Client Work / UX Research
TUKA
Design and prototype a minimum viable product of the tuka interface, a Los Angeles based music platform.
Design and prototype a minimum viable product of the tuka interface, a Los Angeles based music platform.
Tuka is an online content platform for sharing, curating, licensing, and marketing original creative content. Tuka promotes the work of independent, unknown, developing artists and connects them with their audiences. Tuka aims to launch this platform on a decentralized network running on blockchain technology.
The client approached us with a unique vision for a content sharing social network setup on blockchain and p2p mechanisms. We were given a few concept sketches and a white paper in our first meeting, and were tasked with designing user-flows, wireframes and key forms.
For our first meeting, we met with the small Los Angeles based team. The founder Michael, introduced his platform- Tuka as an online space for people to create share & connect.
At the client’s request, this sprint focused on the interface for the music sharing channel.
Although there are no platforms offering exactly what Tuka aims to achieve, the market for digital music streaming services is quite saturated. To understand what features our users would expect, we analyzed popular platforms that specifically cater to up and coming/independent artists.
Ujo (a platform in beta) was the closet platform to align with Tuka's vision- running on blockchain technology and Ethereum. We honed our competitor list down to five companies and from there created an extensive features list to understand what features we would need to include in our MVP.
After compiling an extensive feature analysis we identified the two main user groups for Tuka:
1. Creators - Those using the platform to share, promote, and sell their content
2. Fans/Curators - Those using the platform to find quality curated content.
Both user groups will have the ability to promote content on the platform. This sprint would be focused on designing the interface and key forms for the “creators” group.
We specifically wanted to learn how they shared and promoted original content. What were their favorite parts of the process? Where was there room for improvement?
These interviews would inform our design process, starting with the core user-flow and eventually Tuka's interface.
We wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape and pain points these creators faced trying to break into the music industry.
With Hollywood in our back yard we were able to learn first-hand about both user groups, and interviewed musicians and the professionals who work directly with them. We interviewed 10 people who fell into the "creators” group.
Upon concluding our interviews we began synthesizing the data we had collected through the process of affinity mapping. We did this to identify overarching patterns and trends within our user pool; and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges emerging musicians face.
To represent our users I created a persona from the user data collected- Jake is an aspiring musician living in LA.
Scenario:
After months of hard work, Jake's band "Drive Thru" finally recorded their first album but now face the uphill battle of promotion and marketing. Jake worries that their album will get lost in the digital shuffle on popular streaming sites. All of the platforms he previously used to stream his music worked off algorithms which favored established artists with large marketing budgets.
He is uncomfortable with the idea of in person marketing, and he is already over budget due to the high production cost of their album.
How might we create a cost efficient, user driven platform that enables artists like Jake to build a fanbase and monetize their work in one place?
With all the information gathered from the research phase we were ready to determine what features would be included in our MVP design.
We compiled a long list of features and using the MoSCoW method divided the list into four categories: Must have, Should have, Could have & Won’t have.
The “Must haves” made up the core features necessary for the platform and would be included in our prototype as our MVP offering. The remaining categories, while important were shelved for the duration of this sprint.
While determining our features list we designed the user flow for creators to make an account, set up a profile, and upload music to the platform.
This step informed us what wireframes and forms we would need to account for in our design and prototype and where to realize the split between account types (creators, curators, and fans).
We conducted a design studio workshop to create our initial wireframes. We spent an afternoon brainstorming ideas through time-boxed rounds of drawing. Once drawing time was up we shared and critiqued each other’s designs as a group, combining the strongest elements from each design. We did this until we were satisfied with the designs and had an outline for our prototype.
Once the designs were agreed upon we digitized our sketches, creating low fidelity wireframes:
We then conducted 4 more user tests on various stages of digital prototyping, continuing to iterate on designs as we tested. We used all the feedback we received to finalize our high fidelity prototype.
With our medium fidelity prototype we were ready to test our designs with users. We started with paper prototypes, as they allowed for flexibility and quick edits. We conducted 3 user tests with paper prototypes and made changes to our design based on feedback.
Many users we interviewed expressed confusion over the original logo, noting it reminded them more of a recycling service. So we redesigned the Tuka logo.
The original logo did not communicate Tuka’s mission effectively and confused people. Users desired something more palatable. Inspired by the logos of Spotify, Soundcloud, and iTunes the new logo needed to be vibrant, minimal, and invoke music.
I compiled all of the design elements into a style guide. This guide would be used as the foundational components for the larger Tuka interface and design system.
