Aorta

Context 

Aorta Films is an independent film platform exploring erotic art and body politics through cinema. When they reached out, the site was technically functional — but the experience lacked cohesion and flow. 

Users struggled to navigate the platform, locate content intuitively, and complete essential actions like logging in or checking out without friction. Small inconsistencies across the experience created moments of hesitation that interrupted trust and usability. 

My role was to uncover where the experience was breaking down and develop a UX strategy that restored clarity, rhythm, and ease of movement throughout the site. Through a heuristic audit and usability evaluation, I helped shape a digital experience that felt as intentional, immersive, and thoughtful as Aorta’s creative work itself.

My approach 

• Conducted a heuristic audit and a first-time user walkthrough to surface usability, accessibility, and interaction issues.

• Mapped out key user journeys: navigating categories, logging in, searching, and checking out.

• Grouped findings by severity (e.g. critical, moderate, minor) to prioritize fixes.

• Provided detailed recommendations: structural reorganization, UI fixes, interaction feedback improvements.

Key Insights

• The audit surfaced both **systemic design issues** and **critical usability blockers**

• **Branding inconsistencies** — unclear site identity (Aorta / AortaX / Aorta Films)

• **Readability and accessibility problems** — low color contrast, narrow italics, red-on-black typography

• **Navigation confusion** — overlapping menu labels, redundant categories, inconsistent dropdown arrows

• **Membership and account structure issues** — unclear difference between “account” and “membership.”

• **Checkout and payment flow breakdowns** — missing or misleading calls to action, unresponsive buttons

• **Notification and feedback mismatches** — red success messages interpreted as errors

• **Responsive design gaps** — lost functions and poor layout behavior on tablet and mobile

• Severity of issues was coded (Catastrophic, Negative, Data Point) to guide prioritization.

• Navigation was confusing: unclear taxonomy, inconsistent menu labels, overlapping/duplicative categories.

• Critical feedback during flows was missing or misleading (e.g. login redirections, checkout confirmation, search/notification behavior).

• Broken or glitchy elements undermined trust: non-working product links, leftover/dead page elements, menu behavior inconsistencies.

• Visual design and style choices sometimes made clarity worse — aesthetic feedback, contrast, layout inconsistencies.

Outcomes

• The installation successfully demonstrated how physical artifacts can act as powerful UX research tools.

• It laid the groundwork for future workshops and pop-up activations around pleasure, anatomy, and design.

• I’m using these learnings to shape my approach to UX research in taboo or stigmatized spaces, such as sexual wellness and intimate health.