Duration
June 2020 - September 2020
Role
Visual Designer
Disciplines
Visual design, UX Design
Location
Remote
Project Inspiration
As an active Spotify user, I often find myself wishing for a way to talk about and share music directly with other users. For example, when I see what my friends are listening to, I want to easily reach out discuss that music with them, but there is no way to do so inside the app.
Research
Target Audience
Millennials
Ages 25-35 - Have transitioned away from buying music and have moved into the streaming world. They value connecting with friends and family online.
Gen Z
Ages 16-24 - Have grown up on digital platforms and love to stream music. They constantly send and talk about content to other users on all social media.
User Interviews
I asked five different Spotify users the following questions to get an understanding of their experience sharing music on Spotify.
1 How often do you use Spotify?
2 How do you find out about new music on Spotify?
3 Do you consider Spotify to be a social medium?
4 Do you feel connected with other users on the Spotify app?
5 How would you describe the process of sending music from Spotify to another user?
Personas
Catherine, 18
Uses Spotify every single day
Wishes there more opportunities to be social on the app
Stopped sending music to friends because they rarely follow up
Kevin, 29
Listens to Spotify on his breaks at work
Doesn’t feel connected to other users
Finds the process of sharing music too complicated
User Survey
Based on my user interviews, I had a hypothesis that Spotify users would like the platform to be more social and, in particular, that they would like to be able to discuss and share music without leaving the app. To gauge the interest, I asked 25 Spotify users in my target audience to answer the following two questions:
91% of users want to share their music, yet only 17% say they do it often. This suggests a real customer problem that could be addressed.
Problem Statement
Spotify users do not have a simple way to share and discuss music on the Spotify application.
Ideation
Wireframes
Sketches
Features
Messages Homepage
The messages homepage allows users to:
View all conversations
Send a new message
Check if friends are online
View their notification count
Share and Add Songs
Users can quickly share songs back and forth, add music to their playlists, and discuss what they think with the help of “likes” and GIF reactions.
Send Time Stamps
No more need to scan through the play bar.
Users have the ability to share a song pre-set to play from a specific time stamp.
Share Playlists
Easily share and send collaborative playlists, artist profiles, and full albums to friends through direct messages.
Desktop Compatibility
On desktop, users will have access to all of their conversations, as well as the main navigation and Friend Activity list.
Access from Menu
Messages are located in the main navigation menu, allowing users to access them from anywhere on the application.
Via Friend Activity
Users are able to send music to friends directly from the Friend Activity panel.
Moving Forward
I would love to continue learning about the needs of Spotify users. I believe that streaming music has the ability to bring people together, and there are many opportunities to improve the connection between Spotify listeners.
Andrew Wach 2024