Manic Music Concept for a multimedia music website using user centered design principles

Kevin Toy & Angie Nery

Context of Use – User ProfileWho is the target audience?

-Age: 14-30-Education: High School to College level -Interested in/Enjoys listening music (i.e. seeks out and listens to music regularly, enjoys concerts, plays an instrument or in a band, etc.)-Familiar with Internet and online multimedia

Questionnaire We conducted a survey questionnaire (using surveymonkey.com)

to gather data on user preferences and experiences regarding music websites

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/37VJXPB part one http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/377SZST part two

Results Total participants: 86 Average age: 23 93% reported using the computer

to listen to music Most popular sites used for music:

-YouTube-iTunes-Pandora-Grooveshark-Last.fm-Yahoo music -Myspace

23.3

3.5

45.3

27.9

EthnicityCaucasianAfrican Amer-icanHispanic/LatinoAsian/Pacific Islander

44.255.8

Gender

MaleFemale

5.8

81.4

9.3

3.5

Level of Education

High School/GEDUndergrad-uateGraduate (Masters)Graduate (Doctorate)

Results (cont’d) What do you like about the services, applications, and functions provided from these

music website services? (most common responses)

- “Easy to use”- “Easy to find music”- “…discovering new artists and songs…”- “…create fully customizable playlists.”- “I like that I can see the video and/or lyrics while the music is playing”- “Better variety”- “Play music by genre”- “FREE”

What do you dislike about the services provided by these websites?

- “Advertisements (spam, pop ups, etc.)”- “Paying for songs”- “Slow to load songs”- “Can only skip a certain number of songs”- “Poor quality songs”

Contextual Task Analysis Grooveshark.com

Task: Search/play a songDescription: User opts to search for a specific song using keywords. User plays the

song selected. Steps can be repeated to add more individually selected songs.

1. Click on search/query bar 2. Type in keyword (artist, song title, album, etc.)3. Browse song results4. Double click on desired song to play (or click icon to add to playlist, add to favorites,

create a radio station, etc.)5. Song icon/info will appear in play box and song will begin playing

Search/Play a Song Click on search/query bar

Type in keyword (artist, song title,

album, etc.)

Browse song results

Double click on desired song to play

(or click icon to add to playlist, add to

favorites, create a radio station, etc.)

Song icon/info will appear in play box and song will begin playing

Task: Create radio station

Description: To allow interface and program to create an automatic playlist in response to similar song types that User pre-selected in the playlist.

1. Follow steps 1-3 from search/play a song task2. Click on “Radio” icon to generate playlist with songs similar to selected song. 3. Radio stations tab will pop up with radio station created 4. Initial song will begin playing with similar songs added to play list (will keep adding

songs as long as radio station is playing).5. Click on “Radio” icon again to disable function.

Create Radio Station Follow steps 1-3 from search/play a song task

Click on “Radio” icon to generate playlist with

songs similar to selected song.

Radio stations tab will pop up with radio station

created

Initial song will begin playing with similar

songs added to play list (will keep adding songs

as long as radio station is playing).

Click on “Radio” icon again to disable function.

Task: Create a profile

Description: To register an account with Grooveshark. The User will be able to access all functions of the interface and services with a profile. Guests will only have limited options available.

1. Click “Create an account” on task menu2. Click on text area and enter desired user name.3. Will prompt User if username is available or unavailable. If unavailable (repeat

steps 1-2).4. Click text area next to “Password” label, and type desired password.5. Confirm password (re-enter password)6. Click on drop down menus to appropriately choose Date of Birth. 7. Click text area next to “Email address” label, and type valid email address.8. Click text area next to “Full Name” label, and type First and Last Name.9. Click on drop down menu and choose appropriate gender, “Male” or “Female”.10. Captcha (for spam detection)11. User will disagree or agree for terms and conditions by clicking on either option’s

checkbox. 12. Click “ok” icon to finalize and register.

Create a ProfileClick “Create

Profile” option on task menu.

Click on text area and enter desired

user name.

