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ISCLOSE
Redefining how home studio musicians learn mixing and recording skills.
Project Details
Role
Duration
Platform
Solo conceptual project during my time at Springboard’s UX/UI Bootcamp. Prompt was to solve an issue by designing an app or website. I explored the issues faced when recording music at home.
UX Research
UX Design
UI Design
12 Weeks
Website
Problem
Home studio musicians are struggling to find online resources to help record / mix their project.
Solution
A search website that holds recording & mixing resources curated by professionals.
Secondary Research
I started with secondary research to validate the assumptions I had about the musicians having trouble teaching themselves online. I came across an article that laid out the music user generated content (UGC) on Youtube:
SOURCE: Whitaker, J., et al. (2014). “Characteristics of ‘Music Education’ Videos Posted on YouTube.”
A study was done to critic and judge the credibility of music education online but the findings were not favorable to a wholistic music teach experience.
SOURCE: Hanson, J. (2018). "Assessing the Educational Value of Youtube Videos for Beginning Instrumental Music".
User Interview
With my assumptions verified, I wanted to meet and hear musician’s experience with recording and mixing their own music to gain more empathy into potential users.
Participants
Ages 18 - 30 | Active Music Makers | Uses DAW
Research Questions
How are you learning to record or mix your music?
What is the most difficult part of recording or mixing?
Tell me your process of recording or mixing music.
Synthesis
After organizing 55 data points by affinity mapping. 11 trends/themes were found. I chose to hone in on 5 themes that most participants expressed and that further validated my assumed problem.
Focused Themes
1. Teaching themselves about how to record and mix.
2. Place an importance on the mix of the recording.
3. Expressed that mixing/recording is highly complex
4. All are using online resources to learn.
5. Finding the right resources is hard to find or sources are not credible.
By conducting user interviews, I began to understand my targeted user and at which stage in their song recording journey they are facing problems.
Quality of user's experience falls when they are trying to learn online.
User Stories were created to layout intended goals in order to see which user goals should be prioritized and stressed. I have also started to brainstorm possible features/solutions for each goal.
As I moved into the ideation phase, I kept this question in mind. How Might We...
Give home studio musicians the right learning information for recording & mixing?
Ideatation
Started ideating with a divergent mindset, exploring possible solutions and even throwing out crazy ideas that may not be feasible. Coming into this stage, I had a solution already in mind therefore I took the effort to explore other options.
The solution I continued with was a searchable library of existing resources curated and categorized by genre, instruments and effects. This solution best fits the user's goals by:
1. Being a website platform allows users to quickly get what they
need as they are making music on their computers.
2. Other learning solutions did not offer the information quick
enough.
3. Curating existing resources rather than User Generated
Content (UGC) solves the credibility aspect of learning online.
I analyzed competitive learning platforms for music to see how their information architecture and usability heuristic. I have also gained inspirations from apps that may not have the same gaol but features I can implement.
Hover to reveal Hi-Fi mock ups
Design
I first started structuring the informational architecture by developing the sitemap as shallow as can be in order for users to find resources as quick as possible.
I designed 4 main features that allow users to get their mix/recording questions answered. I have mapped out the userflow for each feature.
1. A Learn page where users can filter out what they want to know
2. A page with a Playlist of resources categorized popular topics.
3. A space for users to save their favorite Content to refer to.
4. A Forum page to ask questions that can't be answered via online resources
After sketching the screens for each feature, I have translated my sketches into wireframes and further developed my first high fidelity mock ups.
Hover to reveal Hi-Fi mock ups
Testing & Improvements
After conducting a high fidelity usability test, testers were overwhelmed when they were viewing all the resource content in the learn page.
Redesigning Content Layout
Adding Hover States
Minimized the number of resources on a page
Changing Terminology
Style Guide
Reflections & Takeaways
This was my first case study and was learning along the process of this website. There were many times I wish I could have gone back to redesign some features or ask different questions during testing. I am grateful to have learned what the UX process is like. Here are some reflections and takeaways from this project:
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