Spotify

Project Overview

Spotify wants to improve the music-sharing experience. In order to do so, research has to uncover the roadblocks users come across that hinder them from sharing music entirely. Even when they do share the focus narrows in on how to enhance this experience so sharing music becomes fun and effortless. They have asked me to design a new feature with a heavy emphasis on user research. The first step was developing a research plan.

Tools

• Figma

• Miro

• Airtable + Excel

• Notion

My role

• UX Researcher

• UX Designer

Issues & Challenges

Screening participants who shared music (or did not share) was the easy part. Where the trouble came was finding people who actually used Spotify. Even though Spotify and Apple Music are neck and neck in the highest-ranked music streaming service; I was rarely able to find Spotify users. Luckily, the interviews focused on how people share music in general rather than limiting it to a specific service. Not a single participant used Spotify. Many were IOS users and most were younger in age so they could maximize Apple’s very affordable student discount.

The Market

Spotify is probably the most dominant music streaming platform on the market. Among its competition are other heavy hitters like Tidal, Apple Music, and Pandora. They all provide a similar service of streaming entertaining content but each has its own niche. What separates Apple Music from the pack is that it offers an ad-free 3-month trial. Tidal offers high-definition music videos for those who want the full experience of listening to a song. Pandora has the ability to create many stations so that users can mix it up and not have to worry about constantly finding a new artist to listen to. The interfaces are all minimal, simple, and easy to use with design patterns alike.

The interview process

The interview process was over the course of a week and a half, interviewing a total of eight participants. They varied from all kinds of backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, and occupations. As I explored how users shared music and what sharing meant to the users many amazing findings were discovered. To best structure these insights I applied the Rose, Bud, and Thorn technique that reflects these insights into the positive, the negative, and opportunities.

User Persona

A brief summary of findings

Interviewing the participants, collecting the data, and turning the data into insights and findings took about two weeks. The focal point revolved around sharing music. Defining sharing music was a broad definition It didn’t just mean sharing music directly with someone but sharing music as a whole. We share music in the car with friends and music is shared by a shop owner for its patrons. Narrowing down the problem meant going back and asking a few more questions and engaging in a few casual conversations. The motive behind why participants share music or decide not to were all different and fascinating. What I found out was:

1. People share music less when they socialize less as well as less active on social media. Music lovers who fall into this category must rely on word-of-mouth more to discover new music. Also, those with a smaller social media presence or who engage in less activity on social media make it more difficult to discover more genres and artists.

2. Music lovers restrict the music they share with their social group due to their past experiences of their music taste either being ignored or not accepted. As a result, they usually only share the majority and not the minority of their taste in music with friends. Past experiences have taught them that their primary social group is not open to new genres and artists. Often, negative feedback from their music will cause them to not voice their own opinion.

3. People want to share music to express themselves in the moments and uplift or change their mood (others as well). Sharing music can help better relate to others certain genres and tempos can best relate to their mood and what they are going through (privately or publicly).

Some more findings

Rose, Bud, Thorn technique

How might we statements

The problem statement was very impactful in identifying the issues the participants were experiencing. Some shared music significantly more than others and there had to be a reason why that was so. One discovery was that people share music less when they socialize less as well as are less active on social media. The most common problem was music lovers restricted the music they share with their social group. This is due to past experiences of their music taste being ignored or not accepted.

Crazy-eight technique - 24 ideas in 24 minutes

Once I discovered the problem(s) listed in the problem statement it was time to generate ideas. The fast-paced, chaotic yet practical crazy-eight technique was used to create a solution to the problem. The goal of each sketch was to explore all the different possibilities that would lead to the final design. Some absurd and not rational and other ideas were the beginning of something that could be.

The low-fidelity iterations focused on allowing users to get out of their comfort zone and socialize more and embrace other genres that they were not accustomed to ( listening to music that is most dominant within their culture).The list entails the highlights of the findings and/ or common issues participants shared. I did not want to come up with any solutions right away to avoid restricting the pool of possibilities early on.

Ideation

Combining the storyboard and crazy-eight technique in a fast-paced timed environment was a challenge yet led to a great discovery. After hours of brainstorming, I wanted to get people to socialize and allow people to get out of their comfort zone to listen to new music. Both problems came together in the form of the CONNECT feature. In the research phase, I had yet to discover any of the competing music streaming platforms incorporating any feature focusing on meeting new people. The same feature common across all the brands was the share option that would then connect you to a social media platform.

