Social Music Connections on Spotify
Enhanced social interactions on Spotify by designing a Friend Activity page, Close Friends feature, and customizable Jams for a richer, more connected listening experience.
CONTEXT
Music plays a key role in social interactions. During my Digital Product Design class at Cornell, my user research revealed a strong desire for a more social listening experience on Spotify. To address this, I conducted an independent case study and designed features such as a Friend Activity page, Customized Jams, and Close Friends to enhance user engagement with their friends' music listening activities.
TEAM
Just me, myself, and I!
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
(3 months)
Oct - Dec 2023
SKILLS/TOOLS
UX Research, Product Thinking,
Prototyping, Figma, Notion
THE SOUNDTRACK OF FRIENDSHIP
There's something magical about listening to music with your friends.
It elevates the experience, turning ordinary moments into unforgettable memories. Whether it's discovering a new favorite song together or reminiscing over nostalgic tunes, music has a unique way of bonding us, creating a shared soundtrack to our lives.
PROBLEM DISCOVERY
Spotify users are curious about what their friends are listening to throughout the day.
While conducting early interviews with current users on Cornell’s campus (undergraduates), many of them expressed an interest in wanting to see what their friends were listening to. Users were so interested they’d put in the time and effort to go on their laptops and stalk their friends on Spotify’s Web Application (which does offer Friend Activity).

Therefore...
How might we enhance the social and collaborative listening experience for users?
MY SOLUTION
Introducing Spotify's New Social Experience with Friend Activity, Customizable Jams, and Close Friends
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FRIEND ACTIVITY & CLOSE FRIENDS
Easily access your friends' listening activity and mark them as a close friend to stay up-to-date.
• A familiar view now on mobile

• Focus on the friends you care about the most

• View listening activity and indulge in new playlists
CUSTOMIZED JAMS & SONG REACTIONS
Cater your group jam sessions to whatever you desire - a mood, a concert, a party, anything!
• User control over song input

• Ability to send a general message with invite

• In-app invitations now implemented
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EXPAND YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK
Make new friends through your Jam sessions and find new music through listening activity.
• View what songs people are reacting to

• Follow potential friends   

• See their listening activity
COMPETITOR RESEARCH
In today's crowded music streaming market, Spotify, Apple, and YouTube offer similar core features.
Spotify: Features a Jam function for real-time collaborative playlists, enhancing shared music experiences.

‍Apple Music: Allows users to follow friends and view their listening activity under the "For You" tab. Social features are basic, with a focus on curated playlists and exclusive content.

‍YouTube Music: Emphasizes video content and algorithm-driven recommendations. Offers music sharing and playlist features but limited real-time interaction, leveraging YouTube for live performances and music videos.
Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube Music
HOW CAN SPOTIFY STAND OUT?
Spotify has a significant opportunity to differentiate itself by enhancing its social features.
While Apple Music and YouTube Music offer basic social functionalities, there is a gap in providing a deeply integrated social experience that encourages real-time interaction and discovery through friends' activities. By focusing on these enhancements, Spotify can attract users who seek a more connected and interactive listening experience.
VALIDATING MY INITIAL RESEARCH
Interviews with 15+ undergraduate students revealed that users desire a more intimate, social experience when listening to music.
I conducted semi-structured interviews with current Spotify users along with Apple Music and YouTube Music users to validate my initial findings, further understand current methods of sharing music listening preferences among friends, and gather insights on Spotify's current social feature: Jams.
Here's what some users communicated...
"I always go on my laptop to stalk my friends' listening activity, I wish they had it on mobile."
- Brandon, undergraduate
"I use Apple Music because it lets me see what my friends are listening to...but it's hidden away and not very interactive."
- Joy, undergraduate
"I only share my music listening preferences with my close friends...but I follow a lot of people so friend activity on my laptop isn't helpful."
- Philan, undergraduate
IDENTIFYING KEY INSIGHTS
Users go out of their way to find out what their *close* friends are listening to...but what about Jams?
A common theme among all users was the desire for a convenient and efficient way to see what their close friends are listening to throughout the day. Many found it frustrating to check on their laptops, leading some to use different platforms or give up entirely because it was too much of a hassle.

I also discovered many pain points with Spotify's Jam feature...
Users communicated their challenges with the current Jam experience leading me to conclude I was wrong...
I originally believed users avoided using the Jam feature because they preferred listening to music alone. However, after doing light usability testing and asking questions about their experience with using Jam sessions, I realized this wasn't the case.

Instead, I learned the Jam feature has...
Complex Setup
Users find starting and managing Jam sessions confusing and time-consuming, from setup to sending multiple invites via text.
Limited Coordination
The feature's design hinders seamless collaboration and interaction among participants, impacting the overall user experience.
Unclear Preferences
Users often struggle to understand and align with their friends' listening preferences during Jam sessions.
BRAINSTORMING SOLUTIONS
Breaking down my original HMW question to target listening activity, intimate experiences, and Jams.
With some help from my friends, I took my user research insights and decided to further analyze how I can improve Spotify's social and collaborative user listening experience.
200+ post-it notes later, brainstorming revealed that the main issues with the current experience on Spotify could all be solved through the introduction of a Friend Activity page, serving as the entry point for additional features. At this stage, I was able to establish the top solutions that would remedy issues found in user research.
NARROWING IT DOWN
Emphasizing collaboration and real-time listening activity through new social interactions.
Leveraging my key findings from user research, I was able to narrow down my solutions and determine what would allow users to interact with their close friends' listening activity in an efficient manner and social context by using a feasibility and impact matrix.

