Product Designer
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MYOUSIC
MYOUSIC is a platform where users can experience music in "Connect Rooms" together in real-time. Participants can join existing rooms or craft their own spaces to share tunes with friends, family, or fellow music enthusiasts. The essence of MYOUSIC is to transcend cultural boundaries through shared musical experiences, making every listening moment more impactful and unforgettable.
Team
Individual
Duration
8 weeks
Role
UXD
Time
Spring 2023
Research & Ideation
Context
In our increasingly globalized world, many find themselves distanced from their loved ones, be it for work, education, or personal paths. As this physical distance grows, so does the emotional longing and desire for richer, shared experiences. Amidst this backdrop, music emerges as a powerful medium, possessing the potential to connect hearts across miles.
Problem
In a world where distance often becomes a barrier, maintaining and enriching relationships across miles remains a heartfelt challenge for many.
Solution
MYOUSIC with its innovative "Connect Rooms". These rooms, whether curated personally or joined globally, promise a musical journey that's as shared as it is personal.
My role
I worked on the end-to-end design process from proposing the changes, through research, design, and testing.
Understanding the Users
To understand our user base and their needs in the realm of music-sharing platforms, I conducted a competitive audit.
Comparing to ...
Immersive yet isolating without the collaborative element.
🛜
Social Media Browsing
Often a passive activity with minimal real-world interaction.
🎵
Playlist Streaming
Often a passive activity with minimal real-world interaction.
Watching TV Alone
📺
Offers entertainment without the community engagement.
🎮
Solo Gaming
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Competitive Analysis on 3 different music sharing apps
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Justin, one of my interviewees
Ezra, one of my interviewees
People's Problem
Current music sharing apps struggle to engage users meaningfully, often feeling overwhelming and unfulfilling. Despite many features and broad availability, poor navigation and limited language support leave users feeling disconnected.
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User Research: Understanding primary users
MYOUSIC’s main users are college students longing for connection across distances and young creatives looking to blend music with work. The app caters to their needs for shared experiences and creative inspiration.
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Brainstorm
Paper Wireframes
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Usability Studies
Information Hierarchy
The information hierarchy was created to structure the MYOUSIC app’s features and content logically. It serves as a first stage roadmap to enhance the user experience by ensuring that navigation is intuitive and content is easily accessible. This organizational framework guides the design process, aligning with user expectations and facilitating quick, effortless interactions within the app.
Design: Brainstorming
Drawing from user research, the initial design sketches highlight selected features, marked by yellow stars, for further refinement. These features are pivotal to addressing user needs and will be carried into the next stages of design development.
Design: Paper Wireframing
The initial user interface for MYOUSIC, laying out a foundational blueprint from the start page to streaming. This tactile approach has allowed us to rapidly visualize the app's core pages—recommendations, friend connections, chat interactions, and live streaming—ensuring that user needs are at the forefront as we refine and evolve these key features into the digital realm.
Start page with recommendations
Friend page where user can contact
Chat page where user can send invitations
Chat page
Successfully connected
Streaming page
Login page
Home page
Friend contact page
Invite friends
Homepage after connected
Connected
Horizontal streaming page(finished)
Streaming page(finished)
Streaming page
Menu page
Design: Digital Wireframing
To gather comprehensive insights and refine the user experience, I progressed to developing digital wireframes. This allowed for tangible user testing sessions, providing direct feedback that informed iterative improvements on our current designs and prototypes.
Journey Mapping
To craft a comprehensive design approach, I constructed user journey maps informed by interview insights, pinpointing critical pain points and essential design principles at each stage.
Journey map on two of our participants
Synthesizing Feedbacks
Navigation Confusion
Users frequently feel lost when first using the app.
Customization Need
Users express a strong desire for personalization within the app to enhance their experience.
Clear Feedback
Users need clearer guidance and feedback, especially when completing tasks or when they're about to take the next step.
Simplified Contact
Users find it challenging to locate and invite contacts to join the music-sharing journey.
Keep Iterating
Following insightful feedback from our usability testing, we've fine-tuned the app to align more closely with our users' preferences and requirements.
Before
After
Invitation Feature
User can swap to accept the invite. And meanwhile they would also have the option to polite decline the invitation by clicking "Remind me" or "Message".
Before
After
Streaming Status
User feedback highlighted the need for a simplified streaming status check. We've introduced an icon indicates active streaming and offers quick status updates on interaction.
Dynamic Connect Rooms
Community Building
Personalize User Experience
Design Concept
A mobile application that connects users through the power of music, enabling them to share and experience tunes in real-time, regardless of physical distance, through:
Secure Login
Enter MYOUSIC with a secure login, and let the shared music experiences begin.
Friends Contact/Chat
MYOUSIC's experience where you can connect and converse with friends in real-time.
Streaming with Friends
The 'Friends' section allows you to find contacts and invite new friends to share music together.
Live Streaming Room
Choose a streaming room and user can have the option to chat privately within their group or publicly with the community.
Final Design
A mobile application that connects users through the power of music, enabling them to share and experience tunes in real-time, regardless of physical distance, through:
Design Concept
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A mobile application that connects users through the power of music, enabling them to share and experience tunes in real-time, regardless of physical distance, through:
Reflection
Throughout the development of MYOUSIC, my journey as a UX designer has been both challenging and enlightening, with invaluable insights gained at every step:
Embracing User-Centricity:
This project solidified my belief in placing the user at the heart of the design process. Understanding our target demographic—college students and young creatives—shaped every decision, reminding me that design is not just about aesthetics but about creating meaningful experiences that resonate on a personal level.
Justifying Design Choices:
Throughout the project, especially during brainstorming and wireframing stages, I encountered skepticism regarding certain design choices. This pushed me to back my decisions with solid data and UX principles, which in turn fostered a stronger, research-driven approach to design.
Insights and Iterations:
My biggest takeaways include the significance of iterative design bolstered by user feedback, the necessity of aligning user needs with business goals, and the power of collaborative thinking. From the initial wireframes to the final digital prototype, each iteration was a learning curve, steep but rewarding.
Looking Ahead:
Moving forward, I plan to invest more deeply in early-stage research to ensure that innovation complements necessity. Continually seeking feedback has been a cornerstone of my process, and I intend to maintain this approach.
In the future, I will carry these lessons forward, refining my craft and embracing each project as an opportunity to enrich users' lives through thoughtful design. The MYOUSIC project was a step on this ongoing journey—a step of significant progress.
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