Case Study:
Add a feature to Spotify
"Spotify: Elevating Your Focus, One Pomodoro at a Time."
Product Overview
Spotify, the well-loved music streaming platform, is adding a new Pomodoro feature. This feature is all about helping you manage your time, stay focused, and reach your goals while enjoying your favorite music and audio content.
Responsibility
UX Research
UI Design
UX Design
Tools
Figma
Problem Statement
Many Spotify users who want to study or work while enjoying music and audio content are experiencing a significant challenge in maintaining focus and productivity. They find it difficult to strike the right balance between their desire for entertainment and the need to concentrate on their tasks, ultimately hindering their ability to study effectively.
Goals
One of our primary goals is to empower Spotify users to make the most of their study or work sessions by seamlessly incorporating the Pomodoro feature into their experience. We want to encourage users to embrace the Pomodoro technique as an effective time management tool. By doing so, they can strike a harmonious balance between their study and entertainment needs, ultimately leading to increased focus, productivity, and goal achievement. Our aim is to provide a user-friendly and customizable Pomodoro feature that makes Spotify not just a platform for entertainment but a valuable companion for their study and work journey.
Enhance Study Productivity: The primary goal is to help users study more effectively by providing a tool that combines music and focused work intervals, improving their productivity.
Maintain User Engagement: Spotify aims to keep users engaged and satisfied by offering an all-in-one platform where they can both study and enjoy their favorite music or audio content.
Target Audience
The people who'd really like a Pomodoro feature in Spotify are mostly between 18 and 30 years old. This group includes lots of students, young workers, and creative types who are often busy with their studies or jobs. They have trouble staying focused and getting work done efficiently. They know that the Pomodoro technique, with its timed work and break periods, can help with that. These folks also want to balance work and fun, and they use Spotify for music a lot. So, adding a Pomodoro feature to Spotify would be a perfect fit for their needs, helping them work better and enjoy their favorite tunes.
Deliverables
User Research Interviews
Comparative & Competitive Analysis
Personas
Branding
Site Map
user flow
Low-Fideality Wireframes
Mid-Fideality Wireframe
High-Fideality Wireframe
Final Wireframes
Prototype
Interview Findings
During interviews with Spotify users, it was clear that many of them wanted a Pomodoro feature added. They thought it would be great for studying and working more effectively. Users liked the idea of having a timer to help them focus and take breaks. They wanted to switch easily from their music to focused work. Also, they were excited about getting stats to see how they work and improve. In short, Spotify users really wanted a Pomodoro feature to help them study and work better.
Pain Points
Many of the individuals I had the opportunity to interview expressed a common struggle with maintaining focus during their daily tasks. It was evident that a considerable number of them were hesitant to invest in a premium Spotify subscription, indicating a preference for the free version. However, they noted that the abundance of music choices available on the platform sometimes presented a challenge in staying on task. The vast selection of songs and playlists, while enjoyable, could sometimes lead to distractions and make it harder to concentrate. This dynamic showcased a recurring theme among these interviewees, where they desired a solution that would allow them to optimize their focus without the need for a subscription, while still enjoying the musical diversity that Spotify offers.
Comparative & Competitive analysis
In this analysis, we'll compare five popular music apps, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Tidal. Each of these platforms caters to diverse audiences, offering unique features and experiences.
1. Spotify:
Pros:
Extensive music library with millions of songs and playlists.
User-friendly interface with personalized playlists like Discover Weekly.
Offers a free, ad-supported version.
Integrates podcasts and audiobooks.
Cons:
Limited offline downloads for free users.
Some features require a premium subscription.
2. Apple Music:
Pros:
Strong integration with the Apple ecosystem.
Access to exclusive content, including early album releases.
Seamless music library synchronization with iTunes.
High-quality audio with the "Lossless" and "Dolby Atmos" features.
Cons:
Limited platform compatibility beyond Apple devices.
A less intuitive interface compared to some competitors.
3. Amazon Music:
Pros:
Part of Amazon Prime, offering added value to Prime subscribers.
Extensive music library with millions of songs.
Access to high-quality audio with Amazon Music HD.
Integration with Amazon Echo devices.
Cons:
The free version offers a limited selection and features.
User interface and playlist curation can be less intuitive.
4. YouTube Music:
Pros:
Access to a vast library of music videos and tracks.
Integration with YouTube for content discovery.
User-generated content, including covers and remixes.
A free ad-supported version.
Cons:
Some users find it less intuitive for music-only use.
