Context

Podzee’s creation began with a common prompt:

“An imaginary startup company launched a media product (Podcast Player) two years ago. At this point, the product has been well received and has a healthy user base of free users. They now need to design an experience that will allow users to subscribe and pay a monthly fee.”

Project Constraints:

• 1.5 month project

• Sole designer

• Mobile app for 18 - 24 year olds

• Media Player

Project Goals:

• Create the opportunity for new and returning users to subscribe to the premium product in the sign-up/in flows as well as within the product (once logged in).

• Encourage new and returning users to subscribe to the premium product.

Not another media player redesign?!

As an avid podcast listener I chose to focus on Podcast Players. I began the project expecting to uncover usability issues with current podcast apps and eventually come up with an innovative solution that would make my design stand out.

However after conducting research, looking at available apps and speaking with the target demographic I realized I needed to shift focus. Creating a podcast player that would outshine what's currently available on the market would be a fruitless task.

Research showed me that the market was flooded with apps that had all the features to make a great user experience, that had intuitive designs and desired content. Yet they were not getting widespread attention or retention from podcast listeners.

I needed to figure out another way to retain new users and consistent listeners while encouraging them to subscribe to a premium service.

View Prototype

Deciding on a direction

I begin the project by writing out a Project Plan to organize my thoughts and get a handle on the scope and timeline. I created a Research Plan to concisely describe the different research methods I chose and why.

Competitor Analysis

I conducted a competitor analysis and review of media players with freemium models, as well as other products that used unique methods to encourage users to pay a premium. The goal was to learn the ways in which other companies had altered the pay structure of their products, whether successfully or not.

I looked at Spotify, Youtube Music, Pandora, Audible and Discord. View Competitor Analysis

I learned that

• Making boring things fun can help with conversion.

• Making subscribing as clear and easy as possible helps with conversion.

• Reminding users of the benefits of subscribing when relevant helps with conversion.

• Free stuff helps with conversion.

Desk Research

I then went on to conduct desk research to determine demographics and review existing applications. I read industry reviews and research articles and looked into the direct market competition studying over twenty different podcast players currently on the market. 

Top 5 insights

1. A larger percentage of podcast listeners are between 12 and 35, white, college educated and or middle class, than the US population, however podcast listeners overall are a diverse group.

2. Podcast listeners are more likely to be technologically proficient.

3. There are lots of ways to listen to podcasts but people tend to stick with apps they know i.e. the most popular podcast apps are Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

4. Podcast apps are generally free with ads or have a subscription model that eliminates ads and freemium models are a popular revenue choice.

5. There are a lot of podcast search and playback features that improve the user experience.

Six Remote Interviews

I connected with 6 individuals between the ages of 18-24 who had experience using podcast players and led remote interviews with each of them. 

Goals

• To identify and begin to understand target users.

• To discover their current expectations and pain points while using podcast players.

• To find out what would motivate them to subscribe to a service.

Takeaways

• Annoy the user but not too much

  • The desire to get rid of ads and pop ups as well as gaining access to subscription based features gets users to subscribe albeit sometimes resentfully.

• Content is King

  • Having access to a wide range of podcasts and exclusive or desirable podcast gets people to use one app over another.

• Make it easy to find and play content

  • Good playback features make for a good user experience.

  • Discoverability of podcasts and episodes is key to a successful user experience .

• Deals, deals, deals!

  • Student discounts and access to a variety of subscription options encourages buyer satisfaction.

Synthesis and Redirection

From all of my research I learned that

• Focusing on a younger demographic has merit.

• Freemium models are becoming more common among podcast players.

• My target demographic is reluctant to use new podcast apps.

All six of the people I interviewed used either Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to podcasts. My research into what podcast apps are available for IOS and Android showed me that well made, intuative applications exist.

My target demographic use the default podcast app on their device or the app they use for music out of convenience and familiarity, not because they think they are good. However, all of the usability pain points that I uncovered from interviewing could have been solved by switching to one of the many existing podcast apps that are just less well known.

I decided to redirect my focus for the project. Instead of trying to come up with the best features or UI for a Podcast Player, I chose to test a theory.

The messaging app Discord uses gamification to sell it’s premium subscribtion. I was curious to see if using a similar technique could help sell premium services on a media player app.

I hypothesized that I could increase conversion by making pop ups about premium services fun and “gifting” features to consistent users.

Research Synthesis Report

Designing for Daniel & Eliza

To begin to envision the gamified podcast player designed for 18-24 year olds, I needed to decide on a name and visual style. Thus Podzee was born.

Podzee is fun, bold and hip. 

It’s uniquely diverse, but somehow always familiar. 

Podzee is where you go to listen to the podcasts you love.

I designed a logo and picked font styles and a colorway that that represented these ideals.

I created personas to better understand the user and figure out their needs and desires.

