Spotify
WIDGETS:
STREAMLINE
YOUR SOUND
DURATION
Sep 2023 - Feb 2024
TEAM
Isha Tamrakar, Alexandra Tomita
TOOLS
User Research, Affinity Mapping, Visual design, Prototyping, AB testing
PROJECT OVERVIEW
01
Current Home Page Design
Current State
Spotify has evolved from a simple music player into a social application, offering a variety of albums, podcasts, and audiobooks from around the world. They have introduced key features like Discover Weekly, Daily Mixes, Release Radar, AI DJ, and Spotify Jam to encourage users to explore the expanding audio library. The current home page design employs an algorithm to encourage exploration of these features and relevant audio content.
In what context do people typically listen to Spotify?
On-the-Go Usage: Users often listen to Spotify while on the go, such as in the car, while exercising, cleaning, or working on school tasks. They typically commit to a playlist or album choice, put their device aside, and are unlikely to revisit the app.
Emerging Problem
People find the home page overwhelming...
Why?
Based on our interviews, we created a journey map to illustrate the frustration with the Spotify home page stems from the challenge of finding relevant content in a cluttered environment.
The Culprit: Choice Phenomenon
We syntheisized our information into this key insights. These issues on the Spotify homepage are responsible for inducing the choice phenomenon:
Decision Overload
feeling overwhelmed by the amount of options
Decision Fatigue
extra mental effort caused by pressure of navigating recommendations and making a decision
Paralysis
struggle to find suitable content causes users to feel stuck
Feeling overwhelmed by choices, the user experiences decision fatigue, leading them to opt for a familiar playlist. Consequently, they miss out on the opportunity to explore new music.
HMW mitigate the choice phenomenon by prioritizing user listening patterns and preferences?
SNEAK PEAK
02
1/ Widgets
Implementing customizable widgets is our solution to declutter Spotify's home page. By condensing features and content into a personalized layout, widgets offer key information at a glance and prompt users to take action within the app. This approach not only combats choice overload but also empowers users to tailor their browsing experience to their preferences, ultimately enhancing engagement and satisfaction with the platform.
2/ Search Page
Since users are already accustomed to using the search bar to find new content from external sources, we recognized the potential to enhance engagement by redesigning the search tab. By providing customized recommendations directly on the search tab, we can seamlessly capture users' attention before they even begin their search, thus facilitating exploration in conjunction with engagement via utilizing widgets on the home page.
WIDGETS
03
The Goal
Increase the visibility and engagement of features in Spotify with widgets.
Problem
The cluttered home page overwhelms users with distractions and makes it difficult for them to make a quick and satisfying choice.
Approach
Implementing a customizable home page allows Spotify to condense the variety of features and content they offer to a single page. Widgets are effective in...
1. providing users with key information.
2. encouraging action within an app.
Widgets empower users to tailor their home page according to their preferences. As it combats the choice phenomenon within Spotify by providing a sense of control and alleviating their anxieties.
USER STUDY
Understanding Usage: Contexts, Patterns, Motivations
We began our research by week-long observation study with six participants to gain insights into their Spotify usage patterns.
We gathered data on users' listening contexts, duration, intentions, and emotional reactions during selection. We wanted to know how often and in what situations people use Spotify, and what they felt during this process. We organized our data into a pie chart to depict....
Multitasking: Users usually listen to Spotify while doing different activities, such as work, exercise, commuting, gaming, cooking, and house chores. They only engaged in focused listening sessions 7% of the time.
Limited Interaction on the Go: In situations like running or driving, users cannot keep interacting with the app, adding pressure to decision-making and reducing the likelihood of active exploration.
Audio Consumption Breakdown by Context
UX RESEARCH
Impact of Actions on Listening Engagement
Based on the research findings, several key insights emerge regarding user behavior and its impact on music streaming sessions. The comparison matrix below synthesizes insights directly from our survey and UX research.
The action used to initiate a song significantly influences the outcome of the listening session. Features within the streaming platform cater to either discovery or familiar listening experiences. Users' utilization of these features results in varied outcomes, with certain features promoting frequently interrupted listening while others foster a more relaxed, continuous listening experience. This natural bias within the listener shapes the type of session they engage in.
Audio Consumption Breakdown by Context
Capturing user attention within a music streaming platform involves understanding the interplay between different user actions and their impact on listening behavior. The various actions available to users encourage both active and passive listening experiences, influenced by factors such as discoverability and familiarity with content. Active listening occurs when users actively select and queue music, whereas passive listening involves sequential playback without user interaction.
PERSONAS
Who's Tuning In? Exploring Spotify Listener Personas
We organized our research insights into personas based on the themes and pain points identified in our user study and UX research. We created three personas representing potential Spotify users: Socialite, On the Go User, and Music Lover.
WIDGET ANATOMY
Crafting Beautiful Widgets
We conducted research to understand the various components of a widget and determine which design factors enable people to access the information and features they need quickly. This guided our interface design process, helping us create widgets that effectively present information in a clear and efficient manner.
WIDGET LIBRARY
Optimizing Widget Selection & Overcoming Choice Paralysis
Additionally, we experimented with various strategies to personalize the widget selection experience, aligning our process with the priorities identified through our research. Leveraging these insights, we refined our features and implemented methods for organizing sessions, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
SEARCH
04
After considering widgets as a potential solution for addressing our issue, we recognized the importance of still aligning with Spotify’s mission to encourage exploration. While widgets offer a promising avenue to boost engagement and personalization within the app, they don't fully support users in exploring diverse content.
Problem
Feeling overwhelmed by choices, the user experiences decision fatigue, leading them to opt for a familiar playlist. Consequently, they miss out on the opportunity to explore new music.
Approach
Since users are already accustomed to using the search bar to find new content from external sources, we recognized the potential to enhance engagement by redesigning the search tab. By providing customized recommendations directly on the search tab, we can seamlessly capture users' attention before they even begin their search, thus facilitating exploration in conjunction with engagement via utilizing widgets on the home page.
USER INTERVIEWS
Exploring Music Discovery Beyond Spotify
To tackle this challenge of enhancing exploration on Spotify, we conducted six interviews focusing on music selection, app usability, usage behavior, exploration habits, and areas for improvement.
Upon reviewing our interviews, we revisited how users discover new content. Users discover new music through various channels including Spotify’s Discover Weekly, radios, TikTok, friends, movies, and TV shows, as well as when their favorite artists release music. Methods of discovering music include browsing related artists or songs, finding music online, or through friends playing music in the car.
It became evident that most users rely on recommendations from friends or other social media platforms, followed by using the search bar to locate and add content to their libraries.
BEHAVORIAL ANALYSIS
Navigating Spotify: Understanding User Exploration Patterns
During our research phase, we asked our users to perform tasks designed to assess the intuitiveness of the Spotify app and its various features. Two of the tasks we asked our users to complete were: one focused on creating a blend with a friend, and the other aimed at locating the 'Discover Weekly' playlist—one of Spotify's most popular personalized content recommendations. To further analyze our findings, we created user flow diagrams to illustrate the user interaction with these tasks. Through these tasks, we sought to understand user behaviors, preferences, and pain points within the app's user experience. Our user flow diagrams illustrate the pathways some of our users took to successfully complete these tasks and instances of user failure. Having our users complete these tasks shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of Spotify's UX design to further our design process to address user needs.
SKETCHES & TESTING
Implementing Exploration: Enhancing Spotify's Search Page
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