INTERACTION DESIGN FOR A MESSAGING-BASED STARTUP
The Client
Koodos is an emerging interactive service, currently in development, focused on music discovery. Koodos wants to meet the users where they are, by turning emojis into a language for search, and enabling curators to build audiences by curating musical content they love.
The idea is both simple and effective: you text the emoji of your choice to Koodos (566367), and you get a curated song in return that bears either a direct or more subtle thematic connection.
Process:
Every emoji or emoji string submitted by a user has one song associated with it within Koodos
If an emoji does not have a song associated with it within Koodos, a user can suggest one.
If an emoji has a preexisting song associated with it , a user can suggest changing via a review by Koodos.
The Brief
Koodos is looking to create an engaging experience so that users may frequently return to the service in order to continue to discover content. They’ve tasked my team [of 4] with the responsibility of seeing what what users currently like about the service (12-18), and to discover ways in which they can both grow and retain the number of people who engage with the service. We will take to research, design, and usability testing, as we work alongside the company in maximizing a 3-week contract of services. Given the Koodos vision is rapidly evolving, this role not only requires us to recommended a path(s) forward, but also to identify via users about what makes/can make the Koodos messaging service special in the first place. This role will require heavy ideation.
Timeline: Three (3) Weeks
Research
Kicking off the project, we set out to conduct interviews — gaining an understanding of its main appeal to users, and forming ideas of how we could maximize those values in the marketplace.
Recording from interview
Research: Interviews
I was team lead in conducting interviews.
Considerations:
Given Koodos target customer, we interviewed users between the ages of 11-20.
We conducted 4 in-person & 2 remote interviews from around the greater Boston area.
During this time, we tried to understand their music listening, social media, and sharing habits.
We also asked our users to use the current state of the product and give insight to what they expected, liked, or didn’t like.
“I love how you can find new music with it! And the suggestion idea is amazing.”
— Koodos First-Time User
Research: Competitive Analysis
As a team, we looked at other music discovery platforms where our interview subjects claimed to be the most active.
Key Takeaways:
Spotify is the leader in music streaming and discovery among our target demographic.
YouTube continues to be a powerful outlet for music discovery, especially in regards to music videos.
A rapidly-ascending platform is TikTok, where users can reuse sounds that coincide with trends, giving rise to new, undiscovered artists. For example, Old Town Road gained prominence thanks to TikTok.
A look at top music platforms
A sample of our affinity maps
Research: Affinity Mapping
Once we conducted the interviews, we moved onto Affinity Mapping to help determine trends and begin synthesizing results.
Key Takeaways:
Users liked that Koodos is simple and easy to use.
Users felt Koodos could be more robust in offerings and sharing opportunities.
Users wanted to be able to curate their own library.
Research: Problem & Solution
Based on our multiple areas of research, the problem and subsequent solution took form. This informed our direction in which to take design(s).
The Lurker
The Sharer
The Promoter
Research: Personas
I wrote three personas that helped as a guide as we prepped for ideation.
The Lurker - is not about trendsetting or sharing. For them, music discovery remains a predominantly personal experience.
The Sharer - The Sharer isn’t necessarily looking for notoriety. Instead, they love to cultivate online relationships by sending new songs, gif or meme to all of their friends.
The Promoter - The promoter is proud of their music acumen. They’re on top of new trends and like to share their discoveries with the world. They’re particularly interested in their follower numbers and some level of recognition.
Brainstorming
Now aided with interviews and research, it was time to move onto ideation where we focused on various ways to enhance the Koodos messaging experience.
Brainstorm: Song of The Day
Users will text the music emoji ( 🎵) to Koodos and receive a new daily pick as curated by the community to stay atop of community trends.
This feature can be used as a business opportunity, working with labels and producers at highlighting new artists.
This feature will aid in user retention.
Brainstorm: Profile + Theme Song
Users will be encouraged to choose a personal profile using a combination of (3) emojis.
Once a profile is set, the user can create a personal theme song that they can change in perpetuity based on timing and mood.
Having a profile encourages greater interaction among Koodos members, as they can see what other communist members are listening to and inspired by,
Brainstorm: Emoji Name Generators
Users who are hesitant or unable to create a profile name [using the trademark three emojis] can produce a combination to their liking.
Inspired by the Wu-Tang Name Generator, and aimed at all personas.
This introduces a fun and pressure-free way to fully opt into Koodos.
A mockup of what a Koodos.com scoreboard could look like
Brainstorm: Gamification System For Users
Users can collect points by being the first to suggest a song.
This encourages users to keep discovering new music, and rewards continued engagement.
Users can check and compare their scores at Koodos.com/
Continued engagement = user retention.
Brainstorm: Koodos Mixtape
With the Koodos Mixtape users can curate their own playlists for others in the community.
Taking a page from the analogue era where mixtapes were a personal experience, this curation can help users connect to someone special.
This helps create a more robust sharing experience for users, specifically among The Sharer and The Promoter.
Brainstorm: Application & Applet
Gives users more freedom to share playlists or collections of songs that they want to put out into the world for others to see.
This will optimize sharing potential among all users.
Brainstorm: Tastemaker
Users can rise up the Koodos ranks.
Tastemakers climb their way to the top with more unique suggestions.
We expect The Sharer and The Promoter will be most excited by this, and will encourage retention.
Brainstorm: Personal Library
Users will be able to assign any emoji to any song of their choosing.
Users will be able to request personal libraries of other users.
This allows users to have a more robust sharing experience, specifically The Promoter and The Sharer, while encouraging retention.
Ideation: Client Presentation
We presented our client with above possible directions which all were met with positive favor. Given our short-term contract, we decided upon focusing on the onboarding process when it came to prototyping, and looked at these key areas as we prepared for testing.
Making onboarding as easy as possible.
Letting users choose a unique profile identifier.
Letting users choose a personal theme song.
Introducing gamification element for users by suggesting songs/
Given client’s mandate, this is the agreed direction we’d build around
A look at our user flow
Ideation: User Flows
Now aided with client feedback, we set out to create a prototype that could reflect the desired direction. These changes came together with help from a brand new user flow.
Usability Testing: Findings
We conducted usability tests among six volunteers (target demo: ages 11-17). Through feedback, we kept on refining the process, focusing on:
Changing user action taxonomy - honing in on what emojis work best are most easily recognized by users.
Clarifying instructional copy - finding language that is simple, effective, and doesn’t pander to the teen demographic.
Changing unique personal identifier for a Koodos user - giving each user an easy way to select their personal profile.
Introducing a clear point system - finding a simple way to encourage users to further engage with the service.
Offer preferred music platform options - offer users an alternative platform in which to receive their music (the default is via YouTube)
Me interviewing two subjects
Prototype
Having made adjustments thanks to usability testing, we were prepared to present our work to the client.
Koodos Walk-Thru
A look at our new onboarding experience with additional engagement
Takeaways
After we presented the final results to our client, there were some reflections worth noting.
Things that worked
The client appreciated our research methods and found the data helpful.
The client really liked the results of our brainstorming sessions, and will continue to incubate ideas as they further pursue services development.
Usability tests should help the client continue developing with confidence.
Things worth reflection
While we had some big wins, we all acknowledged that a three-week contract just skims the surface of what the service needs for the marketplace. Ideally, we would have had more time to further develop, design and test many of the brainstorming avenues we presented.