Project overview
The Product
Mobile app that will enable to pre-order albums from favorite artists. The users are young Gen-Z that look for an edge in their status of music experts, Millennials that live music as their emotional inspiration, and Music industry influencers that need music previews in their business.
Project duration
April 2021 to September 2021
The problem
Music fans don’t have on the market an app that enables them to pre-order their favorite artist upcoming albums.
The goal
Create an app that will facilitate the search and ordering of new album before the official release date.
My role
Lead UX Designer
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wire framing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
Understanding
the user
the user
User research summary
Project background: We’re creating a new app to help people pre-ordering album from their favorite artist. Before launching, we need to figure out if pre-ordering an album is easy for users to do. We’d like to understand what specific challenges our users might face in the ordering, payment, and connection process, and how we can help them fix those challenges.
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User research: pain points
1. Market Opportunity
There is currently no App that allows music fans to pre-order their favorite artist upcoming album
2. Staying on top and ahead
Music fan want to stay on top and ahead pf the pack when it comes to novelty music. This app is designed just for them
3. Incentives and perks
Music fans look forward to contribute to the success of an album by preordering and sharing in the bonus and perks that come with it
Music fans look forward to contribute to the success of an album by preordering and sharing in the bonus and perks that come with it
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User journey map
Mapping Michael’s user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to a dedicated album pre-ordering app.
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Design stage
Paper wireframes
Making paper wireframes allowed me to come up with a number of different possible solutions based upon my user research. This sped up the ideation process and allowed me to refine my ultimate choice much more quickly.
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Digital Wireframes
My app design was based upon the pain points discovered following user research. In doing so, I focused on ease of use and smooth navigation.
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Low-fidelity prototype
Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was ordering an album, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
Usability studies
Study type
30 minutes moderated usability study in New York City
Participants
5 participants between the ages of 18-62 who reside in metropolitan and suburb areas and subscribe to at least 1 music service.
Findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
Round 1 findings
1. Users like to search rather than muddle through the page.
2. Users don’t go to profile to add favorite artists
3. Users want merchandise option on artist page
2. Users don’t go to profile to add favorite artists
3. Users want merchandise option on artist page
Round 2 findings
1. Welcome message is the end of the onboarding process. Is not present on the homepage.
2. Add home buttons
2. Add home buttons
Refining the Design
Mockups
Users prefer searching for their favorite artist by typing directly in the search box.
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Once onboarding is done, the homepage doesn’t need any welcome message.
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High-fidelity prototype
Accessibility
considerations
considerations
1. Provide access to users who are vision impaired through adding alt text to images for screen readers
2. Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies such as screen readers and magnifiers
3. Create a distinguished layout to make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
Takeaways
Impact
PreO, the album pre-ordering app helps the user meet essential goals and provides deep search into generational music in any varied outlet to stay on top of upcoming hits and stories in the music scene. The proposed selected artists and genres are dear to his heart and still important for his well-being.
What I learned
While designing PreO - the album pre-ordering app - I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process.
Usability studies and peer feedback are to be conducted in order to improve features and exceed users expectations.
Next steps
1. Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
2. Conduct more user research to determine more options and features for users.
3. Redefining design until no more design updates are needed
