Spotify Homepage Redesign

TL;DR: Project Outcome

In this project, my team redesigned the Spotify homepage with Adaptive UI that includes the following metrics: 

- Predicted high conversion of 26 million free Spotify users between age of 25-44, estimated over 40% of which have habitual workday routines (low-hanging fruit).

- Reduced ~90% user manual search time with learning algorithms, provides users with their habitual playlists/songs in homepage.

- Elevated user experience and service value by leveraging existing user data with low FATE risk and "soft fail" handling.

Problem Statement

The properties of an AUI allow to show only relevant information based on the current user. This creates less confusion and provides ease of access throughout a system. - Reinhard Oppermann

Extensive research led us to identify a sizable demographic – 26 million free Spotify users aged 25-44. Our strategy focused on elevating user experience to boost conversion rates while retaining existing Spotify customers.

Leveraging the learning capabilities of the Adaptive User Interface (AUI), we customized it for Spotify users with established schedule and playlist preferences, thereby enhancing service value. This value extends to benefit all customer groups, reinforcing Spotify's customer retention and conversion efforts.

Ideation Process

What are the strengths of Spotify?

My team identified three of Spotify's current distinguishing factors for a successful AUI redesign:

   1. Spotify boasts a substantial market size and customer base, offering significant potential for impact and value creation.
   2. The platform provides access to extensive data resources that can be leveraged effectively.
  3. Our team members possess a deep familiarity with Spotify and recognize its strong AUI potential, aligning with its existing design.

Persona: Jackie the Working Professional

AUI excels at maximizing value in repetitive patterns, which aligns with our target audience—making users like Jackie, who regularly use Spotify but haven't yet subscribed to premium, our primary target. Jackie, a recent college graduate, embodies this profile with her well-structured work routine and dedicated playlists, like "Workout Remix" and "Happy Drive."

A simple calculation by the team revealed that Jackie could waste 5-10 minutes each day manually searching and selecting playlists for various occasions. How can we harness AUI to address this issue?

Redesigned AUI Homepage

Our proposal for Spotify is straightforward: implementing an AI-powered widget with a custom header (e.g., "Need Workout Jam?") at the top of its homepage. This widget showcases playlists or podcasts frequently enjoyed by users at specific times.

By accurately detecting user habits, including those of Jackie, Spotify's AUI can promptly display relevant playlists, reducing the need for manual searches. This design optimizes AUI value using existing user data and maintaining Spotify's consistent design aesthetics.

Result: ~90% manual search time reduction.

To evaluate the effectiveness of our AUI design and illustrate its efficiency, we devised two Spotify navigation scenarios from Jackie's perspective as she searches for her "Workout Remix" playlist: one using manual search (top), and the other leveraging AUI (bottom). These scenarios highlight both time and screen interactions needed to access desired playlists.

The improvement is evident, reducing daily search time from 5-10 minutes to a mere 30 seconds to 1 minute (~90% reduction), eliminating the need of manual searches.

Reflection

AUIs: Targeting the "Best" Customers, Not All

AUIs excel in minimizing routine task time, emphasizing the fusion of new technologies and effective design.

My key takeaway: prioritizing the "best" customer who gain maximum value, as seen in the AUI Homepage redesign, leads to benefits for all.