Spotify Redesign
A redesign project that features a new perspective on Spotify that prioritizes listeners' social engagement and experience within the app
OVERVIEW
Spotify's mission is to “unlock the potential of human creativity” — but how well does this mission apply to listeners’ experiences?
Spotify is now the most popular music streaming service in the industry – with over 456 million users worldwide and counting. Currently, there are little to no discoverable social features for the listeners to show off their unique playlists or collaborate with others within the app. Users commonly share their playlists through external messaging apps – a troublesome process that can result in links being lost and untouched.
To address this issue, I asked:
How might we create a social experience within the Spotify app to encourage listeners to discover and share their music to others?
Send music to your
friends instantly
Get in-app notifications of your friends' music recommendations
See what your friends are listening to
Discover new music and playlists from your Friends Activity
Everyone gets the aux
Create group sessions with your friends and listen together in-person or remotely in different devices
RESEARCH
What do Spotify listeners need and want?
I sent out a survey gathering a general consensus from users regarding social features on their music apps. I received 36 responses from university students on questions such as:
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What music app do you use?
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Do you enjoy sharing or listening to music with others?
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How do you usually discover new music?
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Would you be comfortable sharing what you are currently listening to with other people?
In addition, I also had 7 in-depth interviews with Spotify listeners to ask qualitative questions such as:
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Are you interested in what other people are listening to, either within your close circle or public users?
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Can you detail the process of sending a song to your friends? How do you feel about this?
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Would social features in Spotify add to your listening experience? Why or why not?
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Have you used Spotify's social features such as Blend playlists, or joining a group session? If so, what are your thoughts about them?
INSIGHTS
The target user is a college student, around ages 18-22 years old
Listeners share their music outside of Spotify
Listeners mainly share song links with friends in other apps. Interestingly, they follow these friends in Spotify too.
Listeners are not shy in sharing their music tastes
89% enjoy sharing their music with others, and 94% are comfortable in sharing what they listen to in public
Spotify's current social features lack discoverability
Listeners did not know some social features existed in-app, and expresses their want for better social features
To better connect with the target users and empathize with their experience, I created a persona to keep in mind as we move forward to the design process.
DESIGN PROCESS
Lo-Fi
Prototype
User
Testing
Iteration
Final
Deliverable
Lo-fi Prototype
User Testing Feedback
I conducted a usability test to better understand users' existing mental map and assess the integration of the new features. Users brought up important feedback and potential solutions.
Problems
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Users pointed out that there are 2 versions of Group Session; it's unclear which version they are interacting with
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Users needed help in figuring out how to go to the next screen due to their existing mental maps
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Users pointed out concerns for the discoverability of Group Session invites or recommended songs
Solutions
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Users should be able to indicate which type of Group Session they are creating
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Users should be able to use their existing mental map in order for new features to be integrated organically
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Group Session invitations and song recommendations should be easily accessible to users
ITERATION
For the next iteration, I added Spotify's user interface design into my prototype and incorporated user feedback from usability testing.
FINAL DESIGN
The Figma prototype can also be accessed here.
REFLECTION
This project strengthened my skills on conducting user interviews and usability testing. User research is an integral part of creating an intuitive design, especially for an existing product. Hearing current users’ feedback and their pain points helped me see the app in a new perspective, and was an important asset in creating an iteration that welcomes new users, without alienating existing Spotify listeners.
If I could continue this project, I would continue to test my final deliverable and better the integration and experience of the new social features.