This led me to my top solutions...
Close Friends
Allowing users to stay up-to-date with only the friends they truly care about while also algorithmically showing close friends first on all screens.
Friend Activity
A page serving as an entry point for users to find what their friends are listening to and start Jam sessions. A social hub for Spotify.
In-App Jam Inivitations
A convenient and less tedious approach to invite a users' friends to their Jam session. Gives users the ability to see who's already active.
Customized Jams
Customizability gives users the ability to give Jams a title and send messages with invitations. Users can cater to a specific occasion or mood.
Jam Voting
Giving users the ability to up-vote the songs they'd like to listen to within in the Jam, automatically adjusting the queue to meet everyone's needs.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE & SKETCHING OUT INITIAL IDEAS
An efficient information architecture that organizes content for easy user navigation and discovery.
Based on the solutions I came up with to address the user pain points I found earlier, I mapped out each new component to understand where my new features fit into Spotify's current architecture.
Sketching out my ideas to visualize my designs before bringing them to life.
I drew out low-fidelity sketches to fully flesh out my feature ideation and consider areas for visual exploration. After further envisioning what my solutions could look like on Spotify, I created the wireframes below.
With these visualizations complete, I moved into mid-fidelity and high-fidelity iterations.

In the mid-fidelity stage, I focused on fitting information onto screens using Spotify's design system.

In the high-fidelity stage, I refined the organization and placement of information for optimal user experience.

This led me to my...
DESIGN ITERATIONS
Choosing an entry point for Friend Activity.
Friend Activity serves as the entry point for many other parts of my solution. It plays a dominant role in shaping a user's ability to collaboratively and socially experience music, therefore, I looked at 3 different iterations.
New Friends Page
Friend Activity Tab
Home Feed Display
Why a new Friends Page?
The screen chosen properly prompts the user to press into and view their friends' activity. Having listening activity and friends playlist displayed on a separate page also separate's the user's individual listening experience from their social listening experience.
Deciding on a Jam set-up flow.
Introducing the ability for users to name their Jams, customize their settings, add messages, and invite users through the app is a lot. Therefore, I wanted to explore ways in which to make this easiest for users without it being too confusing.
Jam Title & Settings + Message & Invitations
All on one page
Reason behind choosing 2 screens instead of 1...
While I want the most efficiency flow for users, I also wanted it to make the most sense. Having all components on one screen feels overwhelming and cluttered. By separating the flow of naming a Jam and configuring the settings from the message and invitations, the user can slow down and think about the mood and message they'd like to send off.
Exploring potential reactions for songs in the queue.
I looked at 3 different reaction icons. In determining how to best represent a user's reaction to a song, I went back to some of the users I interviewed and asked them what expressions each reaction represented to them.
Thumbs-Up
“I agree with this song choice”
“I loveee this songggg”
“Omg I need to listen to this”
“This song next plzzz”
Heart
“I loveeeeee this song”
“I adore this song so much”
“This song is so good”
“I like this song”
Up Arrow
“I want this song nextttt”
“This song first!!!”
“I want to listen to this song”
“This song over the others”
Why a Thumbs-Up?
Universally, we use a thumbs-up to acknowledge that we agree. In the context of a song queue, users are acknowledging that they like and agree with a song being next.
Why not the others?
While Spotify does use a heart to indicate "liking" a song, this itself presents a mis-interpretation of reacting to a song in queue. An up-arrow while clear doesn't signify any agreement directly.
USER TESTING & REFINING
User testing revealed a new perspective to consider: what about users with no current friends?
After finalizing my designs, I tested my prototypes with potential users and got feedback on the fact that not all Spotify users currently have friends. I not only needed to focus on music discovery, but also potential friend discovery.

With this mind, I went back to my original flows and expanded them...
01. Testing Insight
What should I do if I don't have any friends on Spotify?
While users appreciated the new features, they also were curious about what they should do if they want to participate, but don't have friends currently added.
02. Improvements
Add Friends Prompt.
For users looking to make new friends, they are now given an introduction to the feature and prompted to do so. Users can make friends by searching for their friends profiles or adding friends through Jams.
03. More Insights & Improvements
I want to make friends through Jams.
If users meet someone through a Jam and they'd like to be-friend them, they can now do so! Additionally, if the user forms a special musical bond and would like to make them a close friend, they can do so easily!
FINAL SOLUTION
Friend Activity & Close Friends
Customized Jams & Song Reactions
Expand Your Social Network
REFLECTION
Besides having listened to 2000+ songs during this project, I also learned to...
Iterate. Iterate again. Then iterate again.
Through constant iteration, my designs continually improved. Each version brought new insights and questions, pushing the design closer to a user-centered solution. Though not all iterations are shown here, each played a critical role refinements.
Prioritize the user.
User insights and goals guided every design decision. Even when tempted by trendy features, I ensured functionality met user needs. For example, a thumbs-up reaction proved more effective than a heart, despite the latter's appeal.
Stay adaptive during the design process.
In a fast-evolving platform like Spotify, adaptability is key. By continuously refining and adjusting my approach, I was able to integrate innovative ideas and deliver impactful solutions that resonate with users.
THE END OF THIS PLAYLIST
My first case study...
Engaging in the design process for the first time allowed me to delve deeply into understanding user needs and crafting solutions that enhance their experiences. Choosing to work on Spotify, an app I use and love so much, was particularly exciting because it felt like I was contributing to something that has a real impact on people's daily lives.

If I had more time, I would have revisited Spotify's business goals to ensure that my design solutions not only address user pain points but also align with the company's strategic objectives. By tying user experiences and business goals together, I believe we can create more cohesive and impactful designs that benefit both users and the company.

And special thanks to the songs I had on repeat...
© 2024 ~ lazim jarif
created with curiosity, cat whiskers, and tiny treasures
let's get in touch and chat @lej56@cornell.edu
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