Case Study: Three potential Spotify mobile UI improvements
In this case study I explored three problems with the Spotify mobile app at the time of writing as I identified them. Since that time there have been a few updates to the app UI, which I examine in the second part of this case study.
Overview
Spotify is an extremely popular, and at this moment, the most heavily used music streaming service available. Though the product has been in service since 2008, Spotify undeniably changed the paradigm of music listening for better or worse when they emerged in the US market with a robust free tier in 2012. That paradigm shift would be best described as a movement from personal ownership of media files for perpetual use on and offline, largely purchased through the Apple iTunes music store. With the advent of Spotify, particularly the free-to-use desktop/web version, users could now listen to almost any artist they wanted (early resisters like Taylor Swift, Radiohead and Jay Z would eventually give in and allow their music to be played on the service).
The iTunes era itself was a paradigm shift away from listening music on physical media (CDs) or digital media that had been ripped from said physical media. During the iTunes era, the music-purchasing habits of consumers changed, no longer purchasing full albums but single tracks, piecemeal (LATimes). Likely, many music listeners, especially coming from radio as their primary source of music, had always desired that option but never had it in an accessible form until iTunes and the iPod.
Now Spotify seems to be changing listening patterns again; according to a report by DeutscheBank, 30% of listening on the Spotify platform is done via curated playlists. Vulture called their curated playlist Rap Caviar one of the most influential vehicles for launching unknown artists to stardom. (Business Insider).
Given the shear mass of users relying upon the Spotify service for their primary music listening needs, and the encroachment of competitors such as Apple Music, it is worth the effort to continually improve the experience, even for supplementary features.
The objective of this case study is to point out hindrances to the user’s fuller enjoyment of the Spotify mobile music browsing/listening experience and suggest improvements. The following three sections identify problems within the Spotify mobile user experience and attempt to address them with simple design changes.
Problem 1: Lack of Sorting in Browse/Search
Background
One point of the experience that persists as a mild headache in the Spotify mobile experience is revised Search tab that was created in 2018. Though it’s called Search, the user also must enter this tab to access the Browse and Discover functions. Actually, the tab itself acts more like a browse function with a search bar at the top, and several other functions (including Discover) nestled among the browsing categories.
Problem + Justification
Among the browsing experience, there is no clear hierarchy or sorting present. At the top of the tab, the user can access their top two genres. Directly below that, the app displays the most popular podcast categories. Already there is an inconsistency between “your top genres” and “popular podcast categories”.
Generally, the next header, “Browse All” contains everything else with no clear sorting methodology. Some of the categories are actual musical genres. Some of the categories are moods or environments (At Home, Workout or Chill). The user also comes down here to access the somewhat redundant Discover and Made For You categories, once prominent features of the app, now relegated to buried tiles. Also, the New Music category, which one might expect to be near the top, cannot be seen until the user scrolls below the break.
Now perhaps the majority of users are merely accessing Spotify to search for a particular artist, album, track or playlist. But browsing genres remains an important feature, and the other categories/functions of Spotify’s app that are buried among genre tiles deserve to be sorted discretely.
Upon reviewing various categories, a more useful sorting pattern emerges. A majority of the tiles, whether they are marked by moods or genres, take the user to a collection of playlists that fit the category. For an active Spotify user, this becomes obvious after a short time of using the app. But for new users, wondering how to browse for new artists and albums within a particular genre, it could be a bit confusing. Conversely, a plurality of Spotify’s users are listening to curated playlists. So, why not advertise them more plainly?
Solution
Create a new section within the Search Tab: Curated Playlists, and then sort them the way they currently are, by genre or mood. Another section, Featured Collections, contains New Releases and other time-sensitive content Spotify wants to share (for example, Black History Month).
Non-playlist and user-tailored content are organized under a new header called Discover. The old Discover category is folded into the Made For You category (there is a lot of overlap between the two features).
Two new tabs near the top of the screen separate content between Music and Podcasts. Podcasts are a newer addition to Spotify, but there is enough content and enough distinction from music and warrants its own higher-level category for easier location.
