UX RESEARCH · PRODUCT DESIGN · GROUP PROJECT · NYU
Spotify
Reimagining playlist and song management for a more intuitive, customizable listening experience.
Reimagining playlist and song management for a more intuitive, customizable listening experience.
Spotify is the most widely used music streaming app globally, known for its algorithm-driven recommendations and social integrations. However, many users still struggle with core tasks like organizing playlists, finding liked songs, and navigating their music library.
This project focuses on evaluating Spotify's current information architecture and designing a more intuitive, customizable experience for users.
Spotify's current system for song organization leads to a fragmented and often frustrating experience. Users have limited options for organizing playlists, managing liked songs, and accessing listening history. The non-intuitive like button and cluttered navigation result in poor discoverability and low confidence in managing their own music libraries.
What issues do users face with Spotify's current information architecture, and what changes should be made to improve the experience related to song and playlist organization?
We conducted usability testing with high-fidelity mockups to assess how many of Spotify's tasks, determined by its informational architecture, were achievable by users.
Testing surfaced a strong preference for minimal home screens. Users wanted less clutter, especially when recommendations were turned off.
Meet Noelle Jones, a 31-year-old professional in San Francisco whose listening habits shaped our design priorities around convenience, clarity, and control.
Five key features emerged from our research that directly address the biggest user pain points.
Users now have control over how much algorithm-driven content appears on their home screen. A simple toggle lets them switch between a discovery-heavy layout or a minimalist view focused only on their own playlists and activity, reducing cognitive load and improving personalization.
This feature empowers users to rearrange and prioritize the modules on their home screen, ensuring quick access to what matters most, whether that is their playlists, podcasts, or recently played content. It creates a sense of ownership and streamlines navigation for different listening habits.
Spot-It lets users instantly identify songs playing around them with one tap. Recognized songs are saved into a dedicated Spotted Songs playlist, simplifying music discovery and integrating it seamlessly into Spotify's listening ecosystem.
We brought back the familiar heart icon and introduced a dedicated space for managing liked songs. Users can now sort, filter by genre, and bulk edit their saved tracks, making it easier to curate and organize their favorite music without digging through a cluttered library.
This feature adds a layer of visual and emotional personalization to playlists. Users can tag playlists by mood, customize playlist thumbnails, and sort or group songs by vibe or activity, making music organization feel more intuitive and expressive.
My design exploration aimed to make Spotify feel more personal, manageable, and intuitive, especially for everyday users with large libraries. By addressing simple usability gaps, Spotify can improve retention and deepen emotional engagement with its product.