1Overview
The Project
For this individual project I identified the problem that users feel the current Apple Music social experience is not fulfilling their needs of wanting to discuss music with friends and seeing what music friends are listening to.
Through multiple rounds of usability testing and feedback loops I have designed a solution that encourages users to connect with friends who have a similar taste in music as well as discover new music from friends.
My Roles
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Timeline
3 months
Tools
Figma
Miro
2The Problem
This case study is for a class project where a brief was given. I chose to focus on streaming service discovery, specifically choosing Apple Music. The initial problem to solve was to streamline the process of finding and consuming content. As a starting point to guide my research I decided to focus on the social aspects of streaming entertainment and how addressing social aspects may improve the metrics of finding and consuming content.
3The Solution
Discovering Music through Friends and Connecting with Friends through Music
4Research
Research Goals
1
If the social aspect of Apple Music is important for music discovery and/or a means to connect with friends.
2
If music is shared with friends to provide music recommendation or if music is shared with others to update them on what you are listening to.
3
If the social aspect exists in a physical or virtual space.
User Research
I conducted qualitative research in the form of user interviews with study participants. The criteria to be a participant was:
Actively subscribes to Apple Music.
Familiar with the existing social features of Apple Music.
The three participants I interviewed:
Participant 1
Age: 29
Female
Works in the insurance industry
Participant 2
Age: 27
Male
Works in the tech industry
Participant 3
Age: 25
Female
Works in the retail industry
Findings from Research
Music discovery
Most people prefer to discover music on their own and are not likely to recommend music to friends but they are still interested in seeing what music friends are listening to. The social features of Apple Music are still desired for reasons other than music discovery.
Music recommendations
People say they don't share or recommend music all that often but they still do share to some degree. Some people simply share to start a conversation about music and tend to do so with people who share a similar taste in music.
Listening to music
People listen to music in many situations in many environments. When engaged in an activity listening to music tends to be background noise, however in certain situations (commuting, relaxing to name a few) listening to music is a more conscious activity.
Sources of music discovery
Music discovery comes from a variety of sources such as social media, other entertainment mediums, and Apple Music personalization. The emphasis is that people tend to want to discover music on their own, not where music is discovered.
Lengthy social flow
People find the number of steps/screens it takes to view friends' profiles annoying and lengthy resulting in people not checking profiles or using social features as often.
Crafting Personas Informed by Research
From my research I synthesized that there were two unique attitudes towards both music discovery and music recommendation. I think there are such differences because people have different perspectives and values towards the social aspect of music. Because of the stark differences in attitudes, behaviours, and motivations I felt it was necessary to create two personas.
Steven
Goals
Discover artists that he enjoys on his own and adds their music to his library
Talks about music with friends who he knows have a similar taste in music
Pain Points
When he wants to check his friends’ profiles he feels it takes too long
Julia
Goals
Discover artists and music from a variety of sources; including her friends
Pain Points
Thinks the way to see friends’ profiles is not intuitive (when she is curious to see friend activity)
Steven represents an interesting discovery I made during user research. He prefers to discover music on his own. He’s on one end of the music recommendation spectrum where he doesn’t even listen to them. Over time his friends have come to know better than to send him any recommendations. This attitude is not from a place of arrogance - Steven simply enjoys and is content with the music and artists that he’s discovered on his own.
To fully enjoy the music listening experience Julia is open to discovering music from many sources, including her friends. That is what sets Julia apart from Steven, the desire and willingness to receive music recommendations from friends.
In the grand scheme of the music listening experience most music is self-discovered. That is true for both personas. Participants revealed that even if they do receive music recommendations, the majority of their music libraries are still self-discovered. Within the frame of this study, that is an important distinction to make regarding the social aspects of Apple Music.
Jobs To Be Done Framework
Empathy Mapping
5Design Audit
Competitive Analysis
Problem Statement
Apple Music users that enjoy listening to music, discovering new music, and talking to their friends about music have the problem that they want to know what music their friends are listening to. My solution should deliver the ability for users to learn about their friends' music tastes and discuss with friends the music that they have in common.
6Design Decisions
Goals of my Solution
1
Make the friends feature a prominent feature.
The existing friends list is not an easily discoverable feature and the flow to view the friends list is lengthy.
2
Let the user know music in common with friends.
Research tells us that people want to engage with friends who share the same taste in music.
