Overview
This project was created because of personal pain points I have with Spotify's mobile application experience. The project was completed entirely by myself to relieve these pain points and introduce a new, useful section within the application.
The Issue
Currently, Spotify users can follow both artists and other users on the mobile and desktop versions of the application. However, following an artist or user is a lackluster feature that seems poorly incorporated into the Spotify ecosystem.
Following Artists
Following an artist on Spotify corresponds with only one small, hidden section of the application. On both mobile and desktop versions, users can click on the "What's New" button to view a list of new releases from artists that they follow. This is a great feature and likely the most important feature for following artists. However, the feature is difficult to find and I did not even know it existed until beginning to create this project.
Following Users
Similarly, following another user on Spotify only correlates with one feature which is only available on the desktop version of the application. On desktop, a small icon next to the "What's New" icon will open a panel that displays the songs that users you follow are currently listening to. Like the previous feature, this one is hidden and likely unknown to users. This feature is also not available on the mobile version of the app.
My Solution
Solving these pain points was my inspiration for this project. My solution involves creating a new accessible menu page for Spotify that includes all of these social features. The "Social" page includes the following:
Current listening activity of users you follow
This panel shows only users currently listening, but can be expanded to show the last song played by everyone you follow.
Social Feed
This panel displays many activities from users and artists you follow, such as songs they have liked, artists they have followed, and new releases from artists.
The feed can be filtered to display only new releases or activity of followed users.
New Privacy Settings
Some users may not want to automatically share what they are listening to or albums they have liked, so the "Privacy and Social" settings have been updated to allow this choice.
Conclusion
This small project is one of my favorites that I have created. This is because of the personal pain points that I addressed through my design and my love for Spotify as a company and music in general. I believe that simple social features should be implemented into the Spotify application to allow users to connect and share music more easily.
This project required me to replicate the design and style of Spotify's application, which was a fun challenge. I think that my design looks nearly identical to Spotify's actual application despite being created from scratch. Overall, I am very happy with the success of this project and how my design solution turned out.
