Tools:

Figma, Saas, Express JS

Team:

3 UX designers, 2 software engineers, 1 data scientist, 1 product manager

My Role:

UX/UI designer

 As a part of my Brainstation bootcamp experience I was privileged enough to have members from Spotify for Podcasters join the judging panel.  This project was a collaborative effort between ux designers, software engineers and data scientists. My role in this process was to serve as a UX designer. I contributed during the ideation phase of hackathon and provided UI for the podcaster's flow.

Problem:

With the rapid growth of podcast listeners and Spotify's expansive reach of nearly half a billion people, the challenge lies in maintaining a loyal fanbase and ensuring easy listener engagement. To achieve this, there is a pressing need to enhance the shareability of podcasts, leveraging existing tools from Spotify for Podcasters. The question at hand is: How can we transform podcasts into a shareable and captivating experience, comparable to sharing music, thereby amplifying their reach and fostering active listener engagement?

Solution:

Giving podcasters the ability to create short compelling clips (snippets) from their episode so that listeners can engage and discover podcasts that they relate with.

Secondary Research

Our research reveals that approximately half of the users on Spotify for podcasters belong to Generation Z, while a significant portion of content creators are male millennials. Notably, there has been a significant increase in viewership, with statistics showing nearly a 50% rise. This surge in popularity underscores the growing preference for podcasts as a form of entertainment and information consumption. These findings present a valuable opportunity for male millennial content creators and marketers to engage with this influential demographic.

Interviews

Our objectives revolved around understanding audience engagement and identifying opportunities within the podcasting realm. We conducted interviews with six regular podcast users to gather insights. Through these interviews, we discovered that podcast listeners desired improved content discovery and episode previews, as they faced challenges in finding new podcasts and lacked the ability to preview episodes before committing to them. On the content creator side, we found a lack of community engagement and identified concerns regarding the cumbersome editing process. These insights provide valuable direction for enhancing the podcasting experience, both for listeners and content creators.

Personas

In order to gain a deeper understanding and empathy for our audience, we went beyond our research and interviews and decided to create proto-personas. These proto-personas, representing both the podcaster and listener perspectives, were carefully crafted based on the insights derived from our primary research and interviews, allowing us to shape these fictional characters with a rich understanding of our target audience's needs, preferences, and pain points.

Current + Revised User Journeys

We embarked on an exhilarating expedition into the realms of the Spotify app and Spotify for Podcasters, ready to uncover hidden treasures of user experience. Our explorations revealed a thrilling adventure: while navigation was a breeze, the hunt for new podcast gems proved to be an exciting challenge. Undeterred by the quest, we unveiled a revamped user journey, sprinkled with the magic of shareable "snippets" that set hearts racing and ignited a playful sense of community. Our mission? To infuse the podcasting world with excitement and joy, as users eagerly shared these captivating clips, spreading the joy of discovery far and wide.

How does a "snippet" work?

In a space of endless creativity, content creators wield power to craft captivating short segments that auto-generate based on user engagement. With freedom of choice, creators select the perfect clips to upload. Once satisfied, these mesmerizing "snippets" spring to life on the native Spotify app, beckoning users to embark on an interactive journey, where they can engage and unlock a world of extraordinary content.

UI Design

In a race against time, we swiftly delved into high-fidelity mock-ups to ensure a seamless hand-off to developers. Our mission: harness existing brand assets and designs to maintain the utmost consistency with Spotify's UI. With a sleek dark design mirroring the native mobile app experience, our team curated two distinct flows tailored specifically for mobile users. For content creators, we introduced the time-saving "snippet" feature, streamlining segment creation. As for content explorers, we carved out a dedicated section for browsing podcasts, empowering them to engage with captivating "snippets" and uncover a world of enthralling content. I was responsible for the podcaster flow and this what I was able to create.