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OVERVIEW
Duration: 8 weeks
Project Type: UX Design class individual project Key Skills: Survey and interview design, sketching, usability testing, hi-fi interactive prototyping |
METHODS
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PROBLEM
How podcast service platform can help listeners to get the best out of the content ?
How podcast service platform can help listeners to get the best out of the content ?
With the rapid growth of podcasting platforms, it is rapidly becoming a staple for listening experiences. Its versatility, convenience, familiarity, and spontaneity make the message easier for the audience to digest. But for many people who are eager to learn from blogs for inspiration and inspiration, how to really remember and learn from what they've heard seems to be a common puzzle. In this project I hope to explore the redesign of the current podcast system and how to better enable users to access new information.
TARGET USER
People treat podcast as a source to learn and acquire new information.
People treat podcast as a source to learn and acquire new information.
When I first started the project with a problem statement, I was broadly looking at audience was have regular engagement (1/mon) on the the podcast platform. As I narrowed down the scope to podcast service user, who listen to podcast as a source to acquire new knowledge and information, however finding themself often losing their ah-ha moments afterwards.
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SOLUTION
A podcast service help you remember the moment you were inspired The result is a podcast App called Thoughts, The application keeps its focuses on helping podcast listeners to better retain their moments of inspiration as they listen. Users can listen to clips that make sense to them and record their current thoughts to help them remember the next time.
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SECONDARY RESEARCH
Who are those Super Listeners?
They have greater content consumption, more podcast subscriptions, listening when moving, and prefer in-depth podcast contents
According to a survey conducted by the Knight Foundation on National Public Radio, WNYC, American Public Media, WBUR, PRX and Gimlet Media. (For more on the methodology and other mainstream podcast channels, listeners pointed out those super listeners 1) consumes twice the content, 2) prefer a subscription based model and time-shifted consumption, 3) prefers mobile content and listen on the go, 4) they are royal evangelist; 5) they prefers in-depth content.
Why are they drawn to podcast?
The intimacy and sociality aspect of the podcast constitute a space of interaction and connection for the listeners
They listen to podcasts mostly on their own, but when alone, they choose to listen to podcasts, which makes them feel connected to the host and the content. So when they cut themselves off from others and explore solitude, they want to connect spiritually with others.
Markman, Kris M, & Markman, Kris M. (3/7/2015).
When are they listening to podcast?
At home, driving, taking the bus at work, walking and exercising were the most popular podcasts time
According to Edison Research, the average listener listens to a blog 7 times a week. 49% percent said they listened at home, 22 percent while driving, taking the bus at work, walking and exercising were the most popular podcasts.
INTERVIEW INSIGHTS
Why they are drawn to podcast?
A solitary moment to reflect and expand to new areas of learning
They are engaged with content that is not a part of their own history or collection of information, or that of their social network. This can allow them to refocus on learning new content through listening, and often can trigger them to reflect on things that never thought of. |
Carry their thoughts to be a part of a conversation
Podcasts felt like they were friendly included in a close circle conversation over topics they enjoyed without the pressure to be physically present in a real social group. Being part of a conversation as a passive listener allowed our participants to enjoy their alone time and bond with hosts over the subject matter of the podcast. |
When do they listen to podcast?
Productive listening and serious listening
"Productive" is a common description of podcasting multitasking experience. Listening is a way to expand your world while doing other things physically. I have a commute time, so ... I will listen to the podcast and try to educate myself in a way that makes it more efficient than converting by car. |
"Friendship" with the host, curious about the ideas of other listeners
Participants said that they and the podcast host seem to have formed a "seeming face-to-face relationship" with the host through this single way of communication. For example, one of the interview participants mentioned, "Most of the podcasts I listen to, I think I can be friends with them in real life." But some listeners will mention that this listening relationship is missing from other listeners. Exchange of ideas. |
What is currently missing from their podcast listening?
