Spotify UX - Case Study
Designing Social Features for Spotify
The Challenge
As an avid Spotify user, I've often been asked in product management interviews about my favorite product and ideas for improvement. My go-to response explores opportunities to enhance Spotify's social sharing capabilities. While features like Friend Activity provide a glimpse into what others are listening to, users currently have to navigate away to other platforms to directly share and discuss music recommendations.
Proposed Solution: Public Queue
I envisioned a "Public Queue" that acts as a collaborative playlist - a running queue where friends can drop off songs for each other. This would feature typical sorting controls as well as functionality for songs to be "popped off" into a listening history for an ephemeral, queue-like feel.
To make sharing seamless, users could leverage existing right-click and drag-and-drop capabilities to send songs directly to a friend's Public Queue. A simple confirmation pop-up would prevent misdirected drops. The Public Queue adds fun social utility, perfect for crowdsourced party playlists or swapping casual recommendations.
UI Mockups
Now to integrate user flows! There's two ways users currently add to their private queue. I expanded on both below:
Right-Click
Click-and-Drag
User Research
Spotify's core users aged 18-35 crave integrated ways to discover and share music socially. User personas like "James", a college student in quarantine, revealed the need for a centralized in-app space to conveniently swap song recommendations.
Sample Use Cases:
At parties and gatherings, attendees can contribute songs from their device to a collaborative playlist.
It becomes a centralized hub for exchanging casual song recommendations with friends.
The ephemeral queue focuses on real-time sharing with no playlist management needed.
Impact
Features like Public Queue have potential to elevate Spotify from a music streaming service to a thriving platform for music-based social networking. Centralizing sharing and discovery perfectly blends utility and community - unlocking engagement, social connectivity, and new avenues for innovation.