Muse
A social music app that aims to add a human element in discovering new music
Overview
Background
Our team wanted to come up with a music app that would allow users to share their music with friends and family
Objectives
Muse looks to add a human element to the way people discover new music. By establishing a social music community, sharing and discovering music becomes a more interactive, dynamic and ultimately rewarding experience.
My Role
UX Designer, team of 4
Timeline
Two weeks
Tools
Figma, Miro, Zoom, Otter.ai
Research
Research Interviews
We began the process by conducting 5 research interviews to figure out user listening habits, music preferences, and how they consume music. We also wanted to know what compels users to share music and how important it is in their lives.
"I like using Spotify but it doesn't connect the social aspect of music"
"I have my own music preferences but I am open to discovering new music"
"Playlist radios on Spotify often seems to be wrong"
Survey
We also conducted a survey to get some quantitative data regarding this subject. From the 46 responses we've gathered, more than half rely on a music platform's algorithm to discover new music. However, 80% says the music recommendations they receive are inaccurate.
Proto Persona
We created a proto persona to represent our assumptions of our app's ideal user.
Definition & Ideation
Affinity Diagram
We gathered all our findings from the research interviews and organized them into an affinity diagram.
Affinity Diagram (Final)
The results were telling. There is a need to integrate a social aspect in music platforms and users are open to discovering new music through friends. In other words, music connects people and there's no feature or service that allows them to do it easily.
I Like, I Wish, What If...
We then identified the features that we like on existing music apps and social platforms, what we wished we had, and imagined out-of-the-box features that could bring the app to the next level. Through dot voting, we were able to narrow down the features we wanted to work on.
Feature Prioritization Matrix
Afterward, we sorted the features we like based on impact and complexity.
User Insight
Users who enjoy discovering new music have a desire to share their music preferences and discover others’ to form meaningful connections and feel a sense of belonging with others.
User Persona
Competitor Analysis
We conducted a competitor analysis to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of apps within the music space.
- Upvoting feature makes sure content is relevant and trusted
- Only subreddits are geared toward music
- Can be overwhelming
Spotify
- Best algorithm for music recommendations
- Limited social features
Apple Music
- Offers 60 million songs
- Aesthetically clean and appealing
- There is no free version to listen to a particular song
- Poor Android support
Soundcloud
- Recommends music and artists in many different ways
- UI is very cluttered
- Music is inconsistently behind a paywall
Storyboard
Prototyping & Testing
Mood Board
We looked at various logos and UIs and considered adding recognizable music elements to our app. We also wanted to have a distinct look from existing music streaming platforms.
Style Guide
We opted to use a vibrant gradient and complemented it with a warm palette. Signika SC and Poppins were used for the header and the body respectively. The colorful "Atlas" gradient shows on a button's hover state
User Flows
We focused on the three main user flows of the app: onboarding, posting music, and requesting for music recommendations
Lo-fi Prototypes
User Tests
We conducted 5 user tests on our lo-fi prototype to see where we can still make improvements. Some of the feedback we received are the ff:
- Pre-made prompts to request music were confusing and limiting
- Tutorial screen had no call-to-action buttons to prompt users it was finished
- Posting images with the song album could be more intuitive
- Alignment issues on some screens
- Similar treatment for posting and requesting music can be confusing
Mockups
Onboarding
Posting
Requesting
Next Steps
It was a lot of fun coming up with a mobile app that we can be passionate about. There seems to be a real need to put more focus on the social aspect of music and it is very enticing to start developing the app as soon as possible.
Our team did a good job streamlining the main user flows we identified and iterating on them based on the feedback we gained from our tests. Some of the next steps are the ff:
- Do another round of user tests for our hi-fi prototype
- Explore integrations with other music platforms and figure out the UX for those features
- Begin coding the app(!)