See It Before You Buy It: How ‘Hang-It’ Lets Art Buyers Try Before They Buy
Research by:
Jahanvi Aghera
Prototyper Express
Aug 1, 2025
The process of buying or selling art online is often a difficult one. Buyers struggle to visualize how a piece will look on a real wall, leading to uncertainty and hesitation. For artists and sellers, this translates to fewer sales, as it's harder to convince people to buy without a good preview. The traditional methods of making a decision—visiting galleries or guessing measurements—are time-consuming and often result in wasted effort and returns. D-ARC Design identified this problem as a prime opportunity for a modern, creative solution. The result is Hang-It, a prototype app that uses augmented reality (AR) to revolutionize the way people interact with art. Learn how D-ARC’s Prototyper Express service helped bring this concept to life in just two weeks.
The Problem with the Art Market
The digital age has opened up art to a global audience, but it hasn't solved the core problem of visualization. A small picture on a screen simply doesn't convey the impact an artwork will have in a physical space. This fundamental disconnect creates significant issues for all parties involved.
For buyers, the biggest hurdle is uncertainty. They constantly wonder: "Will the artwork fit the space?" and "Will it match the existing decor?". This fear of making a mistake often leads to inaction, and a potential sale is lost. The alternative is to visit a gallery in person, which can be a time-consuming and inconvenient process.
For artists, this uncertainty directly impacts their ability to make a living. Without a way to show a buyer how their piece will look in their home, it becomes a guessing game. The artist has to rely on the buyer's imagination, which is a big ask for a high-value purchase.
The D-ARC team saw a clear need for a solution that could bridge the gap between a digital image and a real-world space, providing confidence for buyers and a powerful presentation tool for artists and galleries.
The Challenge of Rapid Prototyping
To solve this problem, the D-ARC team needed a fast and efficient way to build a functional prototype. Traditional methods often rely on rigid specifications and pre-built templates, which can slow down the creative process. The goal was to quickly bring the core user experience to life with minimal friction.
To meet this challenge, the team adopted a method called "Vibe Coding". This rapid prototyping approach focuses on building design experiences based on feel, flow, and creative prompts, rather than rigid specifications. The team challenged themselves to create everything from scratch, using only natural language prompts to guide the layout, copy, and component behavior. Every screen, icon, and interaction was crafted iteratively, based on the immediate "vibe" of how the app should feel.
This experimental process proved highly effective, allowing the team to move quickly, learn on the fly, and bring the core experience to life without getting bogged down in technical details. It was a blend of design instinct and AI-supported creativity that worked. The successful creation of Hang-It served as an internal case study to showcase D-ARC's speed and efficiency in building prototypes in just two weeks.
The Solution: Hang-It App
The result of this process is Hang-It, a mobile-first app that helps artists, galleries, and collectors preview artwork on real walls using Augmented Reality (AR). It's a simple, visual, and interactive solution that brings confidence to buyers and helps artists present their work professionally, all from a phone.
Hang-It's functionality is designed to be intuitive and powerful. The app allows users to upload an image of their artwork, place it in their own space through their phone's camera, adjust the size and frame, and share the final result with others.
The app includes several key features:
Artwork Upload & Management: Artists and users can upload high-quality images and enter important details like the title, artist name, dimensions (e.g., 24times36 inches), and price.
AR Wall Preview: The core of the app. Users can point their camera at a wall, place the uploaded artwork on it, and then pinch, drag, and move it to see how it fits.
Frame Customization: Users can choose from different frame styles (minimal, modern, or classic) or choose to view the artwork without a frame.
Capture & Share: Once the user is happy with the preview, they can save the mockup as an image or share it directly to social media or with a client.
Personal Gallery: A space where every uploaded artwork is stored. Users can browse, sort, and manage their collection, filtering by category or status.
Profile Dashboard: A personal dashboard to manage the user's profile and track activity stats, such as the number of artworks uploaded, AR views, and shares.
The app is designed for a wide range of users. The primary users are independent artists, art sellers, gallery owners, and interior designers. Secondary users include art collectors and home decorators who want to visualize new pieces in their homes.
Prototyper Express: Your Product, Faster
The Hang-It case study is a perfect example of what can be accomplished in just two weeks with D-ARC's Prototyper Express service. This service is designed for companies that need to quickly test new ideas, validate market fit, and create a tangible, clickable prototype without a long and expensive development cycle.
Prototyper Express combines the same AI-augmented design process and rapid prototyping techniques used for Hang-It to turn your vision into a working prototype. This allows you to:
Reduce risk: Test your product's core concepts with real users before you invest in full development.
Accelerate time-to-market: Go from an idea to a validated prototype in just two weeks.
Get stakeholder buy-in: Present a realistic, interactive prototype that clearly communicates your vision.
The Hang-It project shows how D-ARC Design can take a complex problem and, using a highly efficient process, create a simple and effective solution. If you have an idea that needs to be brought to life quickly and efficiently,
visit D-ARC Design to learn how Prototyper Express can help you build your product faster and smarter.
