Spotify Friends Session
Music Streaming App
ROLE
Research
UI Design
UX Design
Testing
CLIENT
School Project
DURATION
1 month
TOOLS
Figma
Illustrator
Photoshop
Project Background
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service provider, with over 381 million monthly active users, including 172 million paying subscribers, as of September 2021. With Spotify, it’s easy to find the right music or podcast for every moment – on your phone, your computer, your tablet, and more. You can also browse through the collections of friends, artists, and celebrities, or create a radio station and just sit back. Soundtrack your life with Spotify.
Design an additional feature that allows users to join in on what their friends are listening to live and like or add the music to their own playlists.
-
Design key visuals to help users identify what their friends are listening to
-
Clear, smooth interactions through listening and liking songs
Research
During the research phase, I used both competitor analysis and user interviews to collect pain points and successes of listening and sharing music. Users are willing to pay for a subscription if the quality and variety are good. Most users were a little hesitant about the idea of sharing their listening habits but were more open-minded if there was a privacy feature so they could control when and what was shared.
Research Plan
PROBLEM
Seamlessly incorporate a live friends session to the Spotify mobile app.
RESEARCH GOAL
Identify users’ motivations and fears behind using music streaming apps and sharing their music with friends.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
-
Design key visuals to help users identify what their friends are listening to
-
Clear, smooth interactions through listening and liking songs
-
Conduct user testing to ensure the feature is helpful and there are no frustrations
Summary of Findings
USER INTERVIEWS
Frustrations
-
Higher prices without better quality or features
-
Suggested music or algorithm-based options aren’t always accurate
-
Lots of commercials can ruin some playlists
Motivations
-
Music helps pass the time and keeps monotonous tasks more enjoyable
-
Exploring and finding new music
-
Privacy factors to help explore music on your own terms
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
-
Most services offer a free subscription but with ads.
-
The visuals on most of the services are clean and modern for an easy user experience.
-
Most streaming services require an external app to listen live with friends.
-
The variety of music, podcasts, and videos vary between platforms.
Define
Knowing privacy was a key element user wanted through the research I wanted to make sure that was accessible throughout the app. It was also important that the additional feature is tied into the existing app without needing external elements.
Persona
Sitemap
Ideate
Once a general idea of the necessary elements was collected, I moved forward with wireframes to figure out how the new feature would exist and function in the current product. Since most of the basic app elements exist, my wireframes leveraged most of the screens that exist to have a seamless integration.
Wireframes
LANDING SCREEN
SOCIAL SETTINGS
FRIENDS SESSION
PLAYING
CHAT FEATURE
FRIENDS
Testing
For testing, I created High Fidelity Prototypes so usability testing would have more accurate feedback based on visual and functional design. The testing showed that the feature still needed more of an emphasis on the privacy factor and some instructions on how to use the feature since it has some elements that are new to the app.
Prototype
LANDING SCREEN
FRIENDS SESSION
PLAYING
PLAYING
INTERACTIONS
CHAT
ADJUST SOCIAL SETTINGS
SOCIAL SETTINGS
SOCIAL SETTINGS INTERACTIONS
FRIENDS LIST
Usability Test
TEST OBJECTIVE
-
Test paths users use to get to friends and the music they are listening to
-
Test the like and add icons
-
Test the ease of the chat feature
-
Test the finding of privacy features and settings
METHODOLOGY
Remote: The user will share a screen over a virtual meeting while walking through the Prototype.
PARTICIPANTS
-
Number of participants: 3-5
-
Age Demographic: 16-30
-
Characteristics: Enjoy Music. Social and open to new types of music
TESTING GOALS
Observe the interactions the user had with the friends feature on the Spotify app. Identify any frustrations or confusions through the tasks given. Identify the successes of the design and usability.
Priority Matrix
Revisions & Next Steps
The additions to the prototype include a private toggle switch added to the landing page, a walk-through of the new feature and how to use it, and profile icons in the playing screen so users can view which friends are listening with them. The next steps will be adding the feature live and collecting data to test its success rates.
