Apple Music | Jason Moosikkamol

Brief

As of 2019, Apple Music took the lead from Spotify for most paid subscribers in the US. Apple wants to stay in the lead. As music streaming platforms develop new social capabilities, how can Apple Music add features to connect users through music?

Objective: Add a new social feature to fit seamlessly into Apple Music's existing user interface

This is a speculative project and I am not affiliated with Apple*

Client: Apple Music

Timeline: 80 Hours over 2 weeks

Role: Lead UX/UI Designer

Tools: Sketch, InVision, Marvel

Deliverables: Mobile Prototype

View Prototype

Process

Research

Goal: To research the market, competitors and potential users

Process: Market Research, Competitive Analysis, Provisional Persona, 1:1 Interviews

Market Research

To kick off the project, I conducted market research of the music streaming industry to uncover demographics, behaviors and trends that help me understand the industry and consumer.

View Market Research

Music Streaming Industry

41% growth in streaming revenue

8.1% global growth

-20.5% download revenue

45% growth in paid subscription streaming

Streaming Demographics

Millennials are 40% of consumers with a music subscription in U.S.

79% of Millennials use streaming services

76% of Gen X use streaming services

Social Music

63% of users discover new music through social media

90% of social media users do a music related activity on their social app

IG and Spotify collaborated on a share feature

Competitive Analysis

I conducted a competitive analysis of music streaming services to identify competitors and their strength & weaknesses to understand Apple Music's opportunity in the market.

Provisional Persona

I created four provisional personas of potential Apple Music users based on secondary research. These personas help me narrow my focus on a target group.

1:1 Interviews

Guided by my provisional personas, I crafted an interview guide to question participants about their music, music sharing, and Apple Music experiences. I questioned 5 potential users from a target demographic of age 23 to 30 for 1:1 interviews to observe user needs, desires and pain points. View the interview debrief here.

Define

Goal: Synthesize research to define core problems

Process: Empathy Map, Persona

Empathy Map

I transcribed the interviews and constructed an empathy map to organize interview observations by: doing, thinking/feeling, seeing, hearing, pains & gains. The purpose is to synthesize my findings from the 1:1 interviews.

From the empathy map, I organized observations into shared patterns and behaviors to identify developed insights and needs.

Insights

Users rely on playlists for a variety of contexts

Users listen to music throughout different activities during their day

Users are invested in friends’ music choices

Needs

Users need to organize songs into a playlist

Users need to have music tailored to specific activities

Users need to know what friends are listening to

View Empathy Map

Persona

Meet Sam, the persona for Apple Music. Personas help humanize design by profiling a target audience member to design for. Sam is based on interview observations and empathy map insights. Moving forward, I based my design decisions on Sam's profile.

Ideate

Goal: Ideate solutions, organize information architecture and map user journey

Process: POV Statements & HMW Questions, Individual Brainstorm, Group Brainstorm, Business & User Goals, App Map, Task Flow, User Flow, Sketches, High-Fidelity Wireframes

POV Statements & HMW Questions

This step helps me transition from the problem to the solution. In the POV statement, Sam's needs are a result of her insight. I then put myself in Apple Music's perspective by asking how might we help Sam in her point of view?

Individual Brainstorming

I brainstormed as many solutions as I could in three 3-minute sprints for each HMW question.

Group Brainstorming

I additionally assembled a group of friends and facilitated a team brainstorm session based on IDEO's group brainstorm guidelines.

Business & User Goals

I compared and contrasted user and business goals to identify shared goals. Shared goals help me select solutions from the brainstorm that fulfills both goals.

App Map

I detailed the most sensible solutions in a product roadmap. I organized my solutions and key screens into a app map, which: 1. finds a home for proposed solutions, 2. ensures that they fit within a category.

Task Flow

With solutions in place, I documented how a user would complete three tasks using new features. The task flow helps me understand how the user interacts with the system to achieve a goal.

User Flow

To expand on the task flow, I took a deeper dive and mapped out Sam's path through two entry points and scenarios. The user flow helps me understand user decision-making, barriers and context to achieve a task.

Sketches

I sketched low-fidelity wireframes to organize visual hierarchy and experiment with layouts. Sketching allows me to be creative and tap quickly tap into new ideas.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

I screenshot key Apple Music screens and replicated elements in Sketch. These high-fIdelity wireframes are based on the current user interface. For this project, I created high-fidelity wireframes early to create a prototype and perform usability testing of new features.

Prototype

Goal: Build an interactive version of new social features

Process: High-Fidelity Prototype

High-Fidelity Prototype

I uploaded my wireframes and created a high-fidelity prototype on InVision. This served as a working example of proposed social features. With this prototype, I started to conduct usability testing.

Testing

Goal: Evaluate viability of solutions through testing and feedback

Process: Usability Test, Affinity Map

Usability Test

I created three tasks to test each new social feature's usability. Five participants took part in the test. I observed their patterns and behavior with screen & audio recording.

Test Goals

Evaluate effort level of user to complete tasks

Identify areas of difficulty and confusion

Identify behavior patterns of users to complete tasks

User Tasks

Invite friends to create a new playlist

Refresh the Active playlist

Share the song currently playing to the Dunder Mifflin circle

Affinity Map

Using observations from the usability test, I created an affinity map to organize participant thoughts and behaviors and derive insights. My recommendations are based on these insights. While the usability test yielded a 100% completion rate of all tasks, there were a few difficulties for users.

Insights

Users want to add music before they add friends to a playlist

Users had difficulty finding the “Share to Circles” function in the hidden menu

Recommendations

Sequence “Add Friends” after “Add Music”

Relocate or adjust the Apple Music Circles share function in the hidden menu

Design

Goal: Ensure consistent design based on existing UI

Process: Brand Guide, UI Kit, Wireframe Revisions

Brand Guide

I first created a Pinterest moodboard to gather visual references for Apple Music's design direction. These references help me understand how to tailor elements to fit the brand.

With a better understanding, I crafted my own version of the Apple Music brand guide.

UI Kit

To expand on the brand guide, I created a UI kit that featured user interface elements to house all branded and designed interactive elements. This helps keep my design consistent. To develop my wireframes further, I could easily drag and drop elements from this document.

High-Fidelity Wireframe Revisions

I took the recommendations from the Affinity Map and revised my wireframes to improve usability. The main changes were in the Group Playlist and Apple Circles function. I additionally polished up a few elements from the first iteration.

Final Prototype

I uploaded the high-fidelity wireframes to InVision and Marvel. Interact with the Marvel prototype here.

Test the prototype by:

Making a Group Playlist
Viewing Apple Music Circles
Refreshing an Apple Lifestyles Playlist
Tagging a song in the Now Playing menu

Reflection

The Brand is Strong. I jumped at opportunity to redesign Apple Music because it's an app that I regularly use, yet have mixed opinions about. Music streaming platforms already have established information architecture (song, artist, genre) and user journeys (create playlists, search for music). Apple already has a legendary brand and and strict guidelines. This project wasn't about building from the ground up, but creating in an existing environment. That presented its own set of challenges that I experienced to grow as a designer.

Give me the AUX. Group playlists aren't a new concept. Spotify recently added the feature and numerous apps exist to connect friends through playlists. Apple Music already has a social function in profiles, so there's a strong social foundation to build from. I truly believe that Apple Music will develop this feature in future iterations.

Next Steps:

Approval- Review iteration with design and brand team

Submit to communities- Post prototype to r/applemusic and Dribbble