Spotify Concept: Risk-free Music Exploration

Spotify is one of the most popular apps out there- used by more than 140 million people around the world. As a music lover, I’ve gone through a lot- I bought my first CD in 2006 (Green Day’s American Idiot), received my first ever iPod (a clunky 5th gen iPod classic) in 2007, ruined two computers with Limewire’s viruses, and even spent years using youtube to mp3 websites to be able to listen to new music. I spent so many afternoons at friend’s houses, sharing earbuds and showing them all the music I was excited about.

When Spotify came around, everything changed. Spotify let me listen to unlimited music on every platform at a low cost. Spotify isn’t perfect, though. While it’s great as a personal library and has a vast collection of other music, it doesn’t let me explore music without committing to it. This is because:

1. Spotify adds songs you listen to in a “private session” to Daily Mixes and suggests similar music.
2. Spotify has a very specific way of receiving feedback on Daily Mixes, Release Radar, and Discover Weekly. If you press the like button- it adds it to your library. If you press the dislike button, it doesn’t play the song. There’s no way to say you don’t want to listen to songs like that, or that you want more songs like that.

This makes it hard to try out new music, or be the DJ at a party, or let someone else listen to music on your account.

Understanding what people want when they explore music on Spotify

I wanted to understand how people use Spotify’s exploration and interaction features, like recommended playlists, song radios, and friend activity. I interviewed some of my friends and discovered the following trends and insights:

1. Users don’t care if their followers see them listening to certain music: This was something I got wrong initially- Friend Activity is an optional feature that users may enable. People don’t seem to care very much about listening to“embarrassing”music in front of friends.
2. Users are frustrated when music they don’t care for shows up in their recommended playlists: People have different reasons for wanting to listen to certain music. Some have others using their account, some play music for others in car rides and at parties, and some just like discovering new music without it being part of their usual music.

Why do people use Spotify and what do they think of the exploration features?

Market Research

Spotify’s competitors and their pros and cons

Finding out what spaces to improve

Brainstorming Session

I sat down with my friends Winnie and Brenton to brainstorm ideas we could work on. We came up with 6 main ideas, and decided to compare the impact and feasibility of each idea and vote on our best one.

Impact and feasibility considerations

I ultimately chose a combination of my last two options. Presenting Spotify Trial Music: a feed within Spotify that allows you to listen to music and give feedback on it, and update your recommended playlists accordingly.

Allowing users to explore and give feedback on music

Initial Approach

My very first medium fidelity

My first instinct was to have a very clear entry/exit point so that people could turn Trial Music on and off while listening to songs, and be aware at all times that they are using the feature.

Making a more robust feed

I then did some user testing with my first feed- and learned that my users liked being able to give feedback, but didn’t know how to find new music within Trial Mode, because it was just a button to toggle. I decided to try out a more robust feed, while keeping entry and exit points simple.

The feedback mechanism was the same for all 3: if you like a song, you see more like it. If you don’t, you don’t see the song and are suggested fewer songs like it.

Exploration A: using the toggle to enter Trial Mode, and seeing the feed once you turn it on

Exploration B: having Trial Mode be on the nav bar, the easiest entry and exit points

Exploration C: entering from Your Library, entering a new feed with easy exit options

User testing helped me realize that flow C works the best. There’s easy entry and exit points- you know when you’re in Trial Music mode, and you know how to quit. The flow is intuitive and very similar to regular Spotify, and the feedback mechanism feels seamless.

Visual Design

Concept: Making Trial Music Seem Distinct

I wanted to make it clear a user was using Trial Music, and I thought to do so using different colors that were still Spotify brand colors.

Using green to indicate Trial Music, and green add/delete buttons

Concept: Using Spotify icons while keeping Trial Mode different

I wanted to make my add/delete icons more like the rest of Spotify’s icons. My first thought was to use the heart and cancel icons from Discover Weekly- but this left no room for the shuffle and replay buttons. I decided on a middle ground with the like and dislike icons Spotify already uses in Song Radios, and put them near the song title to allow shuffle and replay as well.

Revised screens with like and dislike icons

Final Interaction

My final high-fidelity flow, with improved visuals

Prototype for Trial Music Flow:

The final interaction works because it’s designed to look exactly like Spotify’s current flow, with certain subtle changes that let you know you’re exploring a new feature. It’s not visually different enough to cause problems, and helps you understand a new feature comfortably. I think eventually it would be good to stop getting the “we’ll show you more songs like this” notification.

Conclusion

Spotify, Instagram, and other apps with explore features constantly update their algorithm for suggestions, but sometimes lack the ability to give feedback and have good personalized suggestions for individual users. Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora could all make their users feel more connected to their apps by allowing them to give feedback on music and tailor their suggestions according to what they want. Trial Music is just one way to give users more control of their Spotify experience.