SoundWavy App
Designing a revolutionary remix between a social media and music streaming app.
Overview
PRODUCT
A next-level hybrid app with AI features, that connects musicians and fans, allows fans to discover new artists they love, and help up-and coming artists
ROLE
Product Design, UI/UX Design:
Discovery, market & competitive research, wireframing, branding identity, UI Design, prototyping UX testing.
PROBLEM
SoundWavy aims to be the first successful hybrid social/music app, and provide new, and useful features for both fans and musicians.
SOLUTION
• Discovered what users need by conducting user research on both musicians, and fans
• Learned from others’ failures/successes by conducting competitive/market research
• Strategically designed useful features that users need, and want
• Made app user-friendly, and fun for all users
Discovery
I. Discovery Session: Understanding the app's purpose: Key questions
Answers
II. Market Research: Learning Objectives
I made a list of objectives that were important to learn from this session:
▷ Identify existing/past apps with the same goal
▷ Identify existing apps that share similarities & what similarities/differences do these apps have?
▷ How are they solving/not solving these same problems for users?
▷ What other things are our competitors doing well?
▷ What are our competitors lacking, & how can we capitalize off that?
What I learned
After studying startups that attempted to combine social media with music, using Google searches, reading music articles, downloading some of these apps, and reading countless good (and bad) reviews on the App Store. This helped me:
-Learn that many similar apps were not solving an actual problem for users; likely the cause of failure
-Discover a big, unmet need for an app where musicians can 1.) Post more personal content that helps fans feel more connected. 2.) Be discovered more easily by music fans
-Create a long list of possible features, and study which features were useful, which were not
III. Competitive Analysis
The two products most aligned with our goals, SoundCloud and Geojam, are primarily music streaming and sharing platforms that incorporate limited social features, such as messaging and basic user profiles.
While many music apps and a few hybrid social-music platforms exist, Studying these industries and their points of intersection provided valuable insights into user expectations, industry challenges, and unmet needs.
COMPETITOR #1:
PROS:
-Had some social features such as liking, commenting, sharing & profile. Most apps lack this feature allowing users to share music & talk about it on the same app. These basic social features area must for SoundWavy, because allowing users to have ways to connect & communicate with artists, & other users, as well as share music- is great. This makes the app exciting & fun for users, while increasing engagement for artists.
CONS:
-Not enough social features, such as direct messaging. I’ve been watching them for a while & they’ve added more over time, but they may be too late…
-Users must pay to stop ads. This is a pain point for users. Users have many different options when it comes to playing music for free, and due to their various options they have high expectations of their overall music-listening experience.-Bugs, crashes & other general crashes reported.
COMPETITOR #2:
IV. User Research
Based on my research, I defined two key user personas:
- Music fans looking to discover new music and stay connected with their favorite artists.
- Musicians looking to grow their audience, collaborate with other artists, and even develop their skills.
I interviewed these users to better understand their goals, behaviors, expectations, and challenges.
Creating User Personas for fans, and artists, then listing their Pain Points provided a deeper understanding and foundation for designing features that effectively address their needs and support both the user and business goals.
USER PERSONAS
PAIN POINTS
Ideation
Ideation
I. Wireframing
II. Sketching
II. Branding Identity
I. WIREFRAMING
Based on user interviews, market research, and ideation, I planned 5–7 core screens: a Home (news feed), Search, Post, Notifications, and Music. These are the parent pages on the main menu that then branch into additional screens. As well as a hamburger Menu, and Messages.
My goal here was to plan a lean, viable solution that has all the key pages and features that both types of users need, without being overwhelming for an MVP.
We have many ideas for future features- but we’ll start simple, and possibly implement these ideas after continuing testing with users post-launch.
I. SKETCHING
We now know what our main screens will be, so the next step is to sketch them before getting on Figma (this project was pre-AI.)
As aforementioned, these are the main screens and their purpose:
- Home/News Feed: Users can share music and view artist updates.
