Problem Statement
Being a musician, it can sometimes be hard to find musicians with a similar interest in your area. Planning time to practice, writing music, finding shows to play takes a lot of work and frankly, luck. What if there was a way to help streamline this process?
Competitive Audit
First I did some research to see if there was an app that could solve some of these problems. The most helpful was BAND which was not specifically for musicians but it had good organizationals tools. With iRealPro it allowed for writing music on the fly via tablet or phone. Lastly Facebook provides the social aspect of being able to make a group to find local musicians. Although somewhat helpful, these apps did not completely solve the problem.
BAND
iRealPro
Affinity Diagram
Next, I interviewed 4 local musicians to get their feedback and possible pain points of starting a band and the complications that come from it.
Themes and Insights
Hard to find musicians - Musicians say it is hard to find musicians that not only share the same musical preferences but also the same goals, and musicianship.
Social Media - Some musicians like to use social media and have no issues using it to network and promote their band. Others are more introverted and/or don’t like using social media.
Songwriting - Some musicians have trouble learning or memorizing songs while others get frustrated at other members for not remembering.
Expenses - Musicians show interest in making more money from being in a band. They find it expensive to find a location to practice as well as create money to generate more band merchandise and equipment purchase or repair.
Persona
User Journey Map
Goal Statement
Band Together will let users find local musicians which will allow them to play with others and form a band. In addition it will provide tools that will assist in writing music, learning songs, communicating with members, creating band funding and help create shows to perform.
We can measure the effectiveness by looking at engagement rate (the percentage of users engaging in the app), follower growth (changes in the number of new followers), DAU (Daily Active Users), MAU (Monthly Active Users), and Group Success Rate (How many users join a group over time).
Information Architecture
User Flow
Paper Wireframe
Storyboard
Digital Wireframes
Low Fidelity Prototype
Upon turning the wireframes into workable prototypes, I found that I didn’t have a way to get back to the home screen. So I added a home button in the top left corner of each screen rather than adding another button at the bottom.
High Fidelity Prototype
Here we see the splash page that is displayed when opening the app. From here you can Login or create an account. Once Logged in you are greeted with the Home page.
The homepage features two sections that show recently added musicians and the ability to message them. Below that is Upcoming concerts in your area with the venue that is hosting. Each venue can also be messaged from this screen.
Navigation Bar
This design really benefits from having a master navigation bar to access each feature. Since each feature is different, these buttons allow for easy juggling between different tasks.
Musician Search
Profile
Band Management
I designed these icons from scratch to be simple yet detailed to be as self explainable as possible.
Band Practice
The profile is identical to other user profiles featuring your skillset as well as a bio.
Message history is also shown at the bottom for easy access to recent contacts.
A home button is always at the top in case you want to return.
The musician search page was the most requested feature in the interviews.
You start by using your zip code and filter what traits you are looking for in fellow musicians.
From here it gives you a list of candidates that you can message and view their profile.
During the interviews, some individuals said they had trouble memorizing parts of music other band members had written.
Other members were frustrated that songs were not getting learned.
With this page, any band member can use their phone camera to take pictures of written music or video and can upload them to be viewed by the band.
On the band management page we have is the ability to see each band member with the ability to message them or the whole group.
A shared calendar allows any band member to add an event, or block out a day.
Lastly there is a band fund section that allows donations and keeps the band informed of their budget.
Lastly, here is the venue search option This allows musicians to find venues that are local to their zip code.
Each venue has its own page that describes the venue and features messaging similar to the musician search page.
Venue Page
Venue owners can create their own venue page and create awareness while allowing bands to book events.
Refinements
After testing with users I corrected some issues.
First, the slider indicators were too small as well as the notch indicators for each slide position. I made these both larger which not only is better functionally, but it is also more pleasing to the eye.
Second, the instrument option of “Other” has been changed to “Keys” since keyboard would be a more popular option to look for.
On the Band Management page I added a cog button to edit the settings of the band name and band members.
Next, I added a Share feature at the bottom. This will allow users to share a link to contribute to the band page.
Final Mockup
Takeaways
If I had more time there are numerous things I would incorporate. I would also add some features and make a few changes.
Upon user testing, I found that the sliders filter could benefit from more specific indicators. Specifically more instrument options to select for example synthesizer, hand percussion, and classical instruments. This would also include the ability to select multiple instruments instead of just picking one for their user profile.
The ability to make the band fund feature shareable would be nice. This would allow people who are not on Band Together to donate to the band via social media. I did add a share button, but more would need to be developed to complete this feature.
Testers also mentioned a rating system for venues. This would be similar to the filters for musician profiles but it would be tailored for venues. For example, staff responsiveness, cleanliness, stage size, average attendance and max capacity, and admission price.
Overall, I really had fun with this design. The intent was to allow people to connect and form relationships to write and perform music. This app brings the human element back into music by allowing the user to find a real musician instead of using a digital substitute. I haven’t seen anything like it before and as a fellow musician I think this would be an excellent resource for all musicians.