SONGPOP
Role: UI/UX Designer
The Team: 2 Producers, 1 Creative Director, 3 Animators, 10 Engineers
Tools: Figma / Figjam, Miro, Jira, Confluence
Timeline: October 2020 - March 2023
About
SongPop is a mobile game featuring music from artists like Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Queen, making it the world's most popular music trivia game! 🎶
As SongPop's UX/UI Designer, I revitalized the user experience by building on SongPop Classic's success, crafting exciting new features to boost player engagement, and creating a vibrant gaming experience that connects music lovers and lets them express their unique musical tastes.
Design Challenge
Music is more than just entertainment; it's a way for people to connect, discover, and share their passions. However, there’s a growing desire among music lovers for an experience that goes beyond passive listening—one that engages them, challenges their knowledge, and introduces them to new songs and artists in a fun and interactive way.
Recognizing this potential, we asked ourselves:
How might we create an engaging and interactive music trivia experience that not only entertains but also fosters discovery, connection, and friendly competition among users, all while deepening their love for music?
Research Methods
Online research
Playtests
Contextual observation
Research Insights
Through the preliminary research that was conducted, we discovered the following:
Users seek personalization
Our user interviews and surveys revealed that many users desire a personalized music experience that resonates with their tastes, appreciating when an app recommends songs or genres based on their listening history.
Social interaction enhances user engagement
Our research showed that users are more likely to return to an app offering social interaction, with many noting that challenging friends and sharing achievements enhances their gaming experience.
Music discovery is a key motivator
Users showed a strong interest in discovering new music through the app, particularly enjoying the excitement of finding new artists and songs when these discoveries are linked to game rewards or achievements.
Opportunity Selection
Goal:
SongPop's goal is to create a fun and engaging music trivia experience that not only entertains users but also deepens their connection to music by offering personalized playlists, fostering social interaction, and promoting music discovery.
Objective:
The primary objective with SongPop is to build a platform that enhances users' love for music by providing personalized experiences, enabling social competition, and introducing new artists and songs, all while making the discovery of music both enjoyable and rewarding.
Task Selection
1.
Users are more likely to engage with SongPop when it provides a personalized music experience that aligns with their tastes, as they believe this enhances their connection to the app and makes it more enjoyable and relevant.
2.
Users have a strong desire to connect with friends through social interaction within the app, believing that gaming becomes more fun and meaningful when it includes social elements like competing and sharing their love for music.
3.
Music discovery is a key motivator for users, who value the opportunity to explore new artists and songs. They believe that discovering new music is crucial to their musical journey and enhances their overall experience.
These insights guided us in determining the features and their respective tasks that users would like to engage with in the app, and how we should design for them.
Feature Design
To address the aforementioned user needs, we designed the SongPop Festivals feature, a dynamic and engaging experience that brings together personalization, social interaction, and music discovery in a single event. Here’s how we integrated our research insights into this feature:
SongPop's Festivals mode enhances engagement by offering themed music challenges during limited-time events, including holiday themes such as Christmas and Valentine's Day, or genre themes like '80s Pop Hits and Classic Rock Legends. It features:
Theme and Variety:
Diverse musical themes cater to different tastes.
Limited-Time Events:
Creates urgency and excitement for frequent participation.
Competition and Rewards:
Leaderboard positions and exclusive rewards drive engagement.
Social Interaction:
Encourages community-building through shared challenges.
New Interface and User Flows:
Seamlessly integrated into SongPop 3 with clear navigation and intuitive mechanics.
Overall, the Festivals feature enriches user engagement by leveraging thematic content, competitive elements, and social dynamics, enhancing the interactive music trivia experience!
Here's an example of my UI/UX work for SongPop, where I redesigned the overall interface and user flows for the Festivals feature. This feature was designed to boost engagement by 20%, providing users with a fresh, immersive experience!
To motivate players to visit SongPop more often, we introduced a system of exclusive rewards. As a result, we managed to reach a 35% increase in daily active users and increased visits by our most engaged users from 3 times a week to 5 times a week. This update also led to a 25% boost in player retention within the first three months of launch. ✨
Conclusion
The SongPop project showcases the successful integration of user insights into a compelling design that resonates with music enthusiasts. By focusing on personalization, social interaction, and music discovery, we created an engaging platform that goes beyond simple trivia to offer a dynamic and interactive experience. Features like personalized playlists, multiplayer modes, and the innovative Festivals experience have significantly enhanced user engagement and satisfaction, building a strong community of music lovers. Moving forward, the SongPop team is committed to continuously evolving the app, driven by user feedback and emerging trends, to ensure it remains a beloved destination for music trivia fans worldwide.