Building a feature that helps podcast listeners track key moments
OVERVIEW
Spotify is the largest music and podcast subscription platform in the world. In just 10 years, the U.S. went from 32 million monthly podcast listeners to 164 million.
MY ROLE
TIMELINE
Designer
2 Weeks
THE PROBLEM
Users who are listen to podcasts to learn have to take unnecessary steps to track information. Pen and paper is one way. Additionally, people will open other apps which sends them away from the Spotify app rather than allowing them to track that info directly in the app.
THE GOAL
Create a feature that allows users to track key podcast moments so that they don’t have to leave the Spotify app to do so.
The Research Journey
This project was inspired by a community of passionate Spotify users who shared a need. Spotify hosts a feature request forum where users can provide suggestions for the product team to consider developing. One of the most requested features was a way to keep track of podcast moments, with 200 comments, likes, and upvotes in support of this feature.
Spotify Feature Request Forum
Key sources of inspiration include, Audible, Samsung Recorder, Soundcloud, and Snipd.
Each of these apps has some feature that enables users to bookmark particular places in an audio sample.
Key takeaways here were that it needs to be easy to find bookmarks after the fact, the bookmark should be visible in the player screen. Soundcloud and Snipd include a community aspect where you can leave comments and share clips. Snipd also allows you to categorize bookmarks into different categories, similar to playlists. These features are worth considering and further research is required to determine if they are desired.
Comparative Research
was surprised to find that, entertainment was not the main reason people reported listening to podcasts, but, in fact, 74% of people report “learning something” as the biggest motivator for listening to podcasts.
A study out of Israel found that that the heaviest podcast users were "self-reported high income, under 45, highly-educated, and in the tech sector. Their primary motivation for listening was cognitive, not only to acquire new knowledge for themselves, but also to share new data with friends.
Educational podcasts are the fastest-growing genre; growth accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
People report listening to podcasts in all sorts of environments, and although the ability to multitask while listening is a key benefit, 70% of people report having listened to podcasts without doing anything else.
The psychological factors that determine avid podcast listeners versus non-listeners are openness to experience, eagerness for intellectual stimulation. Unlike social media, people who are higher in a desire to belong and neuroticism are less likely to have listened to podcasts.
Literature Review
Spotify’s Thoughtful Execution Framework
The Spotify design team uses a particular process for translating goals into solutions. It’s called the “Thoughtful Execution Framework.” I decided to use this structure to place myself in the shoes of a member of the Spotify team. I found it to be extremely useful for organizing and visualizing information. In fact, it’s a framework that I continue to apply to new projects.
The process starts with your overarching goal, a layer below that are key research findings, followed by problems/opportunities in the form of “How Might We” statements, followed by hypotheses and design solutions. Ordinarily, the Spotify product team would conduct a Crazy 8’s exercise for each “How Might We” statement. I did not do the exercise for each statement, however, I did find it particularly useful for brainstorming quick ideas about where the bookmark icon could be in the player mode.
Crazy 8’s is a useful exercise for rapid brainstorming that involves generating 8 ideas in 8 minutes. A key design question for me was where to place the bookmark icon in the player mode. I had an idea of which option I liked most, but I wanted to get feedback from others, so I shared these sketches with my mentor and peers in a group critique.
After discussion with peers, I landed on option #5. A key feature of this placement is that the bookmark tracks along with the podcast’s progress bar which visually indicated where the bookmark will be placed once you click it, unlike the other options where the bookmark is static. In the final design, I moved the bookmark icon above the progress bar because it clashed with the timestamps when it was below.
After the user clicks through the educational slides, their podcast will start as normal. In this instance, the user hears something worth remember at the 10:40 mark and decides to save it by clicking the bookmark. A small green bookmark indicates that the action was successful and a pop up at the bottom of the screen gives the listener the chance to edit their bookmark right away.
User Flow
Shifting back to the bigger picture, it was time to think about how a podcast listener would use the feature and move through the process in practice.
By default, the 30 seconds prior to when the bookmark was placed is saved, however, users can adjust this in their settings. The section in the progress bar that’s highlighted is mirrored by the transcript below, so an audio and text clip will be saved. Listeners can assign the bookmark to a notebook which they can refer to later by visiting their Library.
Providing the opportunity to edit your bookmark without distracting from the podcast
Referring back to your notes later
The “Notebooks” tab will be hosted in “Your Library.” Research revealed that the most dedicated podcast listeners are seeking knowledge, intellectual stimulation, and information to share with others. Notebooks are intended to provide the heaviest users with a way to keep track of their favorite moments without having to manually scrub through a whole podcast to find it later. Your notebook is sorted by individual episodes with your bookmarks underneath it. You can play the audio clip or click the hamburger icon to reveal that particular note. Once there, you’d be able to adjust your trim, add more notes, add collaborators, or share.
Building a prototype
In order to test the new feature, I needed to create a prototype. I used Figma to create the interactions that were necessary for completing the task. The next step would be to get this prototype into the hands of potential users.
User Testing
I tested my prototype with four users who are self-proclaimed “avid” podcast listeners. There were three scenarios I presented to each of them.
You’re listening to one of your regular podcasts and you hear something you want to remember. Bookmark the moment, trim it to be 15 seconds long, then add it to the “News and stuff” notebook.”
You’ve added a new bookmark. Now I’d like you to go find the notebook and add an additional note to the clip you just created.
Create another bookmark and share it with a friend.
#1 With a feature this big, there needs to be some education the first time users open the app after it’s been updated.
The first iteration of designs did not include an sort of education of the new feature. I had to re-evaluate the user journey to account for the fact that this is a significant addition to the Spotify experience and warrants a brief informational component to educate users on what this new feature is and how they can use it. These slides will appear the first time the user starts a podcast after the feature is live.
Key Feedback & Iterations
#2 The ability to share the note should be presented earlier on. Some users wanted to share it immediately after creating the bookmark.
During the exploratory research phase, I did discover that “sharing new data with friends” was a key motivator for listening to podcasts. However, through user testing I discovered that it was a bigger motivator than I originally thought and therefore should be an option immediately after creating a new bookmark. Iterations include a sharing option earlier and more often in the flow.
This was an excellent learning process for me, because I noticed that, although sharing is a key motivator for listeners, I didn’t think about it as much as I should have in the User Flow. As a result, my initial designs didn’t include sharing as early as the user would like.
#3 Users should be able to trim the clip length by adjusting the highlighted text.
This iteration is a perfect example of a relatively quick adjustment that improves the user experience. Some users found it frustrating to use the trim function at the top of the screen because there was an extra word or two included in the clip that they didn’t want. By simply allowing users to trim the length by adjusting the text instead, they are able to be more precise with what’s recorded.
#4 Users report rarely having their phone open when listening to podcasts.
It’s often the case that avid podcast listeners are working out, driving, cooking, etc., when listening to a podcast. While they may want to remember a moment, they may not want to or be able to go through the app to bookmark the moment. Therefore, it’s important to provide a bookmarking option for a variety of situations.
