I served as the lead designer and researcher for this project. My goal was to create a product for my client’s idea: a social media app for music lovers. He thought of this project idea during the pandemic, when concerts and other music events were basically nonexistent. During my time working on this project, I interviewed with users and designed lo- and hi-fidelity mockups. I also led branding decisions. I reported directly to my client who is also a software engineer.
Project Overview
During the pandemic, concerts and other music events were at a low. No one was going out for shows or concerts; because of that, people who might describe themselves as big music listeners couldn’t connect with likeminded people. My client, being one of these people and also a software engineer, came up with the idea for an app where connecting with other music fans could all happen digitally. He wanted to create an app where users could talk to other music listeners based on their location and listening preferences.
was the sole designer and researcher for this project. The project lasted one month under an Agile working environment.
Goals
My goal was to design a social media platform for music listeners to connect on, despite limitations at the time due to the pandemic. I’d first interview users to see what kind of experience they wanted out of the app. Then I’d design an interface based on my findings.
Design Process
Research
In order to design an interface that met our goal, I’d first need to interview and research our users. I created a survey in which I asked users a few questions that dictate the main functions of the app. Then I picked a few candidates to interview with. Through this research, I found out that going to social events, like concerts, was among one of the top ways our users made friends. I also discovered that many of our users reported that it was difficult to make friends in other ways.
Another form of research I executed was competitive research. I looked at Twitter, OKCupid and LastFM to see what they were doing well and what I thought could be enhanced for this project.
Interface Design
Based on my findings from user research, I designed an interface that I believed met the criteria for making a user-focused app.
User Interviews
Once I completed our first round of lo-fi prototypes, I interviewed our users once again to see their process while using the app and if they felt that the app helped them make friends. After seeing in the first round of interviews that a few things could be improved upon, including accessibility, I set up another round of interviews to see if they were able to use the app more easily. Many of them reported that they’re happy an app like this exists; they felt more connected to others than they had in a while.
Results
I began this project with the thought: How might we help music lovers connect with one another based on music preferences and location? I facilitated this by enabling users to create a profile on the Pit, enabling users to list top artists on their profile; and giving listeners the opportunity to connect with one another based on their musical interests. Although the app doesn’t exist currently, findings from user interviews say that it would do quite well on the market.
