PLAYBACK REDESIGN
BACKGROUND
A music mobile application of Seattle Public Library that allows users to discover Seattle local music and musical events in order to enrich the bond between musicians and the general public.
DURATION
2 Weeks
TEAM
Erfan Dastournejad
Beijia Wang
ROLE
Research
UI/UX
Playback is an online music platform of Seattle Public Library. Every year Seattle musicians will submit their albums to Playback. The jury in Playback will select 100 best albums and put them on the platform for users to stream and download local music for free. The goal for Playback is to connect local musicians with the general public.
However, we realized that there is limited use of the service;
out of 379,222 Seattle Public Library cardholders, there are only 2729 downloads from the platform. Therefore, we came up with a “How Might We” statement:
How might we improve the Playback service to make the experience of discovering local music more interesting and engaging?
RESPONSE
REDESIGN PROCESS
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Interview with Librarians
“I think Playback is great, through which I can get to know more local music. But personally, I use Spotify more just because it is more convenient.”
Librarian 2
Librarian 1
Insights
1. It is inconvenient for people to use Playback since it could
only be accessed through the web application.
2. The redesign of Playback should be in the form of a mobile
application so that users can access it more conveniently.
Interview with Playback Project Lead
“… locally, you know, it's just people get excited to see national acts, but they aren't as excited to see local music.”
“… locally, you know, it's just people get excited to see national acts, but they aren't as excited to see local music.”
“ (Local) artists have no problem giving their work out there;
the problem is to distinguish themselves with the other artists.”
Screen interview with Playback project lead
Insights
1. The public lacks interest in local music and related event.
2. The public should be involved in the album selection process, voting for the albums they like in order to increase public interests and participation.
3. The local music discovery experience should be interesting
and engaging
4. The app should recommend music to users based on their
preferences.
5. There should be some kinds of rewards such as badges or
free tickets to give users incentives to use the app.
6. The musician whose album has been selected as the best 100
albums should be distinguished from the other musicians.
Interview with Music Listeners
“ I have some favorite local artists, but I have trouble finding their local performance information.”
“ Spotify is like a hot pot, it has everything. I need to establish my own music before using its suggestions, which makes finding new singers more difficult. ”
Insights
1. There’s a lack of connection between the local musicians
and the event they are holding
2. The Playback Redesign should not only have music, but
also listing artists' information and local musical events.
We did a competitive analysis to analyze currently existing music apps and other platforms that allow users to discover and view events.
SECONDARY
RESEARCH
Competitive Analysis
Opportunity Matrix
We then placed current Playback service on an opportunity matrix in order to find our redesign opportunity and goal.
STAKEHOLDERS
We acknowledged our stakeholders and their value propositions so that our redesign can better align with their needs.
DESIGN GOALS
1
Increase local musicians' publicity and promote their works within the community.
2
Motivate the public to be more interested in and engaged with the local music.
3
Make the Playback service more accessible and easy to use to strengthen the bond between the local musicians and the public.
4
Make sure our design aligns with Seattle Public Library and Rabble (host of Playback)'s business goal.
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UX FLOW
WIREFRAMES
Sketches of wireframes
ITERATIONS
First Round of Variation
Second Round of Variation
FINAL DESIGN
Through iterations, we condensed the information architecture to 3 main categories: discover, events, and liked. We wanted the user to have two types of experience: Discovery and Immersive.
Download the App
SPL cardholders need to first download the Playback App from the App Store.
On-Boarding
SPL cardholders use their library cards to activate their Playback accounts and set up music their preferences.
A playful experience to explore local music. Users can dislike or like the recommended music. If users don't like the song, the system will learn their tastes and will not recommend similar music. If users like the song, they can vote for the song by clicking the like icon.
Music Discovery
(Turn on the sound to view the video)
Users can listen to the song in a more immersive way. They can also see the artist's info, his/her albums, and events. The star in front of the artist's name indicates this artist's album has been selected as the best 100 albums of the year, serving as a recognition to the artist.
More Info About the Song
Events
An exploratory way to discover more local music events, especially the ones hosted by Seattle Public Library. Users can also search and filter the events based on their preferences.
Users can access their liked songs, events, and followed artists. They can also receive different badges based on their accomplishment.
Liked
Badges
Liked Songs
REFLECTION
Design for Musicians
Due to the time constraint, we only design Playback for the general public. However, since local musicians are also one of our stakeholders, it is important to consider enabling musicians to upload their own works to enter the Playback competition, as well as posting their music events on the platform.