Beginning The Process
IN-DEPTH Interview Guide created by me
In developing an interview guide for Spotify aimed at exploring the profound impact of music on individuals' lives, I formulated questions to make clear the intricate relationship between music and human experience. The initial inquiry seeks to unravel the subtle ways in which music influences individuals' mood and emotions within their daily routines, highlighting its capacity to uplift spirits or provide solace. Subsequently, the guide delves into the pivotal role of music in bolstering productivity and concentration across various domains, such as work, exercise, or study, shedding light on its transformative potential to enhance focus. Lastly, the guide probes the complexities of music selection, examining the factors that shape listeners' decisions in curating playlists tailored to different moments of the day. Through these meticulously crafted research questions, the interview guide serves as a potent instrument to uncover the profound ways in which music intertwines with and enriches the tapestry of daily life.
In-Depth Interview Guide created by our group
In a collaborative effort, our team embarked on the task of creating an encompassing interview guide by leveraging the diverse perspectives and expertise of each member. Initially, we independently crafted individual guides, drawing from our unique insights and research questions. However, recognizing the value of synergy and consistency in our approach, we convened to combine our efforts. Through a collaborative exchange, we meticulously scrutinized and merged each other's questions, identifying common themes and refining our inquiries to ensure comprehensiveness and coherence. This repeated process not only facilitated the alignment of our objectives but also enriched the interview guide with a multifaceted perspective, encompassing a broad spectrum of insights. Ultimately, the culmination of our collective efforts yielded a robust group interview guide that would serve as a unified framework for our individual interviews, ensuring consistency in the data collection process and enabling us to extract comprehensive insights into our research topic.
Affinity Diagramming
Affinity diagramming is a collaborative technique utilized to streamline and interpret substantial volumes of data, particularly qualitative data, by discerning patterns, themes, and correlations. It entails categorizing analogous concepts or data points to unveil overarching themes or trends. In our project, we employed this methodology to distill insights collected from individual interviews into coherent patterns and themes. Initially, each team member independently analyzed their interview data, discerning recurrent ideas, concepts, or expressions and assigning them codes. Subsequently, we convened as a group to unite our findings and collectively discern common codes across the dataset. Through discourse, comparison, and consensus-building, we clustered related codes to formulate broader themes or patterns. By collecting individual perspectives into a collective understanding, we derived the decisive issues of our research findings, facilitating the development of a comprehensive understanding of our target audience. This process culminated in creating a user persona, a fictitious representation of our target user grounded in the identified common codes and themes, serving as a valuable compass for guiding product development and decision-making.
Quotes from Interviews implemented in affinity diagramming:
"Like working out or something, I like to listen to, like, heavier rock music. But if I'm studying or something, I like to listen to meditation music, like just like no words or anything."
"I wake up. And then when I have to walk to class, I'll listen to music with my Air Pods."
User Persona
In our group project, we individually undertook the task of crafting a persona background, all using the same set of parameters. Each member of our team engaged in the process of developing the persona of Emily Johnson, a 20-year-old accounting student originating from Indiana. Drawing upon our collective insights and imagination, we fleshed out Emily's backstory, incorporating details that reflected her familial environment and personal interests. From her upbringing in a close-knit family to her profound passion for music, we each contributed elements to Emily's character, resulting in a multifaceted portrayal that felt both authentic and compelling. When we convened to share and compare our individual interpretations, we were struck by the depth and complexity of our combined narrative. Through collaborative discussion and brainstorming, we meticulously constructed a comprehensive user profile for Emily, encapsulating her identity as a music enthusiast seeking tailored playlist recommendations and an uninterrupted streaming experience. In Emily's world, music transcends mere entertainment—it serves as a fundamental aspect of her daily life, permeating her experiences and shaping her sense of self. We then took this persona and conducted an empathy mapping.
Empathy Mapping
Empathy mapping serves as a pivotal technique within design thinking and user experience (UX) design, aimed at fostering a profound comprehension of users' needs, emotions, and interactions within a specific context. By constructing visual representations that explain various dimensions of a user's behavior, thoughts, and sentiments, designers can collect insights crucial for the development of products or services aligned with users' expectations. In our group project, following the establishment of the user persona, Emily Johnson, each member embarked on crafting individual empathy maps to delve into Emily's intricacies regarding her engagement with music. Through an analysis of Emily's actions, emotions, thoughts, and verbal expressions in diverse scenarios, profound insights were collected. For instance, my contribution highlighted Emily's delight in music-sharing endeavors with friends, her frustration stemming from the struggle to discover new resonating songs, her yearning for personalized playlist recommendations, and her annoyance at disruptive ads during streaming sessions. These nuanced observations facilitated informed discussions and decision-making processes, guiding our efforts to enhance Emily's user experience, particularly in the realm of music streaming services.
Journey Mapping
Journey mapping stands as a strategic tool widely utilized in design thinking and user experience (UX) design, aimed at mapping out and examining the different stages and interactions of a user's journey with a product, service, or process. Through this visual depiction, designers gain insights into users' motivations, behaviors, and emotional responses, thus identifying areas of friction and opportunities for enhancement. In our collaborative endeavor, our group convened to construct a journey map tailored to Emily Johnson's experiences with music streaming services. Leveraging our collective insights and creativity, we meticulously crafted scenarios and objectives reflective of Emily's journey. Subsequently, we engaged in comprehensive discussions to anticipate and empathize with Emily's emotional states at each juncture, as illustrated in the accompanying photo to the right. By immersing ourselves in Emily's feelings and viewpoints throughout her music streaming journey, we deepened our understanding of her needs and aspirations, thereby guiding our efforts to refine her user experience.