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Reproduction/And recollection on the newly acquired content
Forgetting details from a podcast is one of the things that brought up by the participant, whether it's a topic that they're really interested in or want to know about. They use different methods to help them retain the moments of inspiration, such as taking notes, re-listening to podcasts, and engaging in conversations. |
Social Gratification from other listeners
Just like establishing a "friend" relationship with the broadcaster, they will understand from time to time how other people will react during the listening process. One participant from the interview mentioned that she often checks Twitter for multitasking to see podcast responses from other listeners and tweet to hosts. She enthusiastically admitted: "Sometimes I want them to even read my tweets!" |
CONCEPLIZATION
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CONCEPT 1
Capture sentences to help collect inspirational moments 
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CONCEPT 2
Provide users with opportunities for small-scale communication within the platform 
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CONCEPT3
Provide listeners with the ability to record their thoughts and ideas 
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1) It matches the behavior of the highlight part within the episode of the record shared by most users. They only need to intercept the most touching passages in the audio without having to copy them one by one.
2) This design itself can be well combined with the episode outlines and overview features from most podcast platforms. |
This idea may go against those who spend a good amount of time on the podcast against the idea that they want it to be their solitary time.
Through testing, I learned that users only communicate with specific groups or individuals that they trust about what they took out from the episod, rather than want to have a fierce discussion with each other. |
Although this idea fulfills the audience's need to find how other listeners' thinks towards the same episodes of content. In the concept verification process the participants said that although they felt they would use feature to ask related podcasts, or books that might help them extend their curiosity. But they still feel a bit reserved from this idea, because they don't want podcast to be another "noisy" social media.
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DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
1. Podcast provides space for solitude and thinking, and my design should not break this tranquility
2. Design allows users to participate in "conversations" in consciousness and action, making knowledge more adhesive
3. Design can deepen the features that users currently like, such as content summary, program script
USER FLOW / TASK FLOW
LOW-FI TESTING
Usability tests show the concept is clear. But users would like to have...
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Use their thought to help recollection User mentioned in usability tests that when they tried to recall episodes they thought were meaningful, they often relied on their instant record they have at that the time. Therefore, I restructured the order of information display, so that their own note will be their first hand content to help with rough recall, and actual audio track help them find more precise and accurate information. |
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Give attention to what they already pay attention to I initially provided users with trending episodes from popular shows on their landing screen to help them get informed on their potential favorite shows. However, in the low-fi testing, several users mentioned that they have less interest in knowing the most popular shows than finishing what's new from their subscribed shows. Therefore, I modified this interface to prioritize the push for their subscribed channel, and categorized the popular episodes into topics based on their current subscription menue. |
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Label for efficient recall Someone mentioned an interesting scenario-they often have the habit of repeating podcasts episodes on-and- off to help them recollect the moments that are worth remembering. So I made digital markups on the episodes they listened to and captured quotes from, so that it easier for them to review when they feel like it's time for a review. |
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FINAL DESIGN
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FEATURE 1 Highlight the inspirational quote as your listen The design provides users with the ability to capture meaningful moments while listening to podcasts, and helps those users who view podcasts as a learning channel to better capture and capture the moments they are interested in. |
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FEATURE 2 Thoughts Recollection After capturing podcast quotes clip, users can use the My Thoughts Tab to access their note from their previously listened and tagged podcasts. Users can sort their quotes by shows or arrange them in chronological order. |
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What's Next?
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With less of a time constraint, I would have liked to conduct more rounds of user research and include research in each stage of the process. Ideally constrains from different stakeholders would make a design much tighter and fitter. I would also want to spend more time on exploring the detailed interactions users while they use for notes taking. |
What did I learn?
Being empathic is not a easy thing
When you really care about the participants and their experiences, the same experiences, you don't just think of them as research objects, you really want you to understand them better.
When you really care about the participants and their experiences, the same experiences, you don't just think of them as research objects, you really want you to understand them better.
Think about what you don't want to do
What you choose not to do is almost as important as what you do. User research insights and findings can certainly prep a good foundation for a creative design, but as a designer we need to be critical and ground ourself to think the impact might lay behind the design, and what impact you hope to see happen as well.
What you choose not to do is almost as important as what you do. User research insights and findings can certainly prep a good foundation for a creative design, but as a designer we need to be critical and ground ourself to think the impact might lay behind the design, and what impact you hope to see happen as well.