The Breaks: A User Experience Design and Content Strategy Case Study by Whitney Gould
I am a fan of music. Not just streaming it, but collecting it, making it, learning about it, going to shows, exploring new artists and genres, and obsessing over it in general. It was not hard for me to find a general concept for an app to prototype for a class. It had to have something to do with music.
Break One: Research
User Interviews
Even though, as a huge music fan, I have some ideas about the app I want to design and use, it is not a particularly great or helpful practice to go through the app design process without some user research! So, user interviews, let's go. Here are the questions I asked:
Do you listen to music?
What is your relationship like with music?
Why do you listen to music?
What do you use to listen to music?
How often do you listen to music? When?
When do you first listen to music in a day?
When do you last listen to music in a day?
What do you do when you listen to music?
How do you find new music?
Do you talk to other people about music?
Do you pay for any music services? Which ones?
Do you use any free music services? Which ones?
Do you see live music or buy physical products?
How do you purchase physical products?
Do you interact with others who buy physical products?
I talked to my girlfriend, two of my best friends, and two coworkers—one of whom listens to music a lot and one does not. Most people I talked to have similar behaviors when listening to music. They either read about it, talk to friends, or get suggestions from streaming services—or all of the above. I received great information on when, why, where, etc., people listen to music. I am interested in learning more about if people like talking to others online about music. I didn't see that in my responses, but people must do it. I was interested in the monthly service of receiving records. Also, I was interested in how people find new music. Want to read the transcripts? Be my guest! A lot to go off here!
User Journey map
Well, that was helpful. Now, I know what to do to ensure my designs are practical. But before I start designing, I want to add a visual element to the stories my users told me during the interviews. It's User Journey Time… which is my favorite time! Researching, I go.
Competitive Teardown
Wow! That was fun! Look at those users go, using things in time and space. And I even got to design a little bit! It is essential to show your findings in a way that is easy for stakeholders, graders, and professors to understand. Next up, I want to understand the competition. You know what they say about borrowing and stealing?! Let's keep this research train running.
Like I said, I am interested in music, so for my competitive teardown, I chose to look at a streaming service (Spotify), a record marketplace (Discogs), a record collecting service (Vinyl Me, Please), and a stereo interface app (Sonos). Because I am making an app, I looked at all of their mobile versions except Vinyl Me, Please. They do not have an app, and their mobile site is not different from their desktop site.
Break Two: Planning & Design
Flowchart
Do you know what was helpful? Research was. Because now I know exactly what I (and my users) want my app to do. I want users to be able to stream music, shop for vinyl and read about music all in one place. Before I designed a prototype, I also wanted to create an interface with a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi stereo/turntable system, but that sounds impossible, and it is more of the job of an industrial engineer than a UX designer. Here is a simple user flow that shows how people could use my app.
Sketches
Phew! Now, it is time to start drawing things! Based on my competitive analysis and also based on one of my favorite sites, Pitchfork, I made these sketches. Check them out, ok?
Wireframes
Wow, that was great! Now, to take things another step into this app's future, I will make some wireframes. I liked some elements of my sketches, so I will steal from them, but this time, it is ok. I made them!
Digital Prototype
Let’s move this into the digital realm, shall we? Next up is my prototype.
For my prototype, I wanted to show what the interactions could look like to listen to music, shop for music, read about music, and search for all of the above. I even designed what the app icon would look like and made a bunch of cool navigation icons. Hint: the app icon looks like a record!
Break Three: Testing
Research Plan/Findings
The prototype is up. It's out there. It's ready to roll. Now, full circle, much like how a record is also a full circle, I need my users again.
This time, I need them to test my prototype and tell me how and if it works. And, guess what!? It worked, and now I have a lot of valuable feedback from my users about how I can improve this app for my next iteration. I have even made some of the suggested improvements. For example, I added titles to the nav. Now, it is easier to get around the app!
Thank goodness for users! Check out the full research plan here.
