Spotify User Study

Mobile Application
iOS Device
By Kirstin Phelps

User Overview
User: Fluffy
Occupation: research programmer
Age: 35
Device: iOS Apple phone
Xis familiar with Spotify, though he uses the

desktop version primarily. His familiarity and use of

the iOS app is a few times a month, at most, since
most of his experience is with the desktop version.

Task Overview
Mark worked through 4 tasks related to the iOS

Spotify application. These tasks were stated as:

1) Find a genre of music that fits your current

feelings, and subscribe to it

2) Create a playlist of songs you like

3) Can you find an artist you like, and find a way to
keep up to date with what is happening with them?

4) Find or add a friend

Task 1: Find and subscribe to

a station

Fluffy first started at the home menu and experienced

initial confusion on what was meant by his stations.
He started by looking at the Recommended
Stations, which contained artists he recognized as
liking previously.

Task 1 contd
He selected the one of the recommended stations
and was confused initially by both the song, and the
fact that it was a Playlist Radio. He did not realize
the playlist radio came from his formerly starred, or
liked tracks.

Task 1 contd
When he tried to go to find a station to listen to by genre
(because he liked this feature on the desktop version), he
experienced a point of annoyance with the interruption of
an ad, and then when music started playing again by the
band Hearts, he was extremely confused because it was
not reflective of his taste in music at all.

It wasnt until a
few seconds had
gone by that he
realized it was
an ad.

Task 1 contd
Going back to the menu, he found the Browse bar,
which allowed him to browse radio stations by genre
or mood.

Task 1 contd
Knowing he was looking for something to help him
work, he selected the mood Focus, and was happy to
see a playlist called Chill Step, which he was familiar
with from the desktop version.

Task 1 contd
Selecting the playlist, he was successfully able to use
the three dot option bar on the top right to follow the
playlist on his mobile device. He liked the
confirmation pop-up which confirmed he was now
following the station.

Task 1: Wrap-Up
The user was able to successfully complete the task. Specifically, he:
Oriented himself with some initial navigating back and forth between the
menus and pages
Used the menu frequently, choosing this as a way to re-orient himself rather
than using the back buttons or other in-screen navigation buttons (options,
menus, etc).
Surprisingly, the user did not seem familiar with some of the basic terminology
of the site. For example,
He was confused on why some of his recommended stations were
recommended
He did not understand where his playlist radio came from within his use of
the application.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the ability to be able to view the list of
songs from each playlist.
Additionally, he often compared this app to the desktop application, and
referenced things by commenting I know this is here on the desktop version, or I
like it when it is more visible at my computer. Such comments may highlight the
users who use Spotify across a variety of applications and look for cues among
apps to navigate on different devices.

Task 2: Create a playlist

Fluffy started out by first going to the menu and then
selecting Your Music to create a playlist.
However, a first point of confusion was only seeing the
option to delete playlists from this page.
He missed
the + in
the top left
to add a
playlist from
this page.

Task 2 contd
He next tried going to a specific playlist, selecting his
Starred list to view. From this page, he was able to
see the + and was able to add a new playlist
successfully.

Task 2: Wrap Up
The user was able to successfully complete the task of creating a new
playlist. What he did to complete this task included:
Working from his music in the main menu
Tried to add a playlist from his playlist page, but was turned off by
the visible delete buttons and failed to see the add playlist button
designated by the + in the top right (or left) corners
Attempted adding a playlist from a particular song and from looking
at a playlist itself.
Surprisingly, the user did not realize the bottom bar on the page which
showed the current music playing was a slider button, which could be
maximized or minimized on the page.
He also came up against some differences and usability annoyances due
to different levels of accounts. With a free account, for example, the
user could not select a specific song from one of his playlists. The only
options were either shuffle play or the option to add the song to a
playlist. He found this annoying to navigate, as his first reaction was
always to select the song, not the three dot extra option menu to the
right of the song.

Task 3: Find and follow an

artist
Fluffy again started with the menu, this time taking
some time deciding which option to choose. He
finally decided on Search to find an artist.

Task 3: Find and follow an

artist
Once he found his artist, he chose the > arrow to the
right of their name, but did not see any options to
follow so returned to the previous menu.

