Dan Robertson
Shazam Navigation Update
Shazam is your instant music ID—tap to discover in seconds the song playing around you, so you're never left wondering, "What's that tune?"
Methods
Mobile App Design
Information Architecture
UI Design
Prototyping
Team
Colin Land
Xavier Forte
Year
2024 (2 weeks)
Tools
Figma
Gimp
The Challenge
During my time in General Assembly's UX Design program, I participated in a two-week design sprint with a team, centered on Shazam, the popular music identification app. Going into the project, we learned that its users typically spend less than 30 seconds in the app before moving on. Our challenge was to explore ways to increase user engagement by deepening their connection with the music they discover through the app.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Shazam in any capacity.
Shazam at a Glance
Shazam’s interface delivers a streamlined experience, focusing on essential functions for quick song identification. While its clean design supports efficiency, users often exit the app shortly after finding a song.
Exploratory Research: User Interviews
To increase user engagement, we explored why users spend only 30 seconds in the app, whether due to a lack of interest, friction, or other factors. Here's what we focused on:
Evaluating Current Features: We wanted to find out if users felt that the app’s existing features were meeting their needs. How satisfied were they with the different features in the app? How useful were they? This would help us determine whether the app’s current functionality met user expectations or if there was room for improvement.
Feature Wishlist: We explored what additional features or changes users wished to see. What would make the app more appealing and engaging? Were there any functionalities they felt were missing that could significantly enhance their experience? Gathering this feedback was vital for making the app more engaging and valuable to users.
Identifying Pain Points: We investigated the aspects of the app that users found problematic. What elements were confusing or irritating? Were there obstacles that made using the app less enjoyable? Identifying these pain points was key to understanding why users might exit the app after their initial song search.
Privacy and Data Use: We looked into users' comfort levels with the use of their personal data for generating content recommendations. How did they feel about the trade-off between privacy and personalized suggestions? Understanding their concerns would help us design features that are respectful of their data and build trust.
Affinity Mapping
To synthesize the data, our team categorized each interview data point and labeled topics with "I" statements from the users' perspectives. We then came together to discuss our key takeaways, focusing on the most significant insights.
Lack of Feature Awareness: When asked what features users would like added to the app, the most common suggestions were features that already exist in Shazam! Our research revealed a striking disconnect: users were eager to engage with features like curated playlists, custom playlist creation, and exploration of related music genres and artists—features available within the app, but hidden behind scrolling and unclear menu labels.
"It'd be cool if Shazam would automatically generate a playlist of search history."
Key Takeaways
"I’m okay with my location data being used so long as it benefits me directly."
Privacy Considerations: Users were generally comfortable with location data being used to recommend nearby concerts and music events. However, they strongly opposed using their data for unrelated product advertisements, preferring personalized, music-centric suggestions.
Mid-fi Prototype
Original
Home Screen
(beginning of primary flow)
In our first prototype, we improved the home screen by replacing the bottom sheet with a single row of buttons, each leading to one of the main features we wanted to highlight. This adjustment not only makes these additional pages more noticeable but also reduces the number of taps needed to access them.
By streamlining navigation and increasing feature visibility, we wanted to ensure users could more easily discover and engage with the app's key functionalities.
Navigation Barriers
What’s preventing Shazam users from exploring all its features? Most users come to Shazam for one purpose: identify a song playing nearby. But once they have that result, they close Shazam and miss out on the app’s broader offerings. As they scroll, they might encounter other songs by the same artist or a list of upcoming events, but these features aren't holding their attention long enough to boost time spent in the app.
Based on our research, we suspected that the problem lay in Shazam’s navigation and labeling. Users are missing out on the app’s broader functionality due to unclear pathways and insufficient prompts. To address this, we highlighted Shazam’s hidden features at the points where users typically drop off. By strategically placing entry points where users naturally pause, we aimed to create a more seamless, engaging experience that encourages them to explore further. No backtracking needed. No extra steps.
Scenario:
Search for a song, then engage with the My Playlists feature.
Before
After
Mid-fi Prototype
Original
Search Result
(end of primary flow)
At the end of Shazam's search flow, we repositioned the share and lyrics buttons directly beneath the song's name. We also introduced a new button that allows users to add the song to a playlist, which directs them straight to the playlist feature flow.
By reorganizing these elements and incorporating a playlist button, we sought to increase their visibility and encourage more frequent use.
My Music Page
(a hub for general features)
In the original Shazam app, curated playlists are buried below Recent Shazams on the My Music screen, making them invisible unless users scroll down.
To improve discoverability, we relocated the playlists from their hidden position to its own dedicated screen. Users can access them in a couple different ways. 1) We added a button below the existing "Shazams" and "Concerts" buttons at the top of the My Music screen. 2) There's a dedicated My Playlist button on the home screen.
These modifications, while subtle, increase the likelihood that users will notice and engage with the playlist feature, without overhauling the interface.
Mid-fi Prototype
Original
Create-a-Playlist Screen
My Playlists Screen
Next Page
Create-a-Playlist Feature
(new feature addition)
While Shazam already offered curated playlists, our users said they wanted the ability to create their own playlists and export them to their favorite music platforms.
Naturally, we took a stab at designing a create-a-playlist feature and introduced it on the newly created Playlist screen. This new interface is designed to simplify the process of building and managing playlists.
Streamlined Navigation
With these updates, we refined the app’s navigation by enabling users to access all major features directly from the home screen. We also simplified the transition into other feature flows after completing a song search. These refinements make navigation more intuitive, helping users explore and engage with all that Shazam has to offer.
Before
After
Less Tapping, More Jamming
Navigating an app should be intuitive, not a guessing game. With a few tweaks and button shuffles, we cut down on the number of taps it takes to dive into features beyond initial song identification.
These changes made it way easier for users to discover what Shazam has to offer and keep their music journey going strong.
Playlist Creation: A New Tune
When users said they wanted to make their own playlists, we saw this as an opportunity to boost engagement and increase time spent in the app, as per our objective.
Although the playlist creation process was straightforward for users, our design currently restricts exporting to 3rd party music services, focusing instead on promoting Apple Music. This approach was necessary to align with business objectives, and meant prioritizing business needs over user needs in this case.
Shazam Streamlined
Assessing Navigation and Engagement
Overview:
To evaluate the impact of our updates, we conducted usability testing with 6 recent Shazam users who had interacted with the app in the past three months. Our objectives were to assess the effectiveness of navigation to the My Playlist feature, evaluate the ease of use for creating playlists, and gauge users' intent to use Shazam in the future should our changes go live.
Task:
We asked participants to search for a song and then proceed as they normally would, presumably either exploring the app or exiting. If the Playlist Creation feature was not surfaced naturally, we prompted users to locate and use it.
Intent to Use Shazam
Ease of Use
Navigation to My Playlist
Conclusions:
The results of our usability testing met all internal benchmarks. Users found navigation to the My Playlists feature straightforward and reported that playlist creation was easy and intuitive. Their feedback also indicated a strong likelihood of increased app usage, now that they had become aware of the additional features.
The data indicated that our updates to navigation and labeling effectively enhanced users' ability to discover and use Shazam’s features. Users expressed a strong preference for integrating these UI and navigational improvements to boost menu clarity and overall ease of use.
Next Steps
If the project were to continue, we would monitor how the updates impact user behavior over time to ensure sustained engagement and satisfaction. This would involve further testing and iterative design improvements, using ongoing feedback to refine the user experience. Part of that process would likely involve adding a brief tutorial of the playlist creation feature.
We would also implement A/B testing for different variations of features and design elements to determine which configurations are most effective in driving user engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately conversion to Apple Music.
