Group session queue system screen
Group session collaborative playlist page
User is invited to a group session
User views curated group session playlist
Easily invite friends directly within the app eliminating the need for external invitations through links or social media
Streamline your sessions with customizable group settings. Delegate admin privileges and fine-tune options for a more enjoyable experience
Rediscover past group sessions with curated playlists of previously played tracks. Replay any missed songs or effortlessly share playlists with others
In the initial phase, I assessed users' ability to navigate to the group session menu through a first-click test with 7 participants on the Spotify mobile app. While I planned to extend the test to the desktop platform, the feature was exclusive to mobile. Despite this limitation, the early findings provided crucial insights for subsequent analyses.
A mere 28% of users were able to successfully locate the appropriate menu. This compelling insight bly suggests that the menu's placement may be unintuitive, potentially leading users to overlook its presence. Users tend to overlook the group session feature on the platform due to its unintuitive placement and current lack of features it current offers.
"Difficult to invite/join friends." Didn’t know about it until someone else showed me. There also lies the potential for queuing songs that others don't enjoy.
"Anyone can play music with no restriction," so one person can skip another's song and play what they want. Can't see who played what song.
Users have difficulty in inviting friends. The user onboarding msut be enhanced to provide a more intuitive experience for those wishing to invite and join friends
The potential conflicts stemming from track skipping by any participant must be addressed as users are facing disruptive behavior by malicious users
The current placement of initiating a group session feature is hidden under the device lists screen which users can overlook
The lack of group session support on desktop Spotify puts desktop users at a disadvantage
Inviting friends to a group session lacks a direct in-app feature, requiring users to resort to sending invite links via text or social media
Michelle, a party enthusiast, creates perfect playlists for her events. Prior to each gathering, she dedicates herself to selecting tracks, ensuring an unforgettable experience. In her quest for new music, she dreams of a feature allowing guests to queue up favorite tracks with a voting system for an enhanced party experience.
Edward is an avid music listener who loves to play songs with his friends. He recently found out about the group session feature Spotify implemented. He likes the idea of such feature, but finds it tedious to constantly invite his friends through links to listen along with him. He wishes there was a better invitation system in place so he can continue to invite the same friends to his sessions.
I conducted a comprehensive analysis of Spotify's direct competitors, assessing their user interface and implementation of listening group sessions with others. This endeavor allowed me to delve deeper into their approach to user experience as well as explore other related functionalities, uncovering valuable insights in the process.
Each platform delivers an intuitive and cohesive user interface with consistent design elements and a familiar layout for a user-friendly experience
These platforms allow the user to play media through multiple devices including phones, tablets, computers and TVs
Users are able to share their playlists with others. The process of sharing a playlist involves sending a shareable link
I crafted three unique user flows and developed a comprehensive sitemap for Spotify Party, recognizing the crucial role of smooth navigation in every interaction. My objective was to simplify the flow, emphasizing ease of use, and guarantee seamless integration with Spotify's established design principles
Sitemap
User initiates a group session and invites friends
User is invited to a group session
User views curated group session playlist
I conducted a second first-click test involving 9 new participants to assess how well users grasped tasks within the Spotify Party prototype. The test encompassed demonstrations of both mobile and desktop versions, with a specific emphasis on participants' capability to initiate a group session.
With a completion rate surpassing 77%, the results bly indicate that the Spotify Party prototype exhibits a higher level of intuitiveness and user-friendliness in comparison to Spotify's current user interface. Participants were able to quickly navigate to the corresponding interaction with an average time taken of 26.5 seconds
The inspiration for Spotify Party came from encountering a limitation with the group session feature in the Spotify app. This project allowed me to explore innovative design ideas while adhering to guidelines, deepening my understanding of app organization. Prototyping was challenging yet rewarding, refining my skills in smart animate techniques and maintaining visual continuity across platforms. Spotify Party marked my initial venture into designing a responsive design for both the desktop and mobile platform
In hindsight, I devoted considerable time to manual tasks like copying album cover arts and track information, which prolonged the design phase. Reflecting on this, I realize I could have streamlined the process by reusing assets and focusing more on functional aspects to expedite project completion