Spotify User Research Interviews
UX Methods 1:1 semi-structured interviewing, affinity walls, research reporting
Stakeholder(s) Spotify mobile app designers, engineers, product managers
End Users Spotify music listeners that use the mobile app
Research Goals Spotify is a leading music streaming company. The mobile app is a product that allows music streamers to listen to their music on their mobile device. The goal of the research is to understand how users use the home and the library screens and where there might be gaps in their needs.
Product Roadmap
Planning
1. I brainstormed what app to work on for the project. I thought about what apps I use on a daily basis that I was familiar with so that I could design a project without doing to much pre-research. I chose Spotify because it is an app that I use regularly that I was curious to learn about users' thoughts.
2. I researched the design of the app and what key features it has. I looked at the home and library screens and took notes of the key functions and features on each.
3. I designed the interview questions making sure that I focused on specific instances of use rather than general use questions to avoid general answers and to avoid the user guessing what he/she/they "normally" or "usually" does.
Interview Questions:
How do users interact with Spotify app home and library screens?
[Warm up]
How often do you use Spotify?
In general, are you happy with Spotify?
Do you use Spotify premium?
Do you use Spotify for music or podcasts or other forms of entertainment?
[Recent use of Spotify]
I’d like you to think back to the most recent time when you used the Spotify app. Can you tell me a bit about that?
[Follow up, if they don’t include in their response]
· When was the last time you used it?
· Where did you use it?
· Why did you use it?
· Did you interact with the home or library screens?
· What features on the home and library screens did you use?
· Did you save or like any songs?
· Did you use the suggestions feature on the home screen?
· Did you use Spotify with others or were you alone?
· How long did you listen to Spotify?
· Would you say that was a particularly bad instance of use, or did anything stand out?
[Repeat above, for other use instances, if fruitful.]
[Other questions]
One of the things I’m most interested in is the way you use the home and library screens. Can you think of any other instances when you used these screens that you think might be relevant?
· [Use follow-up questions from above.]
4. Recruited two Spotify users using social media and asking three screener questions. I wanted to interview people who were very familiar with Spotify, so I wanted people who used the mobile app often.
Screener questions: Do you use a mobile app to listen to music? What mobile app do you use to listen to music? How often do use the app to stream music?
Testing & Results
5. I conducted and recorded two 1:1 semi-structured 30 minute interviews and created an affinity wall (see below).
6. I used the insights I found to write a short research report. In my research report, I concluded that users like the design of the home screen although it could have less content. The library screen had more room for improvements, such as changing the "liked songs" function and having less clutter on the screen. (See the full report)
Lessons Learned
I learned that assumptions made about user needs in the beginning of research are often refuted or changed by the end of user research. After the user interviews, I realized that the users answers were not what I anticipated. It's best to not make assumptions and to check your biases at the door. The data is the source of creating an excellent user experience.
