The Sound Room
For my first group project case study, I worked with two other UX/UI student designers to create a mobile app for musicians, fans, and promoters.
Project Overview
We want to help emerging musicians and performers better connect with their audiences. We also believe this app will become a tool for networking and could offer users a way to set up subscription-based access to their content (such as live-streamed shows and events).
Timeline & Scope
April 22 - May 9, 2024
In this research project, we planned and conducted 5 interviews with potential users in Denver, CO; we surveyed 5 local musicians; and we tested 5 volunteers.
Role & Responsibilities | Team
UX Researcher, group project
Jacqueline Kharouf, UX Researcher
Garrett Martin, UX Researcher, email:
Jon Knauff, UX Researcher, email: jon.knauff@comcast.net
Tools Used
Figma, Paper & Pencil
Empathize
• User Research Plan • Proto-persona • Interview plan and questions • Hypothesis statement • Survey
Hypothesis Statement
New and emerging musical artists currently use social media as their primary promotional tool. This can be an effective way to reach listeners, but musical artists often get lost in the shuffle of the endless social media algorithm. We saw a need to help these creatives exist in a network especially tailored to them. With The Sound Room, users can collaborate with other musicians, promote their creative processes and performances, and gain dedicated followers–all in one place.
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The goal of this case study is to gain a better understanding of how such an app would help musical artists network with their fans, their peers, and music industry professionals.
Define
• User interviews and transcripts • Affinity diagram • User persona • User insight
User Insight
Momma Pappy wants to help her kids create and share music because she values learning, collaboration, and feedback.
During our interview and survey process, we discovered that most interview subjects and respondents learned music at a young age, associate playing music with creative aspects of their identities, frequently utilize a similar strategy for easing through writer’s block, and tend to avoid live-streaming.


Because respondents of a certain age or older generation may not be as comfortable or familiar with live-streaming, we believe that we should focus on attracting users by creating a platform that these respondents can use with their children, who are more familiar and comfortable with live-streaming.
We might be able to help if we develop a social media music-networking platform that emphasizes safety and security for younger users and families. We might do this by creating a space designed for growth, exploration, and development. Doing this will allow our product to appeal not only to younger artists but to their parents, and therefore give all users the inspiration to launch (or re-launch) their musical careers.
Ideate
• Problem statement • Competitor analysis • “I wish, I like, what if” • Feature prioritization matrix • User journey map • Storyboard
Problem Statement
Learning music typically begins at a young age. As musicians develop, they need a safe and nurturing environment to learn, collaborate, and network with like minded individuals.
We believe that focusing on creating a safe, secure, and nurturing social media platform for musicians will give users of any generation the inspiration to pursue their musical goals and dreams.
Competitor Analysis
We analyzed other products that solved a similar problem including TikTok, Vampr, SPKR MUSIC, and el3ment. As an indirect competitor, we also looked at Instagram, which is a related, but slightly different product in the industry. Each of these seemed to offer live streaming options (especially TikTok and Instagram), while others offered networking and collaboration tools (such as Vampr and el3ment), as well as help with promotion (such as SPKR MUSIC).
"I Like, I Wish, What If"
Here we considered options for our app based on what users my like, or wish for, or even some grander "what if" possibilities.
User Journey Map
Our user persona, Momma Pappy, is on a journey to help her son create and explore music in a safe, fun, and nurturing online environment. Her goal is two-fold: to share the joy of music creation and collaboration with her son and to get some creative freedom to share projects and ideas with her own peers.
Prototype
• User flow • Sketches • Low-fi prototype
User Flow
In mapping out the on boarding process for our app, we also organized the different goals and collaboration spaces of the ideal user into 5 major hubs: the user's profile page, the Discover page, Open Mic, the Learning Corner, and the Forum.
Sketches
While each of my teammates contributed their own sketches to the project, the following are the sketches that I made. I wanted to explore possibilities for the onboarding process and the homepage, as well as the Open Mic and Discover pages.
Lo-Fi Prototype
Our lo-fi prototype is much like a paper prototype, which we used to test the general flow and navigation of the menu options and wireframes.
Test
• User testing plan • Usability test analysis or guerilla test analysis • Iterations based on user tests • Mid-fi prototype
Conclusion & Future Opportunities
In conclusion, we noticed a lot of features in The Sound Room could exist as standalone apps. Based on user research it seems as though there is an interest in what The Sound Room provides–both for musicians and listeners. The intention of this app to assist musicians network is a significant need in the market and, if further developed, we believe our app could meet a real demand within the industry.