions.
Context
Artist Alley - a living, breathing ecosystem of creativity
Artist Alley is a community-driven marketplace within fan conventions where independent artists sell work directly to fans. It’s more than a shopping space—it’s the social and creative heartbeat of fandom culture.
Problem
Convention growth fuels systemic friction
As fandom culture moved from niche to mainstream, crowd sizes exploded and attendee interests diversified. This created new logistical and experiential challenges for everyone involved.
Research overview
Our approach to understanding conventions
01. Initial observations:
Through literature review, on-site observations, and online analysis of artist vlogs, we investigated how con growth has affected each stakeholder on a base level
02. Understanding the root causes:
To pinpoint specific needs and get explanations for observed behaviors, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews (1.5 hours each) across attendees, artists, and organizers. We synthesized their stories using affinity mapping and journey mapping to visualize every friction point in the convention experience.
Pain points & design direction
How did convention growth affect attendees, artists, and organizers?
Attendees Problem
Attendees are overwhelmed by the density and pace of Artist Alley, struggling to navigate, discover, and reconnect with the creators they love.
Our goal:
How might we help attendees navigate Artist Alley while making the process of finding and reconnecting with artists less stressful?
Artist Problem
Artists face growing uncertainty in how to reach the right audience and sustain sales as conventions become larger and more competitive.
Our goal:
How might we help artists better prepare for conventions and the events’ anticipated attendee interests?
Organizer Problem
Organizers struggle to manage the growing scale and complexity of conventions without sufficient data to guide planning or real-time decisions
Our goal:
How might we help organizers get insights on how to improve artist & attendee experience?
Brainstorming
Designing across physical and digital touchpoints
Building on these needs, we brainstormed and prototyped dozens of concepts spanning software and hardware. Quick preference tests helped us evaluate what felt most natural and valuable across stakeholders.
System overview
Final concept
Participants gravitated towards 3 different concepts. Together they formed the Amulink ecosystem. A feedback loop connecting attendees, artists, and organizers through shared data and improved communication.
From concept to reality
Designing the Amulet
01. Interaction exploration
We began by sketching form factors that could feel natural to carry in crowded spaces. The goal was a non-distracting interface that supports glanceable feedback and intuitive navigation.
Outcome:
👍 This self-directed ideation helped map the boundaries of what the device could be
❌ exploration revealed the need to narrow directions further through feedback from actual convention attendees.
02. Co-design workshop
We conducted a co-design workshop with 21 participants at the Interactivity conference, prompting attendees to use cardboard bases and craft supplies to design a device that can navigate to and save booths.
Outcome:
👍 Participants didn’t want a detailed map, but rather a simple alert when near a booth.
👍 Almost all participants wanted to be able to save new booths during the convention.
👍 Most participants designed a device that's wearable
03. ESP32 wi-fi controlled prototypes
Using Wi-Fi–controlled Arduino prototypes, we translated workshop insights into functional tests. These sessions helped determine how much feedback and interface were necessary for confident navigation.
Outcome:
👍 Vibration was the most effective for booth alerts
👍 Users wanted a simple interface with booth slots
👍 Interacting with the table directly to save a booth made users feel more confident about the task
04. In-context testing at WreckCon
We tested a refined porotype by tabling at a real convention called WreckCon. We ran device tests with 17 attendees, prompting them walk around and find a booth using haptic vibration, and then save a new one with the help of a table stamping feature and minimal interface.
Outcome:
👍 NASA TLX showed that workload for both tasks was relatively low (under 50).
❌ Users felt they wanted to save booth without coming in direct contact due to crowding at the tables
❌ Need a better display for clarity and increase save slot # to 8
❌ Device should be easier to control with one hand
05. Form refinement & component integration
The refinement phase focused on making the device comfortable for one-handed use while integrating the final electronics layout that would support new features like a display & proximity light.
Outcome:
👍 Added ergonomic single-control to scroll and save
👍 Added proximity light to let users know when they are in range of a booth for saving
👍 Added a minimal round display for viewing artist profile pictures and names
Wireframing
Building the app prototype
01. Establishing the core flows
We started by drafting initial flows that attendees would use before the con to begin their Amulink experience and after the con to review their artists.
Feedback:
👍 users easily registered and went through matching process
👍 users appreciated convention countdown as indication for how much time they have to find artists
❌ users were confused about how the device actually worked and didn’t understand its value
❌ users thought dashboard could use more functionality, potentially a review of how the Amulet works
❌ users would rather see specific artist details instead of general highlights after the convention
02. Designing a clearer, more engaging introduction that explained the device’s purpose in a way users would remember.
We redesigned onboarding to feel more personal and playful, framing the Amulet as “your device” and guiding users through a light quiz-like flow to select interests and artists.
Outcome:
👍 Users were more attentive during onboarding, took artist selection more seriously, and expressed excitement about receiving their “personalized” device at the con.
👍 Onboarding significantly improved the experience of using the Amulet
03. Refining artist matching flow
Following user feedback from our testing rounds we expanded the number of categories users could choose from, added clearer visual grouping, and improved filters to make interest and merchandise selection less rigid.
Feedback:
👍 Users reported the flow felt less constraining and more flexible, making it easier to express their actual preferences and discover new artists.
Final Designs
01. Making personalized discovery and connection easy for attendees with the Amulink App
01. Onboard with convention code
⭢ Attendees onboard the app after purchasing their convention ticket and receiving a code in their email
02. Get acquainted with the Amulet
⭢ Attendees can learn how the Amulink ecosystem works in a stress-free way anytime before the convention begins
03. Build your Amulet and find your artists
⭢ Streamlined the artist discovery process with filters and categories for every interest
03. Explore artist offerings
⭢ Explore matched artist details like merchandize samples and social media links
04. Reconnect with visited artists after the con
⭢ Check app after the con to see all saved artist information from the Amulet device and follow up with favorites
02. Discover, navigate, and remember artist locations with the Amulet device
01. See matched artist previews
⭢ Scroll the wheel to see pre-loaded artists that attendees matched with on the app
02. Save new booths
⭢ Attendees save new booths by pressing and holding the wheel over an empty slot
⭢ The dedicated proximity light helps ensure attendee is saving the desired booth without being directly in front of it
03. Navigate the venue hands free
Due to the simple badge attachment, attendees can wear the device on their badge and get haptic alerts through vibration.
03. Same day insights on attendee engagement for artists and organizers with Amulink Backstage
(The following designs were realized by my teammate Emily Gui)
01. Organizers register convention on the platform
⭢ Use con templates from previous years
⭢ Invite collaborators
⭢ Set "interests" or themes appropriate for the convention
⭢ Set "merchandize types" so artists know if the con is appropriate for them
⭢ Invite collaborators
⭢ Set "interests" or themes appropriate for the convention
⭢ Set "merchandize types" so artists know if the con is appropriate for them
02. Optimized artist arrangement with Artist Shuffle
⭢ Tool draws from the list of artists and suggests an optimal arrangement of tabling artists
03. Post-convention analytics
⭢ Key insights like the most popular attendee interests and peak activity times in Artist Alley—such as when the most attendees were saving booths.
Reflection
Amulink taught me how to design for complexity:
Balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders while connecting physical and digital systems into one cohesive experience. Prototyping and testing in a real convention space reminded me how essential it is to build early, observe people in context, and let iteration drive clarity. It reinforced my interest in designing tangible, data-informed systems that make chaotic environments feel intuitive.