Task 3: Find and follow an

artist
It was only by selecting the artist image, rather than
the > arrow that allowed him to follow the artist.
However, it took him a while to see the Follow link
underneath the artist name and image.

Task 3: Wrap Up
Again, the user was able to successfully complete the task.
Some behaviors witnessed included:
Starting with the main menu for all actions
Difficulty with the visibility of options, such as Follow
Confusion on where and when to click additional navigation
buttons (i.e. >) versus the artist or song image

Even after 2 previous tasks, the user still seemed to have

difficulty with the flow of the application. Particularly in regards
to seeing options, which may be due to the color scheme, or
knowing when to click additional menus or the image of the song
itself. Surprisingly, this behavior of having to go back due to a
wrong turn continued throughout the entire usability study and
never seemed to be remedied. The user simply got better and
knowing the page he was on was not the right one.

Task 4: Add a friend

The user went first to the main
menu, and then spent some time
trying to decide what option to
choose.
He finally decided on the Activity
option due mainly to the image of
the two people used, which he
took for meaning friends.

Task 4: Add a friend

However, the activity option
seemed to mostly be about social
media activity either posted by
artists or through the spotify
news service about artists or
events.
He was going to return to the
menu when he saw the icon in the
upper right.

Task 4: Add a friend

Selecting this icon gave him a
screen where he could follow
artists or find friends on
Facebook, which the user didnt
like. His comment, what if they
arent on Facebook, or I dont want
to link it? summed up his
frustration with the limited
options.

Task 4: Add a friend

Instead, he returned to the menu and used the search
button to look for an individual friend.
Clicking the friends icon allowed the user to follow this
individual.

Task 4: Wrap Up
The user successfully completed the task of finding and
following a friend. He:
Started again with the main menu for all actions
Expressed confusion understanding the meaning of the
Activity option and the icon
Used the search bar as a default action when something
wasnt clear
Expressed annoyance at having options limited to inviting
individuals from Facebook or searching artists
The user began to be faster at navigating the interface, though
he seemed to know more that the page was not the one he was
looking for rather than knowing where to go initially. Comments
comparing the app to the desktop version continued but there
did not seem to be any annoyance between the two as the study
progressed, it was more a way for the user to help find
information that he knew was included in the desktop version
and assumed was also included in the application.

User Thoughts: Liked

Generally, Fluffy liked the following aspects of the Spotify
app:

Basic format easy to follow

Menu simple, limited but relevant options
Search worked well
Emphasis on the radio aspects
Ease (once you got the steps down) to follow people,
lists, genres of interest

Overall design of the app clear to see and use

User Thoughts: Confusion

Items Fluffy didnt like, or found confusing:

Some icons were hard to understand

Adding playlist functionality had to be done through a
song, thought should be available to add directly from
his playlists

Current song icon at the bottom not clear at first this

was slider on the page

Not clear had to go to Activity to find friends to follow

From Activity didnt like you had options only to look
for friends on Facebook or follow artists, but thankfully
the search worked well to overcome this

User Actions Review

Most of the users actions started with the main

menu. Perhaps this orienting feature and familiarity

of the hamburger menu icon helped provide a
touchstone for an unfamiliar interface

Similarly, the search button was used frequently.

Part of this could be due to ease or saving time, as

the user seemed at times confused by when to use
action buttons or click the song/album image

Comparison to alternate versions was frequent.

Perhaps as a way to orient himself, or self-verify

that information should be present in the app that
is present in the desktop version

Relation to Readings
Jakob Nielsens Usability Heuristics applied to
some of the recognition behaviors the user
displayed

Cooper, Reimann & Cronins discussion of mental

models applied to some of the mental imagery and

organization the user displayed in referring back to
his knowledge of the desktop version of the
application (About Face 3, Chapter 2)

Redesign Speculations
Given the results of the usability study, I would
recommend the following modifications to Spotify:
1) More documentation and clarity of actions particularly
around paid vs. free options for users
2) Increase visibility of action buttons and actions, such as
Follow, possibly by playing around with the color scheme
3) Modify some of the titles of actions, such as modifying
the Activity to something like Social to increase
awareness of the use of that option
4) Clarifying the difference in terms, such as starred, liked,
your playlists, etc to make sure terminology is consistent
and visible for users