Harmonizing Playlists: A User-Centric Symphony
Project Prelude
Ever yearned for a playlist, meticulously crafted by another soul, to effortlessly land in your music library? The journey begins here, as we set out to enrich the user experience of music apps by simplifying playlist sharing.
Tools at Play
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe XD
Figma
Google Forms
Marvel App
Stormboard
Zoom
Time Line
2 months
My Role
UX Researcher
The Challenge: A Musical Odyssey
Sharing playlists, once a joy, had become a labyrinth of manual selection and third-party apps. Our mission? Reshape this journey into a delightful melody.
Objective
Convenience: Enable users to share playlists instantly, eliminating manual song selection or third-party apps.
Customization: Empower playlist owners to select specific songs or send the entire list based on the recipient's preferences.
Integration: Allow recipients to easily add shared playlists to their preferred music application without extra steps.
User-Friendly Interface: Design an intuitive and visually appealing interface for delightful playlist sharing.
A Harmonious Approach
To hit all the right notes, we orchestrated a strategy that resonates with users:
User Research: Understand users' pain points, preferences, and behaviors in playlist sharing.
Design Thinking: Craft a user-centric interface, making playlist sharing a breeze.
Wireframing and Prototyping: Create wireframes and prototypes for a streamlined experience.
Usability Testing: Gather feedback, identify issues, and refine the interface through rigorous testing.
Visual Design: Develop a visually appealing design aligned with brand identity and user preferences.
Development and Integration: Collaborate with developers to bring the design to life.
Testing and Iteration: Ensure stability, performance, and usability through iterative testing.
Discovery
The Expedition: User Research
Our research goals were crystal clear:
To improve playlist-sharing in a music app
Conduct thorough research and testing
Analyze user behavior and competition
Gather user insights
Conduct usability testing and design ideation
Iterate prototypes based on feedback
Measure user satisfaction and impact to evaluate effectiveness
Competitive Analysis
Exploring Apple, Pandora, and Spotify, I delved into a digital symphony of unique experiences, revealing insights that shaped our path for enhancement. Apple's distinct features, Pandora's personalized curation, and Spotify's expansive library became the key melodies guiding this journey toward a richer user experience.
Apple Music: Ideal for Apple ecosystem users, with high-quality sound and exclusive content. Lacks a free tier and availability on all platforms.
Spotify: Popular and versatile, with a vast library, free tier, and effective recommendations. Some limitations for free users and limited integration with certain devices.
Pandora: Known for its recommendation algorithm and ease of use. Offers free and affordable premium options, but has lower audio quality and limited availability outside the US.
Key Takeaways: Apple, Pandora, and Spotify are strong competitors in the music streaming industry. Each has unique strengths, and the choice of service depends on the user's needs and preferences.
User Interviews
Summary
I conducted user interviews with six participants. We sought to unearth possible usability concerns before crafting an interactive prototype. Six participants willingly joined our expedition, and together, we embarked on a voyage of discovery, uncovering insights into their unique needs, aspirations, challenges, and preferences. Now, let's continue this journey and unravel the tapestry of their thoughts.
“Inability to customize and send entire playlist is frustrating”
“I hate dealing with Ads”
“I don’t like having to open different apps to send a playlist”
“Too many steps to send an entire playlist”
Following the user interviews, I set out to create an affinity map. This mosaic served as a canvas to organize, synthesize, and weave together the rich tapestry of qualitative data collected. As the map took shape, it revealed patterns, themes, and insights hidden within the individual user interviews.
Affinity Map
Organized chaos unfolded into insight clusters:
Customization Frustrations
Ad Displeasure
App Navigation Hassles
Define
Personas
After completing the affinity map, a new chapter in our design journey unfolded. It was time to breathe life into our design process, and the personas Jordan and Aanya were crafted based on the insights gained from the interviews and affinity map.
Crafting personas Jordan and Aanya guided us with a human-centered lens:
Jordan: The Playlist Maestro
Aanya: The Casual Listener
Primary Persona
Secondary Persona
Navigating Jordan's playlist-sharing journey unveiled areas ripe for enhancement. Pain points became opportunities.
The User Journey
User Journey Map
Next, a user flow was constructed to map out the steps a user takes to complete those critical tasks identified in the user journey map and prioritize features and functionalities.
Potential roadblocks or friction points that may hinder the user's progress can be identified by mapping out the user's flow. These obstacles can be eliminated, creating a more seamless and intuitive user experience.
Design
Sketches
Paper sketches breathed life into the user flow, defining the app’s information architecture
Wireflow
In Figma, wireflows outlined the user’s task of sharing a playlist, guiding us toward a seamless design.
UsabilityTesting
Moderated usability testing was conducted over Zoom from the participants’ homes to portray a realistic environment while they completed tasks. The users could access a link to the wireframe. The test would reveal possible usability problems before creating an interactive prototype.
15 test participants ranged in age 19 - 53, from various backgrounds, and were familiar with using multiple music apps. Post-qualitative and quantitative test results revealed users enjoyed the use of a QR code to quickly transfer selected playlists, but there were issues with information architecture/navigation that needed to be addressed before moving forward with the interactive prototype.
Style Guide
After addressing and re-testing usability issues, we forged ahead to create a high-fidelity prototype. We meticulously crafted a style guide within this creative process, weaving a narrative of design rules that orchestrated every element to work together in perfect unity.
The Crescendo: High-Fidelity Prototype
Final Notes: A Melodious Wrap-Up
Lessons Learned and Future Crescendos
In the Quick Share project journey, I gathered valuable insights and honed my approach for future iterations:
User Understanding: Deepened by interviews, personas, and mapping. Future projects will embrace even more extensive research.
Early Usability Testing: Prioritize early tests for quicker issue identification.
Responsive to Feedback: User feedback informed the prototype. Incorporating insights regularly promises consistent improvement.
Iterative Design Emphasis: Future endeavors will intensify iterative design cycles.
Collaboration and Feedback: Embrace collaboration for diverse perspectives and innovation.
Comprehensive Documentation: Detailed documentation for transparency and guidance.
As this symphony concludes, future iterations will echo the lessons learned, promising a user-centric design and an enriched user experience.