- Search/Explore: Discover artists, music news, events, and connect with other artists.
- Post: Users can post images/videos, text, links, or share music.
- Notifications: Users can easily check likes, comments, or updates on their interests
- Music Play/Share Page: Integrated with the app’s social features and linked to external music platforms.
- Main Menu: Leads to other screens, like settings, profile, and other useful options for musicians
- Messaging: Direct messaging features between users.
- Profile Page: A profile feed, images, music shared, view your playlists/music created. Slightly differing profiles between musician and fan accounts.
I. BRANDING IDENTITY
- Color: I wanted a modern, dark-mode, but something more fun than just a black background. Accent colors include medium blue, light purple and even hot pink, used sparingly, with subtle gradient backgrounds often used.
- Typography: the app needed something modern and easy to read, not too overused, with just a touch of unique.
- Icons & Buttons: following the color/typography styles, these are the variations of icons and buttons including their active (tapped) states.
What I learned
After studying startups that attempted to combine social media with music, using Google searches, reading music articles, downloading some of these apps, and reading countless good (and bad) reviews on the App Store. This helped me:
-Learn that many similar apps were not solving an actual problem for users; likely the cause of failure
-Discover a big, unmet need for an app where musicians can 1.) Post more personal content that helps fans feel more connected. 2.) Be discovered more easily by music fans
-Create a long list of possible features, and study which features were useful, which were not
Design & Development
I. UI DESIGN
UI DESIGN: MAIN SCREENS
UI DESIGN: FEATURES
USER PROFILE
As a key social aspect of the app, users can create a profile and share content. Social-focused screens use an indigo gradient background.
MUSIC DISCOVERY
Users can discover new music using sound-analyzing AI, recommending music you actually like, among other common features music apps have. Music-focused screens use a purple gradient background.
MUSIC PLAY
Of course, users can listen to music without interruptions, create playlists, and share music.
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
A key feature that combines music with social media, and encourages users to increase social engagement, is a comment section under songs and albums.
MAIN MENU
The main menu contains the Home, Search, Post, Notifications & Music tabs.
It uses a modern
POSTS
Users can discover new music using sound-analyzing AI, recommending music you actually like, among other common features music apps have. Music-focused screens use a purple gradient background.
MUSIC PLAY
A key feature that combines music with social media, and encourages users to increase social engagement, is a comment section under songs and albums.
What I learned
After studying startups that attempted to combine social media with music, using Google searches, reading music articles, downloading some of these apps, and reading countless good (and bad) reviews on the App Store. This helped me:
-Learn that many similar apps were not solving an actual problem for users; likely the cause of failure
-Discover a big, unmet need for an app where musicians can 1.) Post more personal content that helps fans feel more connected. 2.) Be discovered more easily by music fans
-Create a long list of possible features, and study which features were useful, which were not
III. Competitive Analysis
The two products most aligned with our goals, SoundCloud and Geojam, are primarily music streaming and sharing platforms that incorporate limited social features, such as messaging and basic user profiles.
While many music apps and a few hybrid social-music platforms exist, Studying these industries and their points of intersection provided valuable insights into user expectations, industry challenges, and unmet needs.
COMPETITOR #1:
PROS:
-Had some social features such as liking, commenting, sharing & profile. Most apps lack this feature allowing users to share music & talk about it on the same app. These basic social features area must for SoundWavy, because allowing users to have ways to connect & communicate with artists, & other users, as well as share music- is great. This makes the app exciting & fun for users, while increasing engagement for artists.
CONS:
-Not enough social features, such as direct messaging. I’ve been watching them for a while & they’ve added more over time, but they may be too late…
-Users must pay to stop ads. This is a pain point for users. Users have many different options when it comes to playing music for free, and due to their various options they have high expectations of their overall music-listening experience.-Bugs, crashes & other general crashes reported.
COMPETITOR #2: