An app for downloading and listening your favourite music.
2026
UX UI Designer
App
Overview
This project was born out of a desire to recapture the music listening experience I had in 2011 with my iPod Touch, which had a dedicated media player built into the system where you could listen to songs you’d downloaded or purchased.
Goal
Create an app where you can listen your music library and play those files, with the ability to browse by artist and genre. You can add lyrics to any song and manage your audio files right from the app.
Problems
These days, there are no dedicated players for the system; everything relies on streaming services, which can have varying audio quality and sometimes don't have the song you want. And there are third-party players that, although free, offer a completely different experience, requiring you to try out countless of them to figure out which one is best.
Tools
Although I'm a music lover and I had trouble paying for multiple streaming services at once to listen my music at the quality I want. I wanted to find out what other users think about the current state of music, both on streaming services and elsewhere. So I conducted secondary research on various services and gathered the most important insights for the project.
Knowing the industry
It was necessary to understand how the industry presents songs and general content to users, so that we could create an app that offers an experience of equal or better quality.
Tools
So I conducted a benchmark test using three of the apps that I consider to offer a good experience when listening to, exploring, searching for, and managing music. I then analyzed each one to gain more valuable insights.
Final insights
Content filtering
Users have had trouble finding their songs and albums. In
some cases, they’ve had trouble finding the right song quality. Different ways to
filter and display content should be included to improve search and navigation.
Shortcutes
Use simplified access to songs, playlists, and artists
whenever possible, so users can easily return to their songs without having to
search too much.
Universal creation
Building on the concept of shortcuts, provide easy access to
the creation features that users frequently use within the app.
Main challenge
Several challenges were identified, but the main one to be addressed
was:
How might we organize the way users view their songs, playlists, and artists
within the app in a way that doesn't create cognitive load and is easy to
understand?
Solution
To address each of these challenges, I created a framework that would always aim to meet the product goals I defined following the research. In this way, I established the logic behind the main workflows and the app's structure.
Product final goals
Structure
The structure should be easy for users to understand, without
requiring them to search too hard, and should avoid causing confusion regarding the
content.
Easy Shortcutes
It should also provide easy to find and understand shortcuts
for quick access to various resources within the app.
Walkman Experience
Maybe not in terms of the UI or the physical experience, but
certainly in terms of navegation. A simple experience of listening to music where
everything feels like it flows naturally.
Visual design
To address these challenges and issues, create an app whose
structure helps users navigate easily and visually captures the desired Walkman
vibe.
