ideation & achitecture
define
2020 - Mobile & Web design
song suggester
The Spotify Song Suggester is an added feature that learns your favorite songs and recommends new tracks, making it easier for users to discover new music.
Team
1 Data scientist, 3 developers
timeframe
3 weeks
My role
Solo UX/UI Designer
Type
School project
PROPOSED problem
Most music apps don’t suggest songs that truly match a user's unique taste and offer limited tools for discovering new music.
the solution
This app enhances music discovery by offering personalized recommendations and interactive tools to explore audio features for over 100 million Spotify songs. By analyzing user preferences, it delivers curated suggestions tailored to their unique taste.
Mood playlist are helpful for discovering new music
Genre, lyrics, artists information was commonly used in music searches
Common desire for an improved personalized music experience
Common pain points were suggestions unrelated to their music preference
Users enjoy inviting colors, album covers, and helpful icons
interviews & surveys
Second method: Survey. 12 people participated, I aimed to find out there frustrations and helpful features when using music apps. I learned how I can improve music suggestions even further.
What frustrates users & whats helpful?
user survey
11/12
users said
Yes!
Moods help
Do mood categories help you discover new music?
Are mood categories helpful?
What do you search?
What information do you look for when you search for new music?
7/10
users said
Genre
Lyrics
Artist
In your primary music app, what’s frustrating about suggested songs?
What’s frustrating?
5/10
users frustration
Suggestions unrelated to their taste
Key discoveries
HOW’s new music disovered
01.
PIN POINT USER DESIRES
02.
03.
UNCOVER MUSIC APP PAIN POINTS
04.
DEFINE VISUALIZATIONS
RESEARCH objectives
Learnings & Key takeaways
What did users experience while using music apps?
First method: Interviewing music app users and aiming to understand their true preferences, likes, dislikes with music apps and song suggestions.
user Interviews
Key quotes
I choose new artists by their walk of life and life experiences.
“
Kayla, 16
Kelly, 30
I don’t want to search through a long list to find new music.
“
Paul, 34
It's hard to access and learn about really good old music unless you are extremely active at looking.
“
Research & key insights
define
Learning from what competitors are doing
Competitors utilized AI learning and listening history to create curated song suggestions. But they were not providing users with tools that might help users make more informed music choices.
competitor analysis
" How might we personalize song suggestions to individual users and make the process of discovering new music easier? "
Using research data to Brainstorm solutions
Mindmapping
From the data I gathered I utilized "How might we" statements to help me generate solutions that can potentially solve for our users pain points and desires. I used a Mind Map to brainstorm all solutions and make connections.
MINDmap
mind
meister
potential Solutions
Turning my findings into the a target user
I had enough data to create a target user. Someone who is deep into music, always searching for new tunes old or new. Most apps don't suggest what he is looking for and desires accuracy and more curated feel.
Mapping how users will navigate the plaftform
I designed User Flows that show the apps path and the user’s interactions. These were aligned with Project requirements in addition to Marky’s pain points and goals.
unwanted suggestions
discover new music easily
wants mood playlists that influence their mood
suggestions related to preferences
Mainstream music is suggested to often
searching for new music takes soME effort
pain points
Goals
Solutions
preferred mood selection
Select wanted moods and the app provides related music
interest personalization
Select what you listen to, the app personalizes suggestions
similar music button
allows users to view music similar to their favorite tracks
user flows
persona
User centered
app navigation
carsorting & Sitemap
In the Cardsorting exercise, users matched navigation elements to categories, which informed the interface navigation. While users encountered had some confusion their feedback guided the renaming and organization of pages, enhancing app navigation.
First steps into
visual design
Paper sketching for its time efficiency and versatility. This mobile Landing page sketch is where users can select music they like and be shown curated music based on their taste.
paper sketching
wireframes & testing
prototype
From sketches to low fi wireframes
Home
Moods page
Music player
Options menu
Similar artists
Low fidelity designs
Wireframing
I tested my (Version 1) low fidelity prototype with users to assess ease how they would use the app. I noted down any issues users encountered as well as their feedback and desires. The insight I discovered was used to create a more user friendly product that meets the expectations of target users.
I conduct a Preference Test and 63% of users preferred the first design. This validated my design decisions moving into High Fidelity designs.
Key pain points discovered
LANDING PAGE
additional pain points
Confusing titles
01.
Similar artists/song pages look to similar
02.
Swipe up button caused confusion
03.
2 / 3 users
Preference test
usability test
results
What design do people like better, and why?
Of users chose this design for the simplicity, familiar look and number of categories
63%
Identifying usability issues and pain points
Users clicked the images to access playlists. See more was the intended target
missed target
3 / 3 users
“See More” button's destination unclear
3 / 3 users
limited categories
Destination Unclear
3 / 3 users
This design made users believe there was limited moods to choose from
1 / 3 users
2 / 3 users
Interest Personalization
Learning from interests to personalize suggestions
Music Matchmaking
Easily access similar music simply by pushing a button
Artist Data Visualizations
Find similar music quickly. Show the app what you like
design solutions
Ai Learning
The platform learns from preferences, history, inputs, and song likes/dislikes.
Additional Features
Concert times, Lyrics and Artist Bios
USERS FEEL music apps lack personalized music experience.
USER'S DESIRE an easier way to find music they like.
APPS LACK song details helpful for music searches.
key takeaways
UX takeaways & solutions
A collective of key findings , allowed me to strategically design solutions that to the users needs for a personalized music experienced.
Fulfilling the need for a curated experience.
A personalized music experience for each unique user.
HIgh fidelity designs
The Final product
DESIGNED IN FIGMA
design
Mood playlists
Overall key insights
Discover
define
ideate
prototype
design
Design Process
What I worked on
As the solo UX/UI designer, I researched user needs and gathered feedback to improve music discovery. Using key insights I designed a more personalized Spotify experience with tailored recommendations and interactive tools, refining the final product through testing.
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