discotec
Overview
Discotec is a company with a growing user base. They have recently decided they want to create Premium options for users upon sign in, as well as Premium options for their current users.

Business Goals
• Create an incentive for users to subscribe to a Premium option upon sign up.
• Create opportunity for long time users to subscribe to the Premium upgrade
Target Audience
• 18-24 years old
• Tech savvy
• Budget conscious
• Frequently listening to music

Industry Leaders
I spent a day studying some leaders in music streaming, such as: Youtube, Spotify, and Apple Music. I had only ever tried Spotify, so I got free trials to the other two. Here is what I learned.

Industry Leaders


Persona
Using some of the information I gathered from our business goals and target audience, I created a persona to help me better visualize potential solutions.

Persona


User Flows
I created a sign up flow that would showcase the prompting the user to sign up for Premium, and addressing the business goals. 




Wireframes
In starting my lo-fi wireframes, I used the ones the company provided as a foundation to build off of. I created a simple sign up flow, which derailed from my original wireflow of having the user listen to five songs before being prompted. In this iteration, I played with creating more of a social media element, so I added a Friends tab so users can see what their friends are (publicly) listening to or wanted to Recommend to all of their friends on the feed.

Wireframes

Usability Testing, part I

Before my initial interviews, I knew this original design was very simple. After meeting with 5 participants, I had more to work with.

#1 Looks too much like Spotify.
I needed to be more unique in my design and the app’s characteristics


#2 The Call-To-Action, a check-mark, to have the user go to the next page was not very clear.
Change the checkmark to just a simple text button


#3 Even though it was not in the usability test, all of my participants were drawn to the Friends tab.
I really needed to expand on this bit and create more features that created more of a social media element.



Early Ideations
In brainstorming an overall *vibe* for my product, I wanted to evoke a very specific feeling: partying with your friends in velvet outfits on a rooftop in Brooklyn.  I created a colorful palette based on Pantone’s 2023 Color of the Year, Viva Magenta. I wanted my colors to be trendy and chic, which Viva Magenta certainly fit. I also wanted my product to be dark theme because, let’s face it, all of the trendy apps are dark theme.  I chose a name that is both punny, but also trendy: Discotec

style guide


First Iteration
In my first round of creating my hi-fi design, I did expand more on the social media element that got so much attention in my usability testing. I created a Recommend feature, which was a feature for in-app sharing with friends. I also ditched users choosing specific artists in the genre selection.

first iteration

Usability Testing, part II

With my first hi-fi down, I selected five new participants to review my work. 

#1 I should allow users to subscribe to Premium through the Apple Store.
Instead of creating separate pages for billing information, just have a button to pay through the Apple Store


#2 Stylize the music player more.
Give the music player a certain je ne sais quois to make it more unique


#3 Allow users more options for signing up.
This means allow them to sign up through Google, Facebook, Apple…
Final Hi-FI Design
I really wanted to challenge myself with this project. I built more on the social media elements and created more stylistic elements throughout the app.


Final Thoughts
#1 Dark theme is a whole other ballgame
I have always loved the look of dark themes, but underestimated the complexity of shadows and lighting

#2 The importance of user feedback
As silly as it sounds, I didn’t anticipate the feedback I would get on my project. The participants truly had such great ideas and feedback that their excitement really energized me.

#3 Look to the experts
I relied a lot on my mentor and Youtube tutorials in order to make my design pop.