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STart: Sound Transit Art Program
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Open calls for artists: Deadline - June 30,2025 Learn more
Home / System expansion / Creating vibrant stations / STart: Sound Transit Art Program
About STart
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features works by nationally known and emerging public artists, many of whom live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work helps welcome and engage riders at stations and transit centers.
Subscribe to news
Artwork Gallery
Explore how local artists shape Sound Transit spaces — artworks that reflect community identity and enhance everyday travel.
View gallery
Public art map
Use the interactive map to find artworks at Sound Transit stations and facilities — discover artists, learn about each installation.
View interactive art map
Open calls for artist
Next deadline: June 30, 2025
Get you artwork featured in the STart program!
View opportunities
Subscribe to email elerts
Discover artworks along our system
STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
Learn more below by exploring the Platform blog and our featured work
City Hummingbird and Kitchen Window Curtain - Lynnwood City Center Station
City Hummingbird honors the rich history of neon road signs that once lined Highway 99. Its companion, Kitchen Window Curtain, acts as its backdrop, turning the whole plaza into an enormous...
©Claudia Fitch, 2023, Lynnwood City Center Station
View more
Frequently asked questions
Resources
Contact
Questions about Sound Transit’s art program?
Feel free to reach out to us at
general resources
STart Sound Transit Art Program
Guide to artwork on Link light rail
Guide to artwork on Sounder commuter rail
artist resources
Tips for artists on acquiring insurance
Artist contract
Certificate of liability insurance
Insurance requirements for artist contracts
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Designing Transportation Information System in Seattle for 41M+ Annual Riders
Shipped
Product Stratergy
Design System
Rebranding
Timeline
July 2025 - March 2026
Role
Lead UX Designer
Team
2 designers
1 Project manager
Content design team
Engineering team
Research Team
Skills
Figma
Protopie
After Effects
Impact
Design
Shipped the new web experience and established a new design grid system and accessible components, scaled across the entire design system.
Leadership
Led stakeholder meetings with 15+ members, mapped out the long-term product roadmap and gained stakeholder buy-ins for two new features.
XFN Work
Proactively generated ideas with PMs and in-house designers, designed and tested north star concepts for the website’s future development.
Overview
I led the revamp of the transit art platform that serves 41M+ annual passengers
Designing how passengers discover transit art in Seattle
SoundTransit is rapidly expanding its service following the first cross lake expansion in the US, resulting in an increase of 52% riders in 2026. I was tasked to lead a complete revamp of the transit art website to increase usability and boost engagement for millions of riders.
MENU
EN
STart: Sound Transit Art Program
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Home / System expansion / Creating vibrant stations / STart: Sound Transit Art Program
About STart
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features works by nationally known and emerging public artists, many of whom live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work helps welcome and engage riders at stations and transit centers.
Subscribe to news
Artwork Gallery
Explore how local artists shape Sound Transit spaces — artworks that reflect community identity and enhance everyday travel.
View gallery
Public art map
Use the interactive map to find artworks at Sound Transit stations and facilities — discover artists, learn about each installation.
View interactive art map
Open calls for artist
Next deadline: June 30, 2025
Get you artwork featured in the STart program!
View opportunities
Subscribe to email elerts
Discover artworks along our system
STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
Learn more below by exploring the Platform blog and our featured work
City Hummingbird and Kitchen Window Curtain - Lynnwood City Center Station
City Hummingbird honors the rich history of neon road signs that once lined Highway 99. Its companion, Kitchen Window Curtain, acts as its backdrop, turning the whole plaza into an enormous...
©Claudia Fitch, 2023, Lynnwood City Center Station
View more
Frequently asked questions
Resources
Contact
Questions about Sound Transit’s art program?
Feel free to reach out to us at
general resources
STart Sound Transit Art Program
Guide to artwork on Link light rail
Guide to artwork on Sounder commuter rail
artist resources
Tips for artists on acquiring insurance
Artist contract
Certificate of liability insurance
Insurance requirements for artist contracts
Foundational transformation of navigation
By completely reconstructing the website's IA structure, I build upon the existing design system and created new components for unique information that focus on accessibility and intuitive navigation.
Gained buy-in of two new discovery methods
I brainstormed and gained stakeholders buy in to launch 2 new features: Artwork gallery and Interactive art map.
Problem
One webpage was trying to serve two audiences—and served neither well.
Research revealed the visual problem was actually structural.
The initial ask of the team was a visual refresh to boost engagement for the website. Yet, I came to realize the true task lies behind the information architecture to unify one intuitive experience for two distinct audiences — artists and general audiences.
I reconstructed the IA, balancing user needs and business goals.
The critical moment was realizing that the two main target audiences were never defined during the original design. So I collaborated with the art program and contents team to lay out the IA from the basic.
Program overview
Artwork gallery
Insurance information
Artist contract
Artist Information
Artwork map
Undifferentiated information structure
Before
Program overview
Program News
Current calls for artist
Contract info
Artist Information
Artwork information
Artwork gallery
How to join
General Audience
Artist
General information
Clearly categorized structure for targeted user
After
What I asked
Core needs of our users?
