Diskover Music App
A music app that allows users to discover and share music.
Role: UX/UI Designer
Collaborators: Individual Project
Duration: Winter 2023
Tools: Figma
Details
The goal of this app was to integrate a unique way to discover and share music with friends. The origin of this problem occurred when I was browsing for music and I noticed there is no specific area to discover music and friends with similar music.
Summary
How might we integrate a feature that allows users to discover and share music easily with their friends?
Problem
Outcome
An intuitive app that builds a community with music.
001. Why Solve this Problem?
Working to solve this problem is important because music is a major influence on individuals. It is a way for them to express themselves, relax, and overall improve their well-being.
An interview I conducted revealed there is a stigma towards individuals and their music taste. Sometimes we get criticized for listening to certain songs and so we do not share them. It is difficult for users to share their music with people who don’t share the same music taste. Music is also a way to build a connection with a person.
002. Why Music?
There have been new studies and research that tie music and our emotions together. Music has been proven to strengthen our emotional bonds and makes us closer. By making friends with similar music tastes, there is a sense of belonging and a feeling of being understood.
Music is also a way to express ourselves. By sharing your own music, you are revealing a part of yourself to your peers.
003. What Does Success Look Like?
Now that I have established the importance, the next step is to define success. By defining success, I am able to guide any further research and findings, along with making sure my design does not get sidetracked.
Building a community and referral. An app that anyone can use and join. Users can add friends and ask friends to join.
Retention. An app that users can use and come back to anytime.
004. Research
An interview I conducted benefited my research prior to starting. Based on the answers, I was able to gain insight into how influential music is. Users can feel embarrassed and anxious when they aren’t sure how someone will react to the song they sent.
When a person knows their friend's music taste, they are confident and excited when they send a song, and they cannot wait to blast the song in the car.
“I make sure it’s a really good song before sending it to someone or posting it on social media” - Participant 1
“Sometimes I’ll play a song in the car and I’ll get the weirdest look from my friends. Like that one scene from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” -Participant 2
005. Ideation
006. Persona
After understanding User’s needs, 3 key features and tasks were created. Creating these tasks would make up the app as a whole and in the end, help visualize the application.
007. User Flows
User Flow 1/3
Discovering music in your community.
User Flow 2/3
Going to a friend’s profile.
User Flow 3/3
Creating a playlist from “matches”, aka, saved songs.
008. Low Fidelity
Here are some iterations and potential layouts for the specified tasks/features
Low Fidelity 1/3
Community Page
Low Fidelity 2/3
Going to a friend’s profile.
Low Fidelity 3/3
“Your library” page. Also known as the homepage.
009. Mid & High Fidelity
Getting closer to the final, these were other iterations and layouts that were created
Your Library Page / Discover
This layout did not showcase the "liking and disliking” song feature.
Here I am trying to showcase the song that is being played for a user to discover
Creating a playlist
010. Prototyping
Prototype 1: Different Community layout
Prototype 3: Different homepage layout.
This prototype includes a different homepage layout. This layout does not separate their songs. Instead, Diskover creates a page highlighting songs, albums, and artists that they might like.
Prototype 4: Creating a playlist
Create a playlist by clicking on the plus symbol on the homepage. Users can quickly add “matched” songs to their playlists.
Prototype 2: Different homepage layout.
Diskover is a music app that allows users to discover songs, share songs, and find friends who share the same music taste as them. This prototype showcases a different homepage. This homepage is made up of the users recently played, playlists made for them, and what they are currently listening to.