SoundCloud
This project proposes an extension to the music discovery experience on SoundCloud aimed at music listener’s who are specifically looking for hidden gems and niche genres. Whether you’re looking to dive deep into a music rabbit-hole, or browse songs recommended by friends, this intervention leverages SoundCloud’s unique, community-driven brand value pillars.
Contributions
UX Research,
Interaction Design,
Visual Design,
Content Strategy
Project Length
4 weeks
(Nov-Dec 2022)
Team
Clare Huang
Nick Cheung
Michelle Kurniawan
Firm Kongthong
Project Type
Experience Design
UX Research
Interaction Design
Problem Space
Users Methods of Music Discovery
Through our research, we conducted 8 user interviews with users who frequently use, or have used, SoundCloud
as one of their main music streaming services. These were our findings:
1. Enjoy exploring by diving into rabbit holes, resulting in more rewarding discovery outcomes.
2. Trust human-curated recommendations more than algorithmic suggestions.
3. Actively listen while streaming music to select songs that they truly enjoy.
Based on our research, we saw this as an opportunity to extend the social aspects of SoundCloud to facilitate community recommendations and increase personalization which lead us to our framing
How might we increase the likelihood for hidden gems to be discovered?
Proposed Solution
Two Ways to Discover through your Community
1. Dedicated Search Page
This method of discovery features a mix of music recommended by friends and like-minded listeners on the homepage 'music-board'. By hovering over a track or shuffling the board, users can explore recommendations from friends' and mutuals in pursuit of discovering those hidden gems.
2. User Recommendations
Community-lead song recommendations can appear from friends, mutuals or other users with similar music tastes. Recommendations can appear under a users 'recommendation archive' and under each track-page. This enables users to dive-deep into a rabbit-hole of user-curated song suggestions.
Proposed Value
1. For Business
Retaining current users by catering towards their actual listening and music discovery behaviours.
2. For User
Users can find and listen to music while feeling in control of the content they receive. This creates a greater sense of achievement to be able to find niche genres that others haven’t.
