REDEFINE SPOTIFY
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service, serving 365 million active users a month and offering both music and podcasts. However, the lack of organization and consistency across the platform frustrates many users. See how I redesign Spotify’s platform by centering user experience.
THE CONUNDRUM
Users struggle with new updates and are confused by inconsistent patterns.
“While I get that certain updates are important, most of the updates just rearrange the options and buttons and add a new bug which you are stuck with until the next update!”
— -XoZ- ON REDDIT, JUNE 2021
MY FINDINGS
Through extensive research, I discovered multiple threads and reviews of users attempting to revert their current version of Spotify to previous versions dating back to 2019 up until March 2021.
Previous versions separated music from podcasts through tabs. This is a mental model that helps users find what they are looking for easily and efficiently.
CURRENT HOMEPAGE
HOMEPAGE REDESIGN
My main focus was to provide the user with more control and to make the space more personalized for the user. I did this by adding features such as content removal, filters and adjusting the algorithm.
LACK OF DISCOVERY SECTION
DISCOVERY PAGE CREATION
My solution was to lessen the amount of content on the home page. So, I created the discover page dedicated to new content. With the discover page, the home page is more tailored and personalized to the user.
CURRENT LIBRARY SCREEN
CURRENT PLAYLIST PAIN POINTS
PLAYLIST REDESIGN
My solution was to minimize the frustration for the end-user. I changed the location of the search bar to make it consistent with the other pages. Additionally, I separated the play button from the shuffle button. Not all users want to listen to music out of order, right?
THE FINALE
IMPACT
I worked on this project for a total of three weeks, and I was able to learn a lot. The most important challenge I faced was the difficulty of finding a good balance between the stakeholders’ goals with the users’.
As of January 12, 2022, I have tested my redesign on two Spotify users. Both having very different responses. I would like to test it out on more users gathering feedback as to whether or not these changes could succeed.