UX Design
UX Research
Sponsored Project
iHeart Media App Redesign
Resign the app of iHeart Media to address the problem of the high churn rate of younger users (under age 35).
Roles ＆ Responsibility
UX Research: Competitive analysis, Usability test, Interview
UX Design: Conceptualize, Drafts, Schematics, High-resolution mockups
Team
Zhao Yixiao, Zhou Lingchuan, Ghutukade Manasi, Mansukhani Monisha Vimal, Dharmadhikari Namrata, Adekoya Oluwatol
Duration
Sep.2024 - Dec.2024 (3 Months)
Overview
As part of one of my core classes at IUB, "Studio practice", students were divided into teams of 8 and tasked to work with an industry sponsor on a given problem statement and formulate an evidence-based design solution.
iHeart is the industry sponsor that we worked with, which is the No. 1 audio company in America that provides broadcast radio, and digital audio (radio, streaming music, and podcasts) via the iHeartRadio apps, website, and other integrations.
Problem
The company is face the challenge of high churn rate of younger audiences (under 35) from the iHeart app, a UX researcher came to us with the object to address the problem of high churn rate of younger audience.
How might we address the problem of high churn rates among users under 35 of iHeartmedia
Our Approach
01
Define
Understanding the problem
Define project goals
Forming a schedule
02
Research
Survey(100)
User interviews(6)
Competitive analysis
Literature review
Usersability test
03
Design
Ideation
Brainstorm
Sketch
Wireframes
Prototype Design
Design iteration
04
Evaluate
Expert Evaluation
Userability test
Solution
01.Optimized Home Page for Personalization and Ease
Convenient Access:
Provide users with quick access to their frequently visited content by placing Presets, Listening History, and Favorites front and center.
Personalized Recommendations:
Help users explore content tailored to their tastes with modules like curated playlists, top charts, and daily recommendations.
02.Enhancing the radio section by incorporating classic interactive radio features.
Live chat feature:
Live chat feature encourage users to communicate their thoughts and feelings with others to create a sense of community.
Song dedicate:
Song dedication allows users to dedicate their favorite tracks to friends, family, or loved ones with a heartfelt message while listening to live radio.This feature pays homage to the cherished tradition of song dedications from classic radio days.
03.Enhancing the radio section with skeuomorphic design and diverse content exploration methods
Scan Button: Listeners can discover new stations with scan, and seamlessly sample nationwide radio stations, or filter by city or genre.
Live Radio Dial: This feature mimics the same car radio experience that listeners know and love, it not only enables listeners to easily explore the best live stations across the country. but has the added benefit of being organized by genre and location for ease of discovery.
Diverse Categorization and Personalized Recommendations: New content is recommended to users through diverse categories, so that they can find what suits their tastes with ease.
Skeuomorphic design: A radio control panel liked interface was used to recreate the tactile experience of tuning and adjusting a real radio, creating intuitive and nostalgic experience.
04.Redesigned UI System
Decluttered for Usability: The structure of each section has been decluttered to reduce users' cognitive load.
Modern Simplicity: A minimalist design has been adopted to cater to the aesthetic preferences of younger users.
Understanding young users＆ stickness
Research
Research
Literature review
We wanted to figure out how to increase participation of young people when designing an audio app
Survey
A survey was conducted with 100 participants who installed the iHeart app but then stopped using it
Interview
One on one interviews were also conducted with 6 participants to gain an understanding of what makes iHeart and other audio services “sticky".
Competetive analysis
A competitive analysis of 7 audio apps to explore the preferences of young users.
Research Insights
What makes an audio app sticky to users
Personalization
• Customized recomendation
• Curated list
• Discover Quality and New Content with Ease
Usability
• Ease of use
• Clear information architecture
• UI with aesthetic
Adaptation to user's routine entrenchment
• Integrated into participants' daily routines and activities
• Clear brand identity
Strategy
After analyzing insights from the research, we have categorized them into four design strategies that might help increase the stickness of young users.
01
Streamlining Access to High-Usage Features
Streamlining access to high-usage features can enhance usability and seamlessly integrate into users' daily routines and activities, providing users with personalized experience.
02
Strengthening Brand Identity Around Live Radio
By reinforcing iHeartMedia's brand image with live radio, our goal is to become the go-to choice for users when considering live radio, so as a way to increase user's engagement and stickness.
03
Enriching User Discovery with Versatile Content Presentation
Through versatile content presentation, we aim to make it easier for younger users to discover new content that aligns with their tastes
04
Redesigning the UI System
By decluttering information and optimizing visuals, we aim to create a design that better aligns with the aesthetic preferences of younger users.
From strategy to design
Solution
Strategy to design
01. Streamlining Access to High-Usage Features
4 most common first actions.
Listen to favorite content＆station
Listen to sth randomly
Listen to the recently played
Intended search
The first thing you're most likely to do when you open an audio app
Four feature modules have been pinned to the homepage..
Prestsetting
Lets users store and retrieve their often frequented channels.
Liked List
Provides easy access to users' favorite and saved content.
Listening History
Enables users to quickly find recently played content.
Recommended（Curated） List:
Automatically generates playlists based on users' listening history.
02. Strengthening Brand Identity Around Live Radio
Skeuomorphic Design
Using a skeuomorphic design of a radio to emphasize iHeart's brand identity as a leader in live radio.
Live radio Dial
This experience mimics the same car radio experience that listeners know and love, enables listeners to easily explore the best live stations across the country.
Live chat
Live chat allows people to discuss freely, aligning with the characteristic of young people who are full of ideas and unafraid to express themselves.
Song dedication
Song dedication is a classic live radio feature, and we aim to enhance user engagement through it.
03. Enriching User Discovery with Versatile Content Presentation
Young people are usually passionate about a certain type of content, whether it’s a genre, artist, or style. Offering versatile content presentation helps them quickly explore and discover what they love
Curated list
Generating curated list tailored to user‘s preference
Recommended by artist
Explore content by artist
Trending
access to the most popular live radio stations and content.
Genres
Explore content by genres
04. Redesigning the UI System
Color
Use clean and vibrant color to create a modern, dynamic, and youthful feel
Style
Leverage figuration and minimalist
Userability test
Iteration
Iteration
01.Missed song dedication chip in main page
Problem
User cannot dedicate a song directly form the main radio page.
Improvement
A song dedication chip was added on main radio page
02.Uncomfortable Trending Layout
Problem
Users tend to overlook the trending section, the scrolling direction is inconsistent with other parts.
Improvement
Unified the scroll direction, emphasized the content, and added a filter bar.
03.Inconvenient for song selection
Problem
Users have to navigate to a second screen to select a song.
Improvement
Added quick selection options for song selection.
Overview
Solution
Research
Design
Iteration