GrooveGuru Overview
Introducing a music app that lets you easily share your favorite tracks with friends around the world. With interactive music chat rooms, you can discover and discuss new tunes together. Stay updated with real-time release notifications and effortlessly curate personalized playlists that match your mood and taste. Ready to connect and explore through the power of music?
My Role: UX/UI Designer
Tools: Figma, Slack, Google Suite, Monday
User Research
Goals
Create a music app that helps users discover new music tailored to their interests while making it easy to share their favorite tracks with others.
Hypothesis
We believe the app will simplify the music discovery process and enhance social sharing by connecting users with similar tastes, enabling them to explore and exchange music seamlessly.
Synthesizing Results
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All 4 participants expressed interest in having AI integrated into a music app to discover new music.
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5 out of 7 participants said they would enjoy sharing music or receiving recommendations.
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All 4 participants agreed that they prefer having a playlist to listen to.
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A common frustration was the inability to like or dislike multiple songs at once.
Competitor Analysis & User Persona Development:
Enhancing the User Experience
As part of my design process, I created a user persona based on a competitive analysis of top music streaming services—Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora—along with Snapchat's location structure. My focus was on identifying gaps in user interaction, specifically in how users search, select, and share music. This research informed the development of a user persona that highlighted opportunities to enhance the music discovery process, making it more intuitive and enjoyable for users.
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User Behaviors:
John listens to music frequently, whether he’s studying, relaxing, or unwinding after a long day. He enjoys curated playlists but prefers them to be tailored to his unique tastes. Social by nature, he likes sharing music with friends and engaging in discussions about new artists. While he’s open to exploring different genres, he sometimes struggles to find fresh music that resonates with him. In addition to music, John spends his free time playing video games and reading, but music remains an essential part of his daily routine. He actively follows his favorite artists and wants to stay updated on their latest releases.
Pain Points:
One of John’s biggest frustrations is that his current music library can feel repetitive, and he often finds himself stuck listening to the same songs. He struggles to discover new artists within genres he already enjoys, making it difficult to expand his musical taste. Additionally, advertisements between songs disrupt his listening experience, making it less enjoyable. While he values music as a social experience, he finds it challenging to share his favorite tracks with friends in a seamless way. He also wishes he had more control over playlist creation, particularly with better discovery tools that introduce him to fresh and relevant music.
Motivations:
John is eager to expand his music taste and explore different genres but needs an intuitive way to do so. He values AI-driven recommendations that feel personal rather than generic, as well as a platform that makes music discovery effortless. Since he enjoys sharing music with friends, he’s motivated by features that allow him to connect with others through music. Staying updated on his favorite artists is also important to him, and he would appreciate a service that notifies him of new releases. Ultimately, he seeks a smooth, ad-free listening experience that makes discovering and enjoying music as seamless as possible.
Ideation- The ideation phase transformed insights from our research phase into practical design strategies. We pinpointed several standout features designed to reflect how people naturally recommend and share music across geographical areas and friend groups, enhanced by the ease and accessibility of digital technology.
Low-Fi Wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the flow and structure of the features created. We translated our research into wireframes to visualize how our app's features would function. Our expectations here are to create an app with song-sharing experiences that let you really explore your preferences.
High-Fi Wireframes
The final high-fidelity designs focused on user-friendliness by introducing an intuitive two-step music sharing process. Drawing inspiration from popular social platforms, we integrated a preview feature that lets users review their post and song selection before sharing. By incorporating music-sharing elements throughout the experience, we made it easier for users to connect through the songs they love. This not only boosted user confidence but also deepened engagement, all while staying aligned with the overall design system.
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Key Takeaways
One of the major accomplishments of this project was successfully integrating personalized music recommendations and engaging social sharing features. Continuous usability testing led to thoughtful iterations that significantly improved the final experience. A core lesson learned was the value of staying flexible and receptive to user feedback—being open to change was essential for creating a more intuitive product. Overall, this project played a pivotal role in my growth as a designer, strengthening my understanding of UX/UI principles and deepening my commitment to user-centered design.