Writers Session
Setting out to redesign an existing mobile application, I was motivated to find opportunities where I could utilize my musical background to help solve problems for musicians and learn more about human behavior as it relates to music creation. Upon discovering the app, Writers Session, I found that the design had great potential but could use some help in terms of content priority, usability, look, and feel. Writers Session is a songwriting app that provides songwriters with a central place to document original lyrics and melodies. Starting as a student project that called for three redesigned user flows, I decided to dive deeper and continue to develop and iterate my solutions after the conclusion of the course.
Role
- User experience
- UI design
- Prototyping
- Sound design
Date
Jan 2020
Tools
- Sketch
- Photoshop
- After Effects
- ProtoPie
- Logic Pro
Writers Session
Your songwriting companion
Fuel your creativity and capture all your song ideas in one single place
Original App
In the original Writers Session app (version 1.8.3), users can capture quick notes and audio recordings or work on songs in sessions. Each session contains an audio recorder, a lyric sheet, a scratchpad, text editing options, and lyric writing tools such as rhymes, thesaurus, phrases, and a dictionary. All tools are accessible in one scrollable menu. Chords and section titles can be pasted into the lyric sheet. While the app offers an audio recorder and a metronome, it primarily caters to lyric writing.
Discovery
In the discovery phase, I employed a range of research methods to get a better understanding of the target audience and problem/opportunity space.
I started with a structured assessment of the current app to note potential and obvious usability issues. Evaluating competitor apps helped me learn from the competition and identify gaps in the market, while analyzing customer reviews provided initial user insights.
To explore songwriter behaviors and needs in more detail, I conducted user interviews with three diverse songwriters. Each interview included an informal user testing session on the original app, which helped me benchmark the existing user experience of Writers Session.
Focus
When and where songwriters write.
How songwriters document their ideas and interact with their phone in the process.
Expectations and motivations of a songwriting app.
Usability of the current app version.
Insights
The initial idea
May be a catchy title/word or a melodic/lyrical hook.
Songwriting =
A balance between emotional connection, structure, discipline, and inspiration.
Individuality
- Lyric/melody writer or both
- Experience level
- Writes using capo or not
- Solo/co-writer or both
Co-writing
Co-writers share files back and forth (e.g. using Messenger or email).
Frustrations
- Difficult to keep ideas organized as they get scattered across different mediums. It's overwhelming to sort through messy handwritten notes and long lists of randomly mixed voice memos.
- Ideas get lost when it's not clear which idea is meant for which song.
- Large files take up space and are time consuming to share.
- Not being able to access files when needed.
Sources of inspiration
- Spending time in head, while silently gazing at something (e.g. nature, people)
- Playing around on a guitar or piano
- Humming/spontaneous singing
- Listening to beats or chord progressions
- Headlines, words, expressions, phrases
- Recording software (e.g. Logic)
Unpredictable process
Ideas come from unexpected sources, at any time of day/night. It's important for writers to:
- Quickly document ideas in the moment before they disappear.
- Keep an open mind - initially accept all kinds of ideas and judge later.
Common ways to capture ideas
- Apple's Notes app
- Portable recorder
- Apple's Voice Memos app
- Pen and paper
- Text processing software
- Recording software (e.g. Logic)
Motivations
- Keep all song ideas organized in one place.
- Access songs to work on them anywhere.
- Find inspiration through melody and lyric tools.
- Write without being dependent on access to an instrument.
- Easily share or export song details.
Expectations
- App operations need to be quick and efficient to not impeed the writing process.
- Users need reassurance that their songs and ideas are kept safe and private.
- The visual experience and ease of use affect the creative process.
Empathy Maps
After synthesizing the findings from the interviews and testing sessions, I created three empathy maps to encourage empathy throughout the developmental phase. This process helped me identify trends in songwriting, better understand the individual needs of different types of writers, and find key pain points with the current product.
Project Goals
Nurture Creativity
- Design a fresh look and feel that excites and inspires.
- Incorporate fun micro-interactions and animations for clarity and engagement.
Add Value
- Provide more options to customize settings and personalize content.
- Add melody-writing tools to simplify melody creation and documentation.
- Ensure solutions are scalable (e.g. efficient search, customization).
Increase Efficiency
- Simplify flows, while allowing flexibility to suit writer preferences and stage-specific needs.
- Make valuable content easily accessible.
- Improve scannability and help users feel in control.
Improve Song Security
- Build trust with transparent feedback, help material, and song protection support.
Aid Collaboration
- Design tools that enhance and support collaboration.
Create
Content Strategy & Architecture
I began conceptualizing solutions by making many quick sketches and brainstorming workflows. Mapping out all original pages and features in a flowchart gave me an overview of the current content and structure, which I critically evaluated against user needs and goals. I then explored ideas for the new information architecture by restructuring the label, organization, and navigation systems.
Visualizing Stories
Through storyboarding, I could better visualize the user stories and attempt to predict users’ experience with the new system. The process helped me further understand when/where/how songwriters might interact with the product over time and their immediate needs in those moments.
Wireframes & Flows
With a plan in place for all key pages, I prioritized eleven user flows based on importance and time constraints. Using Sketch, I then refined concepts for the first nine flows through wireframes.
Targeted Flows
- Logging in with a passcode
- Adding a song
- Finding the notes in a melody
- Recording with a metronome
- Listening to a looped track while writing lyrics
- Adding and editing lyrics
- Sharing a song session with collaborators
- Adding song sections
- Writing lyrics and notes simultaneously
- Adding chords above lyrics
- Listening to chords/progressions
Prototype V1
With time allocated for a rapid prototype and one round of testing, I set out to implement the app’s visual design before finalizing a clickable prototype with InVision. Keeping in mind my interview participants prefer a dark background, I prioritized the design of a dark theme for the first iteration.
Balancing simplicity for quick construction with realism for an authentic feel was challenging for this project. Without advanced animations and sounds, I struggled to see how the prototype could adequately simulate the true experience of complex interactions such as the rotating menu and split-screen. The long flows presented another challenge. Since I couldn’t build screens for all possible responses, I was concerned that participants might encounter pages that didn’t align with their situation.
To address this, I explored workarounds, including providing behavior hints with basic transitions, splitting the flows into two sections, and experimenting with two versions: one allowing more freedom in user clicks and one with limited clickability to prevent content inaccuracies.
Evaluate
User Testing
I tested the prototype with three songwriters, each of whom were given scenarios and five tasks. Upon synthesizing the responses and observations, I organized the insights with severity levels and listed recommendations for each problem identified.
Iterating
Guided by the user insights, I went back to the drawing board to refine some of my solutions and assets, and to add the two final melody-related flows for a more valuable experience.
A/B Testing
I also sought feedback and conducted a few A/B tests with users between iterations. For example, I was curious to learn how the darkness of the dark theme background influenced the experience in terms of readability and enjoyability.
Deliver
Prototype
Main Pages
Targeted problems
Song Workspace
Targeted problems
Collaboration
Targeted problems
Audio Recorder
Targeted problems
Lyric Writing
Targeted problems
Writing Support
Targeted problems