Research by: Jahanvi Aghera
The process of buying or selling art online is often a difficult one. Buyers struggle to visualize how a piece will look on a real wall, leading to uncertainty and hesitation. For artists and sellers, this translates to fewer sales, as it's harder to convince people to buy without a good preview. The traditional methods of making a decision—visiting galleries or guessing measurements—are time-consuming and often result in wasted effort and returns. D-ARC Design identified this problem as a prime opportunity for a modern, creative solution. The result is Hang-It, a prototype app that uses augmented reality (AR) to revolutionize the way people interact with art. Learn how D-ARC’s Prototyper Express service helped bring this concept to life in just two weeks.
The Problem with the Art Market
The digital age has opened up art to a global audience, but it hasn't solved the core problem of visualization. A small picture on a screen simply doesn't convey the impact an artwork will have in a physical space. This fundamental disconnect creates significant issues for all parties involved.
For buyers, the biggest hurdle is uncertainty. They constantly wonder: "Will the artwork fit the space?" and "Will it match the existing decor?". This fear of making a mistake often leads to inaction, and a potential sale is lost. The alternative is to visit a gallery in person, which can be a time-consuming and inconvenient process.
For artists, this uncertainty directly impacts their ability to make a living. Without a way to show a buyer how their piece will look in their home, it becomes a guessing game. The artist has to rely on the buyer's imagination, which is a big ask for a high-value purchase.
The D-ARC team saw a clear need for a solution that could bridge the gap between a digital image and a real-world space, providing confidence for buyers and a powerful presentation tool for artists and galleries.
The Challenge of Rapid Prototyping
To solve this problem, the D-ARC team needed a fast and efficient way to build a functional prototype. Traditional methods often rely on rigid specifications and pre-built templates, which can slow down the creative process. The goal was to quickly bring the core user experience to life with minimal friction.
To meet this challenge, the team adopted a method called "Vibe Coding". This rapid prototyping approach focuses on building design experiences based on feel, flow, and creative prompts, rather than rigid specifications. The team challenged themselves to create everything from scratch, using only natural language prompts to guide the layout, copy, and component behavior. Every screen, icon, and interaction was crafted iteratively, based on the immediate "vibe" of how the app should feel.
This experimental process proved highly effective, allowing the team to move quickly, learn on the fly, and bring the core experience to life without getting bogged down in technical details. It was a blend of design instinct and AI-supported creativity that worked. The successful creation of Hang-It served as an internal case study to showcase D-ARC's speed and efficiency in building prototypes in just two weeks.
The Solution: Hang-It App
The result of this process is Hang-It, a mobile-first app that helps artists, galleries, and collectors preview artwork on real walls using Augmented Reality (AR). It's a simple, visual, and interactive solution that brings confidence to buyers and helps artists present their work professionally, all from a phone.
Hang-It's functionality is designed to be intuitive and powerful. The app allows users to upload an image of their artwork, place it in their own space through their phone's camera, adjust the size and frame, and share the final result with others.
The app includes several key features:
Artwork Upload & Management: Artists and users can upload high-quality images and enter important details like the title, artist name, dimensions (e.g., 24times36 inches), and price.
AR Wall Preview: The core of the app. Users can point their camera at a wall, place the uploaded artwork on it, and then pinch, drag, and move it to see how it fits.
Frame Customization: Users can choose from different frame styles (minimal, modern, or classic) or choose to view the artwork without a frame.
Capture & Share: Once the user is happy with the preview, they can save the mockup as an image or share it directly to social media or with a client.
Personal Gallery: A space where every uploaded artwork is stored. Users can browse, sort, and manage their collection, filtering by category or status.
Profile Dashboard: A personal dashboard to manage the user's profile and track activity stats, such as the number of artworks uploaded, AR views, and shares.
The app is designed for a wide range of users. The primary users are independent artists, art sellers, gallery owners, and interior designers. Secondary users include art collectors and home decorators who want to visualize new pieces in their homes.
Prototyper Express: Your Product, Faster
The Hang-It case study is a perfect example of what can be accomplished in just two weeks with D-ARC's Prototyper Express service. This service is designed for companies that need to quickly test new ideas, validate market fit, and create a tangible, clickable prototype without a long and expensive development cycle.
Prototyper Express combines the same AI-augmented design process and rapid prototyping techniques used for Hang-It to turn your vision into a working prototype. This allows you to:
Reduce risk: Test your product's core concepts with real users before you invest in full development.
Accelerate time-to-market: Go from an idea to a validated prototype in just two weeks.
Get stakeholder buy-in: Present a realistic, interactive prototype that clearly communicates your vision.
The Hang-It project shows how D-ARC Design can take a complex problem and, using a highly efficient process, create a simple and effective solution. If you have an idea that needs to be brought to life quickly and efficiently,
visit D-ARC Design to learn how Prototyper Express can help you build your product faster and smarter.
Research by: Jahanvi Aghera