Will prompt User if username is available or

unavailable. If unavailable (repeat

steps 1-2).

Click text area next to “Password”

label, and type desired password.

Confirm password (re-enter

password)

Click on drop down menus to

appropriately choose Date of

Birth.

Click text area next to “Email

address” label, and type valid email

address.

Click text area next to “Full

Name” label, and type First and Last

Name.

Click on drop down menu and choose

appropriate gender, “Male” or

“Female”.

Captcha (for spam detection)

User will disagree or agree for terms and conditions by clicking on either

option’s checkbox.

Click “ok” icon to finalize and

register.

Usability Goals/RequirementsRefer to:

-User Profile -Questionnaire -Task Analysis

Results (cont’d) What do you like about the services, applications, and functions provided

from these music website services? (most common responses)

- “Easy to use”- “Easy to find music”- “…discovering new artists and songs…”- “…create fully customizable playlists.”- “I like that I can see the video and/or lyrics while the music is playing”- “Better variety”- “Play music by genre”- “FREE”

What do you dislike about the services provided by these websites?

- “Advertisements (spam, pop ups, etc.)”- “Paying for songs”- “Slow to load songs”- “Can only skip a certain number of songs”- “Poor quality songs”

Manic Music - Usability Goals Provide superior user experience by incorporating most appealing functions from

competing music websites:-Users will be able to easily find and play music-Users will be able to create and save playlists-Users will be able to load radio stations (by pre-selected genres or by artist/song)-Users will be able to watch music videos for songs (if no video available provide visualizer)-Users will be able to access lyrics for songs-Users will be able to discover new music through the “Music Web” function and radio stations

Provide users with an easy to use and easy to learn interface:-Users will be able to execute primary functions correctly upon first time use.-Users will be able to execute primary functions in 5 steps or less-Interface will utilize design principles (mapping, affordances, etc.) to provide the user with

support in executing functions correctly

Minimize/eliminate negative aspects reported by users when using music websites :-User will experience minimal advertising (no pop-ups, no ad previews before playing music)-Services provided by the site will be free-Poor quality songs will be filtered out of the music library-User will not have a limit on skipping through songs.

Design Solution - Prototype First Prototype – Paper cutout of interface “Frankenstein”

-Gathered user feedback to refine layout of interface-Received general user input regarding design of interface

Final Prototype…

Design Evaluation – User Testing First Prototype – Paper cutout of interface

-Gathered user feedback to refine layout of interface-Received general user input regarding design of interface

Final Prototype

Cost Justification - Cost-benefit Analysis

Through simple usability testing we were able to identify common complaints of competitors’ interfaces and address these issues in our user interface

Utilizing the user-centered design process our artifact will support the most common appealing functions (as reported through target demographic) in a simple and easy to use interface

By focusing on the user Manic Music will provide superior service over our competitors and accrue growth of the user base (thereby increasing revenue) by promoting a pleasant user experience.

Cost Justification - Cost-benefit AnalysisCompetitor data - Grooveshark.com (estimated data)

Website worth - $26,478,144Yearly ads revenue - $2,736,075Daily pageviews – 1,941,239

Competitor data – Pandora.com (estimated data)

Website worth - $46,780,272Yearly ads revenue - $4,833,961Daily pageviews – 6,736,191

*Data taken from websiteshadow.com

By utilizing the user-centered design process Manic Music will provide the user with all of the appealing functionality of competitors without the negative aspects. The simple interface and powerful tools will provide a pleasant user experience and attract an exponential growth in user base each year.

Total cost estimate: $85,000Net Benefit: $$$BIGNUMBER$$$

Generating RevenueAdvertisements

User Donations

Affiliate Marketing-iTunes-Amazon.com-etc.

Subscription premium accounts

“Long Tail” Theory (Pandora, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) The distribution and inventory costs of businesses successfully applying this strategy allow them to realize significant profit out of selling small volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers instead of only selling large volumes of a reduced number of popular items. –Wikipedia

Mobile applicationProvide data for marketing and advertisement purposes in the music industry

Overall Summary and Conclusion