Spotify Feature Design
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Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs. The platform mainly focuses on user personalization.
If Spotify hypothetically hired me, I would pitch the following new feature that gamifies the Spotify listening experience.
Role
User Research
UI Design
Growth Strategy
Tools
Miro
Adobe Photoshop
Duration
3.5 months
Team
Self-Directed
The (Hypothetical) Problem
Spotify’s user growth and average revenue per user has flatlined.
The Goal
Develop a growth strategy to increase revenue by 10% by 2028. Pitch a solution that aligns with Spotify’s current business model.
Step 1. Research
I conducted several user interviews to gain information about how people currently use Spotify, what they use Spotify for, and why.
Step 2. Insights
From my research, I found patterns in what many users said about their experience using Spotify to form key insights.
Step 3. Where to Play
To identify the “where to play,” or the area of opportunity, I explored the idea of adding elements of gamification to the Spotify experience to increase active engagement, and therefore, increase value of the platform.
Step 4. Ideation
To find a specific solution within this opportunity, I warmed up by writing down several provocations stemming from assumptions we take for granted about the music listening experience. After, I came up with fresh ideas based on the most provocative and interesting ideas.
Step 5. Solution
I proposed a new feature called “Spin a Record” for users to find new music and podcasts in a different way than curated playlists using a simple point system. My final presentation included a business model canvas, competitive advantage, and a breakeven analysis of the feature to ensure it was a profitable idea.
Step 6. Mockups
Using Photoshop and Miro, I created two mockups of my final solution.
In order to sell my vision as a feasible solution, I used elements from the current Spotify interface like the left and right sidebars and the overall playlist screen structure. The main component on this page is the video window that plays the music video or lyrics of the new record to increase user engagement on Spotify. On the left, I added a record player animation to enhance the feeling of “spinning” and listening to a new record. Underneath is a progress bar to show the amount of time left (dependent on the music video length) until points are gained.
After the record ends, the video window displays a Recommend to a friend? CTA and a scrolling list of all the users’ Spotify friends along with their individual monthly point scores. Users would be able to choose a friend to recommend the new record to and “gift” more points. Lastly, I included a Spin Another? CTA on the spinning record animation to entice users to easily continue listening to new records and gaining points on the same page.
“Spin a Record” was an individual final project in the NYU course Design Driven Strategies taught by Craig Cisero. The project took the majority of the semester, about 3-4 months.