sorette | Andy Duong

Role

UX Design, User Research, Visual Design, Prototyping

Tools

Figma, Google Forms, Optimal Workshop, After Effects

Timeline

13 weeks (Mar - June 2023)

Overview

sorette is an innovative desktop cloud-sharing service designed for music professionals, offering seamless collaboration opportunities. sorette provides a suite of crafted tools and customization options to streamline workflows, simplify file organization, and foster a user-friendly environment conducive to enhanced productivity.

Product Overview

Final Solution

Specialized Collaboration Tools.

Bridging the gaps in features missing from current cloud sharing platforms to significantly enhance collaboration

Boost productivity with robust file tagging and powerful search features. Organize and manage files effortlessly

Streamline engagements and collaborations with a centralized notification hub, enhancing organization and responsiveness

Rediscover past group sessions with curated playlists of previously played tracks. Replay any missed songs or effortlessly share playlists with others

User Research

Evaluating the current user collaboration experience

Initial survey

In the preliminary stage, I conducted a comoprehensive evaoluation of user feedback regarding the current collaborative user flow. These participants have experience with various platforrms for sharing files, including cloud services. I actively engaged with 5 participants to capture their valuable thoughts and insights.

A mere 80% of users encountered struggles in collaborating with others. This indicates that there are critical issues that could pertain to workflow issues, communication challenges, user experience concerns, or resource limitations.

"Collaborating with others poses challenges for me, especially when it comes to keeping track of project revisions and manging comments from team members"

"Coordinating with numerous individuals simultaneously can become confusing, as I often find myself needing to maintain a history of bookmarks or shared folder links for future reference"

Problem Statement

How can we improve music collaboration and introduce innovative features?

Difficulty in managing multiple versions of files

Users struggle to maintain and manage up-to-date files with other collaborators

Navigation challenges

Coordinating with others can be confusing, especially when users are tasked with managing many shared folder links

Fragmented Collaboration

Individuals often find themselves relying on disparate communication services and tools to coordinate and manage collaborative efforts

User Persona

Introducing Bryson & Taylor

Bryson

Bryson is a talented R&B artist who finds inspiration in exploring different producers' beats to kickstart his songwriting. His music revolves around slow tempo beats, creating a mesmerizing and soulful vibe. However, he's frustrated by the lack of an option to filter files by BPM and genre, making it challenging to find the right fit for his artistic vision.

Taylor

Taylor is a hip-hop producer collaborating with fellow producers and artists. She encounters obstacles due to slow loading times when trying to stream shared files sent to her. These issues disrupt her workflow, creating challenges in maintaining a continuous and seamless work experience.

Competitive Analysis

Analyzing cloud platforms

I performed a thorough competitive analysis to gain comprehensive insights into the features and user experiences offered by popular cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive.

Audio playback

Each platform experiences sluggish playback streaming with a brief delay as audio files undergo buffering

Limited filter capabilities

While these platforms offer basic filters, they lack advanced features like genre or BPM filtering

No tagging system

The lack of a tag-based organizer hinders users from efficiently navigating and organizing their files

Mid fidelity prototypes

Usability Testing

Evaluating the sorette prototype

First click test

I conducted an initial first-click test with 7 new participants to evaluate their ability to navigate tasks using the sorette prototype. These participants had diverse levels of experience with various cloud platforms for music collaboration. They completed testing across three user flow scenarios: uploading a file and inviting others to listen, inviting others to a project, and adding additional tags to a file.

With a completion rate exceeding 86%, the first-click test shows that most participants successfully navigated the sorette prototype. This high success rate suggests the interface is intuitive and user-friendly, accommodating users with varying levels of experience with cloud platforms for music collaboration. The positive outcome indicates that the design effectively supports the intended actions.

"The projects tab is a music collaborator's dream. I'm thrilled with the simplicity of the interface, which elegantly displays all the projeccts I am currently collaborating on"

"I love how you can tag each individual file. It will definitely help simplify the process of sorting and categorizing files"

Information Architecture

Wrapping Up

Project Takeaways

sorette represents the beginning of my venture into crafting desktop web designs. It provided a canvas for channeling my passion towards addressing real-world challenges and strategically prioritizing features to deliver significant value to users. Implementing various prototyping features fortified my proficiency in utilizing Figma's capabilities. In summary, I found immense joy in designing sorette, and I sincerely hope that you thoroughly enjoy exploring its prototype!

Things I would do differently

Looking back, one thing I would do differently is improve my time management. Juggling both sorette and mechmarket simultaneously was an exhilarating experience. Allocating specific time blocks for each project would have allowed me to better balance my efforts and ensure more focused progress on both fronts.