Limited exclusive content compared to competitors.
5. Tidal:
Pros:
High-fidelity audio streaming with lossless quality.
Exclusive content and early releases, particularly in the hip-hop and R&B genres.
Collaborations with artists for exclusive music and videos.
Extensive catalog of music videos.
Cons:
Relatively higher subscription costs, especially for lossless audio.
Smaller user base compared to some other platforms.
User Persona
Meet Emily, a 25-year-old with a deep passion for coding and music. As a Computer Science graduate, she's no stranger to complex algorithms and lines of code, but she often finds herself juggling her love for programming and her extensive Spotify music collection. Emily's main frustration is the struggle to manage her time efficiently and maintain focus during intricate coding tasks. She dreams of striking the right balance between her work and personal life, a quest made challenging by her insatiable love for music, which occasionally acts as a distraction. In search of a solution, Emily looks to Spotify's Pomodoro feature to help her structure her work sessions and achieve a harmonious blend of coding and rhythm.
UI Components
Making a complete UI kit for Spotify is really important to keep everything in the app looking the same and working well. This kit has lots of important parts that make the design look nice and also make it easy to use. When Spotify follows these parts, it keeps its style the same and makes users happy. Here are some of the main parts in the kit:
Sitemap
Making a sitemap for Spotify, especially with the new Pomodoro feature, is really important for a few reasons. First, it helps users easily find and use the Pomodoro feature without getting confused. The organized layout makes the whole Spotify experience smooth and easy, following Spotify's goal of being user-friendly. Also, the sitemap shows how the Pomodoro feature is added to different parts of the app, like settings, playlists, and the main screen. This helps users see how the Pomodoro feature fits into their overall Spotify use. Plus, the sitemap is like a map for users and developers, making it easier to talk about where the Pomodoro feature is in the app. Overall, a well-made sitemap makes sure the Pomodoro feature isn't just a cool addition but fits perfectly into the whole Spotify experience.
Sketches
Starting with sketches is super important when we're adding a Pomodoro feature to Spotify. It's like drawing out quick ideas to see what might work before getting into the hard stuff. These sketches let us brainstorm and picture different layouts, buttons, and how the Pomodoro feature will fit with Spotify. They're not fancy but help us understand how everything will look and work together. Plus, since sketches are easy to change, the whole design team can talk and share ideas easily. It's a smart way to make sure everyone agrees on how the Pomodoro feature will look before spending a lot of time on detailed designs. Starting with sketches is like building a strong base for the design, making sure the next steps fit well with how Spotify looks and feels.
Mid-fideality Wireframes
These designs are like a middle step between early sketches and the final product. They give us more details without being too locked in, making it easy to make changes. Mid-fi designs help the design team polish and decide on key parts of the Pomodoro feature. They show a clearer picture of how everything will really look and work in Spotify. Plus, they make it easy for everyone involved to give feedback and work together before we get into the complicated, final steps. This mid-fi start is a smart way for Spotify to make sure the Pomodoro feature fits well with their vision and avoids costly fixes later on. It's like a strategic plan to make sure the feature not only meets what users want but also blends smoothly into the whole Spotify experience.
High-fideality Wireframes
These designs show exactly how the feature will look and feel, like a polished preview. They let the design team and others see almost exactly what the Pomodoro feature will be like in Spotify. High-fi designs help make sure every visual detail fits perfectly with Spotify's style. Plus, they're like a handy guide for the developers, making it easier for them to bring the feature to life without any confusion. When Spotify begins with high-fi, it means the Pomodoro feature is presented in the best way possible, making it easy for everyone to understand how it will look and work.
Usability Test
We had users try out our prototype to understand how they navigate it and gather their thoughts on the experience. Our main goal was to figure out if users could easily find their way around the prototype and complete specific tasks. These tasks included navigating to the app's settings page and checking out the Pomodoro feature in action on the Album page.
Priority Revisions
The key takeaway from the feedback was that users recommended animating the Pomodoro timer to make it feel more realistic in the prototype. To address this suggestion, I dedicated time to learn animation in Figma and successfully incorporated this enhancement into the final prototype.
Conclusion
In summary, adding the Pomodoro feature to Spotify helps users focus better when studying or working. Spotify listened to users, tested the feature, and made it fit right into the app. People liked it during testing, showing that it's a helpful addition. This case study shows that Spotify cares about making things better for users and is always working to bring new and useful features to everyone. The Pomodoro feature is a good example of how Spotify keeps improving to make users experiences even better.