Client: Spotify

Role: UX/UI Designer

Deliverables: Application prototype, feature implementation

Tools: Sketch App, Illustrator, Photoshop, InVision

The Objectives

  • Design a new social feature that embeds within the current Spotify platform.

  • Design additional and complementary features.

EMPATHIZE

Process: Market Research, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Empathy Maps & Personas

Secondary Research: Competitive Analysis, Market research

Competitor Analysis

The music streaming industry is highly competitive, with a variety of platforms vying for users’ attention. To ensure that Spotify’s new social feature would effectively stand out, I conducted a thorough competitor analysis. This allowed me to assess how other music streaming services, such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, integrate social features and user engagement within their platforms. By examining these competitors, I was able to identify key strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in their approaches. This analysis not only informed the design of Spotify's social feature but also highlighted areas where Spotify could differentiate itself—offering unique functionalities that are both innovative and complementary to the existing user experience. Ultimately, the insights gained from this analysis played a critical role in shaping a feature that would enhance Spotify's social presence and foster greater user interaction within the app.

Primary Research: Directed Interviews, In-Depth User Interviews

Because of Spotify’s wide reach with their user base, I was able to quickly gather together several different interviews to understand why users chose Spotify and what their thoughts were on the current application.

For my interviews, I approached people of all different backgrounds. Many different types of people use Spotify and this allowed me to gather together a good collection of interviews so that I could move forward with my research.

User Interviews

Research Goals:

  • To gain a better understanding of the music streaming service.

  • To figure out the needs, motivations, and frustrations of Spotify users.

  • To better understand social media and social networking to figure out a good direction for Spotify.

Conducting Interviews

  • Number of Participants: 7

  • Ages: 20 - 49 years old

  • Location: Los Angeles

    Summary of Findings

    • The majority of users relied on Spotify to find new music.

    • All users created their own playlists.

    • Multiple participants shared music in some way.

    • Most participants used Spotify on a daily basis.

Interviewing these different users helped me to empathize with the users and to figure out how they felt about Spotify so that I could begin figuring out what they need.

Empathy Map

With my initial interviews completed, I was able to create a large scale empathy map that included every one of my interviews. This allowed me to incorporate all of my interviews together to gain a deeper insight into the potential customer.

Personas

After analyzing the data from my user interviews and synthesizing it through the empathy map, I created user personas to help me better understand and visualize the primary users I would be designing for. These personas are based on real user behaviors, goals, and challenges, and they represent distinct segments of Spotify’s target audience. By developing these personas, I was able to humanize the data and gain a clearer perspective on the specific needs and motivations of different users. This allowed me to tailor the social feature to ensure it would resonate with the most important user groups, addressing their unique preferences and enhancing their overall experience with the Spotify platform. The personas became a key reference throughout the design process, ensuring that every decision aligned with the users' needs and desires.

Insights

  • Users need to be able to rely on Spotify to show them the newest music.

  • They want to know that they can find anything on Spotify

  • They want to be able to talk with friends and family about music.

DEFINING THE GOALS

Process: POV Statements, HMW Questions, Brainstorming, Business Goals & User Goals, Product Roadmaps

With my research completed, I was able to move on towards figuring out how I am going to address my newly discovered user needs within my design. I needed to make sure that I addressed both the users needs and the business’ needs.

Business & User Goals

With the brainstorming completed, I now had a clear picture of what Spotify’s goals were as well as what the user’s goals were. This allowed me to create a plan that outlined the individual goals as well as the shared goals.

ANALYSIS & DESIGN

Process: Sitemap, User Flow, Task Flow, Low & High-Fidelity Wireframes

With my research completed and the project goals clearly defined, I was able to shift focus to the next phase: integrating the new social features within the existing Spotify app. By understanding both user needs and competitive landscape, I had a clear vision of where the new features would fit within the current structure of the app. This allowed me to thoughtfully lay out the features in a way that complements the existing design while enhancing the overall user experience. The goal was to seamlessly introduce the new functionality, ensuring it felt like a natural extension of Spotify's current offerings without disrupting the established flow of the app.

Sitemap

Creating the sitemap was an essential step in the process, and while it was a relatively quick task, it provided a solid foundation for understanding how the navigation should be structured. By mapping out the key pages and their relationships, I was able to visualize the overall flow of the app and how users would interact with the new social features. This helped identify potential navigation challenges early on, ensuring a logical and intuitive user experience. The sitemap served as a guide for the design team, allowing us to ensure consistency across the platform and streamline the user journey as we progressed with the project.

User flow & task flow

I then developed both a task flow and a user flow to map out the key interactions users would take when engaging with the new features. These flows helped visualize the step-by-step journey a user would follow to accomplish specific goals within the app, ensuring a seamless experience from entry point to task completion. This also allowed me to strategically determine where and how the new social features could be integrated into the existing Spotify interface without disrupting current user patterns.

Wireframes

After finishing with my user flow and task flow for the new features in Spotify I began to work on the rough low-fidelity wireframes so that I could start to get an idea of how the new features would be implemented.

The low-fidelity wireframes helped me figure out a rough layout for how the new features should be included in the pre-existing app. This layout allowed me to address the clients needs while still solving Spotify’s needs as well. After working on the sketches, I took them over to Sketch and began working on my high-fidelity wireframes.

USABILITY TESTING

Process: Usability Testing, Test Findings, Affinity Map

After finishing my high-fidelity wireframes I wanted to start moving towards user testing. I took my wireframes and conducted user testing with 6 different participants. I used these tests to get a rough idea of what a user may think of the design and the layout of the new features. It helped me to have an objective stance on my design to figure out what worked and what didn’t work.

Prototyping

In order to properly conduct my usability tests, I created a clickable prototype through marvel. I imported all of the necessary wireframes into the marvel app so that users could navigate through the new features within the app as if it were live.

Usability Testing Findings

My test objectives were as follows:

  • To assess the navigation hierarchy and flow of the app

  • To assess the ease of use

  • To find any pain points or frustrations

Conducting Interviews

Number of Participants: 5

  • Ages: 20 - 37

  • Completion Rate: 100%

  • Error Rate: 85%

  • Summary

    • Liked the new features that were implemented

    • The majority of the participants had little to no issue navigating through the new features

    • Several participants asked for some more information on the new features which required me to create a new feature screen.

The usability testing was a huge benefit for my work. It helped me figure out exactly what worked and what I needed to change.

Conclusion

Designing for Spotify presented a unique challenge, requiring a delicate balance between innovation and consistency. I had to approach each design decision with precision, as the goal was not to overhaul the entire Spotify experience but to introduce new features that felt naturally integrated. Staying within the established design patterns was essential to maintain the app’s familiar look and feel. Every new feature had to be carefully considered—how it would be structured within the app, how it would be styled, and most importantly, how it would enhance user interaction without disrupting the overall experience. These new features, focused on fostering social connections through music sharing, will empower users to engage with one another in meaningful ways. Additionally, they provide Spotify with an edge over its competitors by offering users a more interactive and personalized experience.

Next Steps

The next phase will focus on developing and coding these new features into the app. Once fully implemented, these features will undergo further testing to ensure they function seamlessly within the live environment. After the final refinements, the features will be ready for launch, bringing an enhanced social aspect to Spotify and elevating the user experience.