UX DESIGN · CASE STUDY

Designing new features for the Apple Music mobile application.

role
Researcher, UI Designer
team
Maitri Choski (Team Lead), Stella Matsukawa, Aeon Seo, Myself
timeline
April 28 — May 17, 2020
tools
FigJam, Figma, Notion, Google Survey

a little summary

I participated in a semester-long UX design program called Creative Labs. The program created groups of 5-6 students and taught designers of every skill level about the design process and how to craft a case study.

Design Process
overview

first things first, let's get some context

Over a period of 10 weeks, our team has worked to improve the functionality of Apple Music. Since Apple Music’s biggest competitor is Spotify, we wanted to attract more people to use Apple Music by making the platform more efficient and engaging. We did so by improving user navigation, personalization and connectivity.
questions

why is apple music not used as much among young listeners?

Using this question, my group and I decided to tackle the issues people had with Apple Music and the app's usability. What were the pain points of the product? Why is it not used as much as Spotify?

Our project focused on redesigning Apple Music to improve user navigation, expand user connectivity and increase user exposure to new media.
link to prototype.
FInal Screens
user research

here's what users are saying

Apple Music has many different features and tools that users aren't aware of while using the app.
We interviewed and surveyed a variety of Apple Music and Spotify users to address this problem. We asked them what their favorite features were, what features they wished their streaming service had and any other comments and suggestions they wished to share with us.
some insightful responses...
"The app can feel a little bland. It's hard to find new music sometimes because it just keeps showing the same songs and playlists over and over."
"It would be cool to be able to share music with friends and make playlists together."
"The app's algorithm isn't that good at recommending or making playlists. I never usually like what it recommends me."
mapping insights

what does it all mean?

From the collected data, it was apparent that most users enjoyed how personalized and curated their streaming services were to their preferences. Apple Music users also stressed that they wished the platform was more intuitive.

Apple Music users felt that they were disconnected from other people on the app. They wanted to be more connected with their friends when using the platform. They wanted to see what others were listening to and be able to share their music and playlists with their friends more easily. Improving the user connectivity was another area we targeted.
Apple Mapping Insights
The problem

time to define the problem

Taking all of the responses from users and categorizing them based on topic and needs, we decided to target 3 areas that we would then work on improving for the mobile app during the next few months.
Venn Diagram for focus areas
our focused areas of improvement
1. Navigation
By simplifying the navigation, users won’t have a hard time using the app. Thus, they will be more inclined to stream with Apple Music.
2. Personalization
If Apple Music were to create playlists for users and introduce them to new music based on their preferences, listeners would use the platform more and look to Apple Music for new content.
3. Connectivity
To increase user activity, listeners should be able to connect with other listeners. By doing this, listeners can see what their friends are up to and the platform becomes more engaging and social.
constraints

everybody deals with constraints

Our constraints consisted mainly of scheduling and performing any necessary research for the initial stages. Because our group for the program was 4 people, we had to coordinate properly and work around each other's schedules.
limited research
With each team members’ busy schedules, we didn't conduct as many interviews as we'd hoped. Therefore, the team had to work with the results that we had and still create a successful design.
defining scope
Because we tasked ourselves with a big goal of redesigning Apple Music’s user interface, we had to set a definitive scope and narrow down what features we were going to add or improve upon.
what outcomes do we want to see?

here's the predicted outcome we're designing for

users are able to listen to music with friends
Creating a feature that enables users to make friends and share playlists and songs.
curated playlists are available for listeners
Creating curated playlists and suggestions to expose the user to new and similar media that aligns with their preferences.
what does success look like?

everybody wants to win - here's how we defined success

users are exposed to new music with “For You” feature
The “For You” feature does better at recommending new songs, albums and artists for users to listen to.
users are able to more easily navigate the platform
Features are easy to find and users have access to a helpful navigation bar with the most essential tools for streaming.
users can see what their friends are listening to
By clicking on their friend’s profile, they can see their playlists, their musics and their friends Apple Music

we are a community dedicated to teaching and
helping students in the UX design field.

pain points

some specific pain points of the Apple Music app

pain point 1
managing playlists
The playlists take up a lot of room on the screen and there is no way to filter between songs, albums, etc.
impersonal homepage
The Homepage does not expose the user to new and similar media that aligns with their preferences and user interface is not efficient for finding music fast.
pain point 2
pain point 3
unclear navigation
The structure of the app hides a lot of features and has unnecessary content like the "Radio" page that most users do not use.
wireframing solutions

making wireframes to plan out what our solutions look like

After analyzing the research results and identifying pain points within the application, we took to paper and pencil and drew up ideas of how we would solve the app's problems.
lo-fi mockups

we took to figma to create low fidelity screens of the solutions

apple lo-fi mockups
solutions

our final solution screens and their impact

Solution Screen 1
a new home
We wanted to really personalize the Home Screen of the app and make it so that albums, artists and playlists were as easily accessible as possible.
impact
This ties into our goal of personalization, and making the app feel more connected to the users’ interests and needs.
the library
The library would contain liked or favorited music as well saved playlists, podcasts, albums, and artists. Users can customize the layout of their library to include their preferred features (i.e. genre, playlists, artists, albums, etc.)
impact
It creates a dedicated space where users can easily find their music and media.
Solution Screen 2
Solution Screen 3
a "listen" feature
We designed a screen that allows the user to search for a song simply by playing something. The app will listen to the audio and display the song title and artist.
impact
There are many people who often hear a song and don’t know what it is. This feature makes it easy for users to find a song they like right away.
the improved profile
The profile page now provides the user with current friends, mutual friends they may know, as well as shared playlists.
impact
This makes sharing music with others a lot easier and provides a way to connect.
Solution Screen 4
recommendations

a recap of our recommendations for Apple Music

In order to differentiate themselves from competitors and improve their customers' experience, Apple Music should implement the following:
1. Provide better recommendations for songs, artists and playlists
An app like Apple Music thrives on users constantly being exposed to new music that both aligns with their taste and introduces them to new genres.
2. Increase connectivity with other fellow listeners
Giving users the ability to interact with one another creates room for collaboration when making playlists and and sharing music.
what we learned

here are our key takeaways from the project

1. Organization and consistency is extremely important when working in a group.

2. Looking at competitors in the same market is a necessary step when improving on a product.
team
Maitri Choski (Team Lead)
Stella Matsukawa
Aeon Seo
Myself
role
Researcher
UI Designer
timeline
October 2022 - December 2022
tools
FigJam
Figma
Notion

summary

I participated in a semester-long UX design program called Creative Labs. The program created groups of 5-6 students and taught designers of every skill level about the design process and how to craft a case study.
that's all folks!
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