Problem 2: Non-discoverable Queue Clear
Background
The Queue function within Spotify allows the user to continue adding songs to a temporary queue to be played in order of the add. It’s also possible to add an entire album of playlist to one’s queue at once! This is an undeniably useful feature- changing to a new song mid-track is a serious DJing faux pas.
Problem + Justification
A problem arises if the user adds a large selection of songs to the queue, and then decides they want to listen to something else. Having forgotten about a playlist or album they have added to the queue, a user might then want to listen to a different album in full, only to hear Spotify continuing to play the queue. This queue seems to persist even after quitting the app and restarting.
There is a loophole way to clear the queue, but it’s not a very discoverable process. It requires navigating to the queue (which is accessible from the main playback page) and clicking on the last track in the queue, skipping ahead and erasing all of the rest. While this is a clever fix, it is not obvious. If the user is listening to Spotify between multiple devices (an iPhone, a TV and a laptop for example), the queue exhibits even more confusing behavior. If the queue is cleared on one device, it persists on theother device. A user might find themself hearing songs from their queue days after they thought they cleared it on a different device.
Solution
Break down all queue tracks by source (e.g. if added from artist, categorize with a From Artist header, if added from playlist, categorize with a From Playlist header, etc). Implement a simple Clear Queue from Source button at the bottom of each category. Additionally, a Clear Entire Queue button at the bottom. If there is a Queue of songs present on other connected devices, prompt user to clear or keep them.
Problem 3: Inconsistent/Unhelpful Saved Artist & Album Pages
Note: this problem was identified before a recent update to Spotify was rolled out. The update, which does acknowledge the problem identified does not fully address the concern.
Background
The Your Library tab in Spotify contains all of the user’s saved artists, albums and playlists, both saved and user-generated. If the user has “Liked” any artists, albums or tracks they will be saved here, along with music saved for offline listening. This feature contains the strongest resemblance to the older paradigm of music listening (and one that arguably never left, despite the push for curation); that is, sorting of music by album or artist, setting aside favorites to listen to again and again (Slate).
Problem + Justification
However, the potential for nostalgia/power-users to replace their file-based music collection with Spotify is hamstrung by a lack of coherence between sorting categories. Both Albums and Playlists are sorted in a way that makes sense. They are listed alphabetically by default, but can be filtered or sorted however the user sees fit. When selected, the album or playlist displays all the tracks that make up the grouping.
The Artists tab both adheres and strays from this model in non-useful ways. The tab lists all artists followed by the user. For some of these artists, clicking their name takes you to their artist page. If the user has saved any of their songs, however, it will just display all the songs therein, without the option to view by album. No more information about the artist is presented. This defies the norm of information architecture that’s more or less been accepted for music browsing, and even more or less followed by Spotify itself in other contexts. Additionally, there is a missed opportunity to encourage the user to play other music by artists they like, or view other artists like them.
Solution
Structure the Artist the category the same, whether or not the artist has any specific songs saved by them. When user navigates to the artist page in their Library, the main section should show all the songs liked by the artist, broken down by album. If there are none, show a faint “there’s nothing here” text. Below that show More by this Artist which should essentially resemble the artist’s page as navigated to normally. This combines the two potential pages a user will see when selecting an artist from their library into a single cohesive page. Displaying the tracks separated and grouped by album is more useful than displaying all the tracks a user has saved without any firm delineation- a simple but handy improvement, particularly when the user is in offline mode. Outside of offline mode, combining the two versions of Saved Artist pages will bring more consistency robustness to this corner of the app*.
Conclusion
Part of Spotify’s success is surely attributed to replicating the music listening experience user’s had gotten used to with iTunes, but with nearly limitless music to choose from at a low cost. The above three design suggestions make small changes that make significant improvements to the Spotify user experience without any real drawbacks.
If you’re still looking to read more of my thoughts on Spotify’s mobile UI, be sure to check the follow-up to this article!
Sources
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-apple-kills-itunes-20190531-story.html
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/spotify-curated-playlists-labels-2018-7?r=US&IR=T
