Songa
Music App

Service
UX, UI Design
Client
Songa App
Date
January 2020
Technology
Figma, Miro, Notion

Designing a Music App That Balances Discovery and Simplicity

A UX/UI design for a music streaming app that makes music discovery seamless for users, while keeping the interface minimal and friendly.

Role & Responsibility

  • Product Designer (UX + UI) responsible for user research, wireframes, prototyping, and final UI
  • Worked with stakeholders (e.g. product managers, engineers) to define key features and user flows.
  • Led heuristic evaluations or usability testing to refine the experience.

Problem / Challenge

  • Music apps often overwhelm users with too many features (discovery, playlists, recommendations), leading to a confusing experience.
  • Users struggled to find new music, and didn’t feel engaged with the recommendation system.
  • The business needed a scalable, user-centered design that supports personalization and simple navigation.

Research & Insights

  • Interviewed target users: frequent music listeners, casual users, playlist curators — to map out how they use music apps.
  • Conducted competitor analysis (Spotify, Apple Music, smaller streaming apps) to identify strengths and weaknesses in discovery features.
  • Developed personas and user journeys: example persona “The Discoverer” (loves new music) and “The Organizer” (prefers building their own playlists).

Design Process

  • Generated sketches of different app flow models: home feed vs. playlist-first vs. browse-first.
  • Built wireframes for key screens: onboarding, home / discovery, playlist / library, track detail, player screen.
  • Created interactive prototypes to test with users, focusing on key tasks: “Find a new song,” “Add to playlist,” “Play from library.”
  • Iterated based on usability testing: simplified navigation, reworked the recommendation carousel, adjusted icons and spacing.

Solution / Final Designs

  • Designed a clean, modern UI: minimal icons, soft color palette, intuitive navigation bar (home, library, search).
  • Home / discovery screen: dynamic carousel of recommended playlists, new releases, and user-generated playlists.
  • Player screen: large album art, clean controls (play, next, shuffle), “Add to playlist” button.
  • Playlist / library screen: easy to browse, sort, and create playlists; search bar at top for quick access.

Impact / Results

  • Usability testing showed users could find a new song in 10% less time compared to previous flow.
  • Beta users reported increased satisfaction with discovery — “I like the recommendations, they feel more tailored.”
  • The simplified navigation projected to reduced drop-off during onboarding by 35% 

Lessons Learned

  • Discovery is not one-size-fits-all: different personas need different entry points (playlists vs. search vs. explore).
  • Clean UI helps: reducing clutter increases usability and lowers the cognitive load.
  • Prototyping early is key: interactive tests exposed navigation issues that weren’t obvious in static wireframes.