What is the Connect feature?

CONNECT is a great way to cultivate new relationships by expanding what type of music to listen to. Meet people with similar interests but with different music tastes. Making friends along the way of exploring new artists and genres you never knew was amazing. On your profile matches will see your playlist, favorite song, and bio so they can get to know a little about you. If you have not done so already complete your CONNECT profile in your profile settings before you can begin your awesome music discovery journey.

Designing the user’s flow with wireframes

I aimed to design the wireframes with the highest fidelity possible while reducing as much visual noise so the transition to the final UI was a quick process. The first set of wireframes lacked many contexts and was easily confusing as to what the next step in the process would be. After a few more iterations wire flows were born. They focus heavily on the visual and make it easy for readers to understand the significance of elements on each screen and their purpose with textThe first option is for the user can edit their profile so that they can successfully access and use the connect profile (needs to be completed to gain information on the best matches). The second step is assuming the profile is up to date. They then click the 'CONNECT' cta.

1. If not up to date, the next screen shows the user's profile

2. Following that the user has the option to edit their profile which takes them to a three-step process to complete their CONNECT profile

3. The next screen is a list of the user's matches

4. When the users click Sarah's profile it takes them to Sarah's profile page

Assumptions

1. Users will want to see the percentage strength of the match to show them how compatible they'll be(mathematically speaking).

2. The interest and hobbies of the matched profile should be as or more prominent than the profile's music.

3. In the flow potential, Spotify CONNECT feature flow users will want to curate a special list and showcase it to their matches.

UI & interactive screens

Personal Profile screen

The simple screen shows a user’s personal profile screen. They have the ability to edit their profile (interest/hobbies and favorite songs. Song lovers can add an eye catching bio allowing others to get a brief sense of who they are.

Prototyping & Testing

Testing the CONNECT feature included 2 rounds of usability testing but technically had 3 stages. The best feedback and most constructive criticism that led to an overall better and more simple design came from peer feedback. Through a group of casual conversations (stage 1), I was able to find out what future users wanted to see, especially on the match listing screen. Unknowingly the problem that was occurring was not focusing enough on the music of the matches. Peers informed me they would like to see more of the profile matches' favorite songs and curated playlists rather than their hobbies and interests. It was already a given that they shared similar interests hence the reason why their profiles matched with one another.

Findings from the first round of testing (micro-frame prototype)

The first of conducting a usability test was profound. This is where I was able to obtain the most valuable feedback and make changes for the best. The improved iterations removed unnecessarily complex steps that would otherwise confuse and slow down the overall goal. One great addition that I originally did not take into consideration was adding some sort of background page describing the new feature. Without some announcement, users could p[otentially be misled and not understand what the heck is going on leadfing to a nightmare in design which is ambiguity. Some discoveries were:

• Removing the curated playlist screen

  the screen originally prompted users to curate a playlist of their favorite songs for others to see in their profile. This was a gratuitous step due to saved playlist would already be shown on the users’ profile

• Add an introduction page

  The first micro-frame went straight into the feature. Even with me explaining the concept to potential users they would have liked to see a written portion breaking down how the feature works.

• The CONNECT feature’s input screen - The screen was removed from the first flow. Users (designers from Design Lab) assumed that it could be left out.

PROJECT REFLECTION

Next steps

Like any product feature and design, there are always ways to tune or refine aspects of the design. If I had more time in the day I would like to send out surveys but for now, I’d tap into:

• Add a simple flow that would make it less of a hassle to find friends who have the app. Currently, Spotify only has one option to find friends which is to connect to Facebook. This is a problem for a variety of reasons. Some users may not have Facebook as their social media go-to but rather use other platforms more heavily. By adding other social media platforms to connect to and phone numbers in users' contact, it will widen the net to find friends and discover their taste in music.

• Due to time constraints, the flow stopped at matched profiles but how would a user get in contact with the matched user if they chose to do so? The next step in the flow is to add a messaging interface that would look identical to Android and IOS users. In doing this the message to the intended profile person will be straightforward.