Unveiling connections: Expanding Apple Music Credits for Deeper Exploration of Contributors’ Work
Experience Design, UI Design, Design Strategy, Design Research
Music listeners are increasingly aware of the song creation process and interested in credited songwriters, but exploring new music through this lens on Apple Music is challenging.
Client: Apple Music (unofficial)
Goal: Leverage a playlist functionality familiar to the user and implement a new depth of music listening through playlist add-on when using the “View Credits” feature.
Solution: Expanded on the “View Credits” feature to allow users to explore new music based on credited songwriters entirely on Apple Music. In the form of curated playlists, users can discover new music according to the credited songwriters they enjoy.
Role: Experience Designer, Design Strategist, Design Researcher, UI Designer
Result: Greater user engagement during use of the “View Credits” feature. Specifically, users spent more time on the curated playlist. Additionally, users mentioned greater appreciation for the feature and Apple Music’s effort to highlight the “artists behind the music.”
Links:
Currently, users can only view the names of credited songwriters.
Solution: Extend the feature to allow users to play curated playlists of each credited songwriter when clicking on their name.
My Reflections
When music exploration is the goal, no feature should feel like a “dead end” to the user.
During our user testing, the most consistent we feedback we received was users appreciation for the “View Credits” feature no longer feeling like a “dead end” in their experience. It was valuable feedback because it has the potential to turn a set of challenges within the platform into a set of opportunities. By turning the “dead end” experiences into music discovery opportunities, users will have an enhanced experience and developers will be able to anticipate the needs and wants of users ahead of time.