Spotify Social
TYPE
iOS App
OBJECTIVE
New social feature that embeds within the current Spotify platform
TIME
80 Hours
VIEW PROTOTYPE
Spotify, leader on streaming music, wants to expand on its social features within the app.
Research goals include to understand how users currently connect with artists they like as well as find other users that like the same music.
I also wanted to figure out what are the potential features that Spotify users would want in order to create more connections with friends and artists through the app.
Spotify was founded in 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden, by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. There are 191 million monthly active Spotify users, 87 million of these are Premium subscribers.
Average users listen to 41 unique artists per week
Average hours spent listening to Spotify per month stands at 25 hours. 44% of users listen to Spotify on a daily basis
Around 1/3 of Spotify listening time is spent on Spotify-generated playlists, with another 1/3 going on user-generated playlists
The majority of users (29%) are between the ages of 19 and 24. 26% of Spotify’s users are aged 25-35. 19% of users are 55+. 56% of users are male and 44% of users are female.
I started by exploring other streaming music providers. I wanted to get a better understanding of each competitor’s features as well as strengths & weaknesses.
I interviewed 8 Spotify members between the ages of 26 and 42 years old. 6 of the 8 were Spotify premium members.
Sharing Music with Friends:
7 out of 8 respondents shared their music with friends on a regular basis via text
7 out of 8 respondents mentioned that they care about what their friends are listening to or at least find it entertaining
3 out of 8 respondents mentioned that they like listening to other user’s playlists or collaborating on playlists
“I feel like sometimes I don’t know the full breadth of what my friends always listen to behind closed doors.”
“I think music tells a lot about your personality.”
“I care about what my friends are listening to because I want to see if there is an artist that is amazing and that I should be listening to.”
Artists:
Only 3 out of 8 respondents follow artists they like on social media. They tended to care more about the music and less about the artist
Most people interviewed felt more connected to other people once they found out they shared similar interest in artists
“Sometimes you start talking to someone and bonding over a song and then you say “if you like them, have you heard of this artist?”. If you already know they like the same style of music.”
Concerts:
Most respondents rely on ticketmaster, friends, social media, music venues to find out about concerts in their area.
Only 2 out of 7 respondents mentioned using Spotify emails as a resource to find concerts in the area.
Most respondents will ask friends to go to concerts with them based on if they know their friend might like the genre or artist.
“Its hard to get someone who is willing to go to a show with you and is wants to stay the whole time.“
“You can look at someone’s lastfm profile and say ‘Hey Kaitlyn has listened to this artist 3,000 times, maybe she would want to go to this show with me.’'"
Here were my overall findings from my research:
Needs:
To find people with similar music taste or develop deeper connections with friends by knowing that they like similar artists
To find people to go to shows withTo easily find out about more shows/concert in their area
Opportunities for Improvement
Sharing other user’s playlists on SpotifyClearer notifications in app with concerts in townEasier sharing options within the app
More data and visualizations on user’s listening history including genres, artists and songs
My persona Sam Blackwell main priority is to connect with new friends through music.
His goal is to show off his music expertise, find concert buddies, and discover new music through friends whose music taste he respects.
Your Social Dashboard: Creating deeper connections through music
HIGHEST IMPORTANCE
Your friends recommendations: Carousel showing tracks/artists/playlist recommendations from friends
Music Match: shows users in your area with % shared artist. Opportunity to follow userYour top artists tour dates: Carousel showing artists & friends attendingTrends of the week: shows top trending artist/tracks of the week on Spotify
Enhanced Profile Page HIGH IMPORTANCE
Your recommended track/artist playlist or opportunity to add to profile
Data on what you are listening to this week/month - top genres, artists, albums, songs
MAIN TASK: Recommending a Song/Album/Artist/Playlist
“Recommend” feature would allow users to “Show off” their music and only showcase music that they feel comfortable sharing with othersYou are more likely to follow a friends recommendations especially if you know they have similar music tastes. Recommending a song would integrate into the enhanced profile and recommendations from friends would also be displayed in the social dashboard so that users can connect with others and discover new artists based on what their friends recommend.
Main flow focused on navigation through the “Friends Recommend” feature and also a separate flow to allow the user to add a recommendations to their own profile to recommend to their friends.
Please click on image to see details
I spent some time looking at existing screens in Spotify and how my new flows would integrate into the app.
Please click on image to see details
I utilized the existing logos, colors and fonts and created a few different visualizations for top artists, genres, and songs that would integrate into the existing UI.
Using the updated branding and style kit, I created the high-fidelity wireframes in Sketch.
Please click on image to see details
I created a high fidelity prototype through Marvel by integrating the screens I had designed as well as the existing Spotify Screens.
I conducted usability testing with 5 people between April 10-12th. All participants were Spotify users and were between the ages of 26 and 34. All sessions took between 6 and 9 minutes to complete.
Tasks:
Follow Dylan’s recommended artist: 5 of 5 participants completed
Follow playlist with your friends tracks: 5 of 5 participants completed
Recommend “Design” playlist & add to your profile: 5 of 5 participants completed
Homepage
Profile icon: 3 of 5 participants understoodSocial Dashboard icon: 3 of 5 participants understood
Social Dashboard
Your Friends Recommend: 4 of 5 participants understood
Your Music Matches: 4 of 5 participants understood
Your Friends Tracks: 5 of 5 participants understood
Profile Page
Your Recommendation: 4 of 5 participants understood
Priority Revisions
Next Steps would be to focus on high priority revisions focusing on editing the Social Dashboard icon & copy edits.
Build out additional mobile screens
After priority revisions are made, I would like to build out the other task flows like attending concerts with friends and following new friends who are your music matches.
