Role
Solo Designer
Project Type
Capstone
Your only destination for music.
Ensemble Case Study
Skills
User Research
UX Design
Design Systems
Prototyping
Tools
Figma
Miro
Context
What motivated this project?
Business Goals
Two years ago, a music-streaming startup company, Ensemble introduced their product to the market. The company's initial business strategy focused on building a user base by offering the product for free. With a successful reception and a substantial number of free users, Ensemble now aims to enhance the product's features and introduce a premium (paid) version. To achieve this, they need to design an experience that enables users to subscribe and pay a monthly fee.
Create the opportunity for new users to subscribe to the premium product upon registration in the signup flow.
Create the opportunity for returning free users to become paid subscribers in the sign-in flow as well as within the product (once logged in).
Initial Research
The Freemium Model
Optimizing Subscription Strategy
In the past decade, the freemium business model has gained popularity across different platforms. The term combines the concepts of "free" and "premium," coined a new business model allowing users to access basic features at no cost and upgrade to more advanced functionality for a subscription fee.
There are several reasons why the freemium strategy is appealing. Firstly, offering free features serves as a powerful marketing tool, enabling new ventures to attract a user base and grow without investing heavily in expensive advertising campaigns or traditional sales forces. Additionally, freemium outperforms free trials or other limited-term offers because customers are often hesitant to go through the hassle of canceling subscriptions and find the allure of indefinite free access more compelling.
This is especially true in the music streaming sector, as seen in industry leader Spotify’s 2Q23 financial report. The revenue and gross profit of premium subscribers significantly outperform that of ad-supported users.
Start with a clear understanding of your target audiences and their needs.
Identify the features and services that are most valuable to them.
Create a basic version of the product, with limitations.
Offer a variety subscription of features and services.
Offer incentives for people to upgrade.
Consider offering a free trial for premium services.
Competitor Audit
I also looked into how competitors and industry leaders encourage new and existing users to sign up for the premium product. From analyzing the signup flow and user experience of Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube Music.
Pandora
Youtube Music
Spotify
What I’ve Learned
Constantly remind customers of the perks of the premium product.
Incorporate call-to-action buttons.
Have visual cues to demonstrate the perks of the paid plan.
Provide exclusive experiences, features, and benefits of the product.
Have constant pop-up windows that invite free users to convert.
Persona
With all of my findings from secondary research and the information provided by the Product Manager, I was able to paint a picture of who I think the re-designed app would be suitable for.
Early Designs
I was given the wireframes of the current flow of the app. Upon further review, a few issues jumped out:
The existing signup flow does not have a call to action upon registration that allows the users to experience the premium product from the get-go.
The existing flow does not have prominent calls to action throughout the free experience that gives the user the opportunity — or a compelling reason — to subscribe.
A New User Flow
The new user flow takes into consideration how users can conveniently subscribe to the premium plan. I also planned to add an option of a free trial for users to test out before committing, hoping to eliminate the fear of users paying for a product they do not enjoy enough.
Wireframes
Incorporating Research Insights Into Designs
When designing the initial wireframes, I tested out a new tool, Miro, to create these screens. I wanted to make sure the signup process was seamless and did not put any stress on the users. I ensured they got a visual representation of the differences between free and premium plans. User should also be able to intuitively navigate through the app and organically choose to upgrade their plan if they desire. If not, they will be reminded through the use of a pop window.
Brand Guide
To determine the look and feel of the brand, I decided to go with a dark theme with purple being the primary color. I also designed the logo to be playful and fun, while adding gradients to the buttons.
Final Designs
Upon reviewing the prototype with usability testing participants, I made a few improvements to enhance the user experience. For the full experience, please see my Figma file.
Introduced a table comparing the two plans, making it easier to understand and less information-dense.
Added welcome pages and success screens to make the experience more enjoyable.
Incorporated Apple Pay and double-click animations into the user flow to reduce friction in the payment process.
Elevated the design of the home screen and added a detailed playlist screen for users to play around with.
Made sure everything offered was rounded out: enjoying existing playlists, free trial, adding songs to favorites, etc.
Usability Testing
Feedback & Observations
Two users were intimidated by the price and chose to go with the free plan first.
Feedback & Observations
Table was too wordy and the comparisons between different plans were not very clear.
Solutions
Made two separate user flows to let users subscribe either during sign-up or in the app. Created scenarios where if users wished to complete a task (i.e. downloading music), they would need to be on the paid plan.
Solutions
Changed the visual layout of the table to be more intuitive — comparison is now much more digestible for the users.
Two rounds of usability testing were conducted to gather feedback and ensure there were no major flaws in the user experience. I was able to incorporate feedback from the first round of testing to the final design.
Reflections
What I would have done differently?
If given more time and resources, I would like to flesh out the app a bit more with added screens such as creating a playlist, sharing playlists, customizing settings, etc. These will help to further highlight the perks of the paid product, making the app feel more complete.
I would build a more complete design library so it would be easier to scale up the project when needed. Also, adding more animations will help the designs come alive.
I struggled with both rounds of usability testing due to the scope of the project. It was difficult to get feedback from the users without me prompting them to nitpick on the prototypes. This by no means was an indication that my designs had no flaws, but more so inspired me to come up with more engaging interview scripts in the future.