3
Showcase music that friends are listening to.
Allow the user to discover new music and satisfy curiosity.
4
Let the user message friends.
Let friends connect and discuss music together.
How my Proposed Solution solves the Problem
Commonality and Connectivity
People like to connect with friends that have a similar taste in music. People tend to know what music their friends prefer and would send or receive music recommendations or talk about music with friends who would enjoy that music.
Curiosity and Discovery
People are curious about what music their friends listen to and like to enrich their own music library with music from friends. Sometimes people are simply curious about their friends’ music activity and that could lead to music discovery as well.
Creating User Journeys
Steven's User Journey
Julia's User Journey
The important distinction in the journeys of the two users who have different goals is the use of the Music Feed. I decided to create two tabs to easily separate the music that the user listens to (commonality) and all the music that the user's friends listen to (discovery).
7User Testing and Iterating
Let’s See What Works (First Iteration)
Applying User Feedback (Second Iteration)
Second Iteration Screens
Second Iteration Notes
Now We’re Getting Somewhere (Third Iteration)
Third Iteration Screens
Third Iteration Notes
Why? Why? Why? (Fourth Iteration)
Why?
Issues of discovery were addressed, user flows were simplified, and consistency was created. With this iteration I took a step back and asked why? I wanted to scrutinize every design decision I’ve made to this point to ensure that my design contained only what is necessary to complete my user flows. From copy to micro-interactions to entire pages, I questioned if everything was really necessary.
Fourth Iteration Screens
Fourth Iteration Notes
82023 Updates
More familiarity with Apple's Human Interface Guidelines
Now that I have a greater understanding of the importance of adhering to the constraints of an established design language, I understand that my original solution would not be acceptable. My solution starts with adding a new tab item to the Tab Bar in Apple Music. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines → advises:
“Use the minimum number of tabs required to help people navigate your app. Each additional tab increases the complexity of your app, making it harder for people to locate information. Aim for a few tabs with short titles or icons to avoid crowding and causing labels to truncate. In general, use up to five tabs in iOS and up to six in visionOS, iPadOS, and tvOS.”
iOS Apple Music updates
When I was working on this project, iOS 14 was the latest public release. Now, iOS 16 is available and Apple Music has been updated. The product now includes the user’s profile on every tab. This change positively affects my solution as a pain point was that it was a lengthy flow to view a user's friend's list.
Design Decisions and Updated Prototype
Understanding that there must sometimes be compromise in design, this is my proposed change to my design. The friends tab will move to the user’s profile which mimics the current flow. I propose to update this screen with the user’s profile. The existing Followers and Following list would be updated with my design and features. From the user’s profile page they can also access extra settings that were previously available when tapping on the user’s profile.
Real life iOS 14 flow
In iOS 14 the user's profile badge was only on the Listen Now page. This limited availability contributed to the difficulty of navigating to the user's profile.
Real life iOS 16 flow
iOS 16 updated Apple Music to add the user's profile badge on each screen making it much more accessible and convenient to access.
My Solution Flow Update
A simple change I am proposing is to have the outcome of tapping the user's profile badge take the user directly to the user's profile screen, instead of account settings. It's not very intuitive to access one's profile through settings, it should be the other way around.
9Closing
Lessons Learned
🔎
Research is for defining a problem, not defining a solution
I learned the importance of not trying to be solution-oriented during user research. I admit to formulating ideas of possible solutions at that stage. In retrospect, how could I possibly design a solution for a problem that I didn’t know yet? As I conducted research synthesis and gained a deeper understanding of the true problems of users I realized that my initial ideas for solutions were for what I perceived to be the problem, not what the research tells me is the true problem, and thus the problem of the user.
📝
Focusing on a problem statement
I also learned the importance of identifying and focusing on a problem statement. Once I had sketched, wireframed, and prototyped designs I lost sight of the initial problem statement that I had defined. Through my design iterations and testing I was able to come back to the problem statement and ask myself if my designs helped to solve that problem.
🔄
Solutions are iteration-based
Another key takeaway is that the first solution will not be the final solution. It sounds like common sense but in practice I now understand that at the onset of the first prototype, a lot is still unknown. Usability testing proved to be extremely important helping to craft a solution that solves the problem. Looking back now, my final solution is very different from my initial solution since I now have a greater understanding of the problem.