Business goals?
Relevancy of content?
Hierarchy of content?
Design Principles
Once the foundation is set, I led the team to two main design goals.
At this point I shifted my focus from just visual redesign(the skin) to reconstructing the whole structure (the bones) of the website. I decided on 4 design pillars to guide the overall experience.
Intuitive Finding
Reduce the effort required to find art and program information.
Immersive Engaging
Make artwork exciting and engaging to discover physically and digitally.
Ideation & Exploration
How might we make artwork easy and exciting to discover?
Embracing ambiguity in initial ideas of information-seeking and discovery
With the new IA established, I explored navigation models across global transit and cultural experiences to understand how different layouts could support both information-seeking and discovery.
STart: Sound Transit Art Program
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About
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Join as artist
Video
Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places.
Resource
Map
Navigation first
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STart: Sound Transit Art Program
Gallery
About
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Join as artist
Resource
Content-first
LOGO
Artwork name
Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places.
Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places.
Artist name
Location
Date
Artwork name
Station name
Artist name
More artwork
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Artwork name
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STart: Sound Transit Art Program
Gallery
About
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Join as artist
Resource
Discovery-first
Constraint
Then engineering changed the rules:
“We can’t implement a navigation bar.”
Limitations pushed me to solve for the "Real need"
I lead 5+ rounds of design critic sessions with the PM, UI design lead, and engineers to iterate on the designs. The final version gathered critical information that was scattered in the page during our first version, and presented in a clear at a glance view.
STart: Sound Transit Art Program
LOGO
Gallery
Discover
News & Updates
Artwork name
>
>
Subscribe to the STart news
Subscribe now
Station name
Join our mailing list to receive news about our events and projects.
FAQ
Contact
Artist name
About
STart is Sound Transit's art program that works to bring local and nationally recognized artists' work into stations and transit centers.
Join as artist
Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places.
Resource
Map
Technical constraints does not allow navigation bar to be implemented
Embedding links to critical features within reduced content paragraphs
Adding dedicated CTA sections to critical features
1st iteration
2nd iteration
3rd iteration
Design highlights
I designed a new grid system that scaled beyond the project
I designed a three-column grid and reusable information card that created hierarchy without adding navigation. Three columns kept the highest-priority pathways above the fold while preserving existing responsive behavior
Constraint
The problem-solving was not done yet: Finding art isn’t the same as engaging
The new IA made information easier to find. But research surfaced a second problem: the experience still didn’t make people want to explore.
"This looks like something internal…🤨"
I brainstormed new ways of engagement, and gained buy-in to 2 new features
I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 users to validate my ideas. Eventually, I came up with 3 key features and presented them to key stakeholders, which then turned into 2 new features—Artwork gallery and interactive map.
“ I remember the artworks mostly by which station/line it’s located in. ”
“ I want to learn more about the artworks and artists.”
“ I’m interested in knowing what other artworks are on the line! ”
Station-based filtering
Detailed artist information
Connecting physical space
Artist
Introduction
Artworks
Portfolio
Key features to boost engagement
Browse by interest — Artwork Gallery
For users who want to explore art digitally, filtering and dedicated artwork pages make browsing easier while reducing the steps required to locate a specific artwork by 60%.
Discover by place — Interactive art map
Transit art exists in physical space, so I connected artwork to the stations where riders actually encounter it—allowing people to discover art through their journeys.
Scaling design components into accessible systems
I created both web and mobile versions for the webpage. Working with the design style guide and revised 10+ components into accessible assets used across the whole agency's design.
I ensured that every feature is accessible for mobile version to fulfill the mobile-first approach of the design.
I created new web and mobile design components for engineering handoff.
Impact
Live for 41M+ global users!
Owning every design decision along the way
Learnings
Be curious, collaborative, and creative!
Working with such a diverse group of interns was a blast!
Proactivity drives impact
Reaching out for 20+ coffee chats taught me that meaningful change starts with taking initiative to listen, connect, and build trust
Curiosity is the fastest way of learning
Asking questions and seeking mentors beyond the agency reminded me that curiosity not only accelerates learning but also opens doors I didn’t know existed
Intuitiveness is the ultimate shared language
I realized that when a design feels effortless to use, it bridges backgrounds, roles, and expertise better than any explanation I could give
Bonus self-lead project
How can we engage users in those mere seconds it takes to pay their fare?
In Seattle’s busy transit environment, it’s easy to overlook the simple act to "Tap the card"
Through my own experiences observing fellow passengers, I began imagining ways to enhance the interaction with our payment machines. I crafted the concept and mapped out the interaction flow in Figma. I collaborated with the ideation partner—Claude and Figma Make where vibe coding jumps in. Then I returned to my old friend—ProtoPie hand crafting micro-interactions and refining each motion until it matched my vision.
© 2026 Janet Chen. All Rights Reserved.
Made in Seattle.