Gamification Ideation & Iteration

With Eliza and Daniel in mind I ideated features that Podzee would need in order to create a MVP that lived up to the other podcast apps available. Once I had a better idea of what Daniel and Eliza would need from Podzee in order for it to be competitive, I asked questions to move beyond creating a viable podcast player.

How might we entice users to pay for a premium service?

How might we make mundane interactions feel exciting?

How might we retain loyal users and engage new ones while introducing a new freemium model?

Solutions

To help in the ideation process I created user flows of red routes and sketched out preliminary ideas for screens that would be accessed on those routes. I sketched out a system of badges and levels that would reward users for interacting with the prototype and entice them to sign up for premium.

View Sketches

• Fun imagery, badges and levels

  • To give incentive to people to continue to interact with Podzee.

  • To help make mundane tasks exciting.

• Exclusive content

  • To gives people incentive to use Podzee over other podcast players.

• Balanced advertizing and restrictions

  • Finding a balance between restricted features, advertisements and an enjoyable free experience will retain users while encouraging them to switch to premium. 

• Options to try premium services for less

  • Student discounts and free trials help people to feel confident in purchasing Premium.

Wireframes

I refined my sketches and turned them into low fidelity wireframes

Testing

I then tested the wireframes with three participants to determine any usability or conceptual issues before building a high fidelity prototype. 

I created a test script with a series of probing questions to make sure the tests were consistent and thorough. The results from my testing showed a few usability issues which I was able to correct before moving forward with the designs. View Testing Results

Critical issues 1

• 3 out of the 3 participants found the account/activity page to be too cluttered creating confusion and cognitive overload

Solution

So I moved the account information to a separate page found in the settings and dedicated the navigation tab to user activity.

Critical issues 2

• 2 of the 3 participants had trouble understanding or felt uncomfortable with the login/sign up page when it contained a large ad for premium

Solution

I simplified the Login/ Sign Up page and created a button for premium instead of a large ad.

This way users could still sign up for premium from the sign in page but it would not overwhelm new users or confuse them into thinking there was no alternative to premium.

Bringing Podzee to Life

With my wireframes analyzed and finalized I felt confident to move on to creating my first iteration of screens in high fidelity using Figma.

Using Figma I created a prototype of my first iteration HiFi screens.

I designed the prototype so that testers would receive badges and see ads for premium as they interacted with it.

Testing Neon Badges

With my prototype complete I began testing. I recruited 5 willing participants through mutual acquaintances who were 18-24 year olds and had experience using podcast players.

Remote Moderated Usability Tests

The tests were between 30 and 40 minutes and administered remotely via video chat and screen share. The participants responded to a High Fidelity Prototype and were asked to perform tasks and answer questions about what they were interacting with. 

I wanted to uncover any usability issues with Podzee’s

• Navigation

• Hierarchy

• Visuals

• Word choices

But most importantly

I wanted to test the concept of gamification in regards to enticing users to use Podzee over competitors and ultimately sign up a premium service.

“I really like the vibe of the rewards, with the neon, I think it's really cool. I like them because it encourages [me] to use the app more… being able to unlock things when you use [features] more is good as well” 

- Michelle, 21 years old

What I learned

• Overall users responded well to Podzee

• The design was seen as intuitive and aesthetically pleasing

• Users enjoyed the Podzee Rewards, that it was fun and delightful and would encourage them to use the app

• Users found the price of Premium with the student discount to be very reasonable and the features they gained would be considered worth it

Iterations

Critical usability issues

Testing also uncovered a couple critical usability issues

• 3 of the 5 participants said that it was unclear what the rewards were on the “My Podzee Rewards” page

  • Users said that it was unclear what the rewards were on the “My Podzee Rewards” page, and that if they were a fist time user who had not yet received badges then they would not understand. 

• 2 out of the 5 participants found the Learn about Premium page to be unclear

  • Users also found certain phrases on the “Learn About Premium” page to be confusing, specifically Customizable Playback Settings, and Customizable Interface. They mentioned having a page that further explained what you gain from premium would be helpful.

Minor usability issues included

• 1 participant found that the subscribe to podcast plus sign on the discover page to be confusing

• 1 participant noticed a back button on one of the main navigation pages, which is counter intuitive and implies that you are not on the main nav page

• 1 participant mentioned feeling hesitant to subscribe to a podcast because it felt like a commitment

View Final Iteration Prototype

Gamifications Limitations

Podzee needs desireable exclusive content

From testing with Podzee I concluded that gamification would help with new user conversion and likely encourage returning users to stay with the app through the transition to a freemium model.

However, I found that gamification as implemented in Podzee would not necessarily be enough on its own to encourage users to subscribe to premium. 

Multiple participants mentioned that subscribing would ultimately come down to whether or not they enjoyed the exclusive content on Podzee.

Project limitations

Without a pre-existing product and user base, it was difficult to accurately test gamification’s success as a conversion tool from free users to paid users.

In an ideal scenario there would be a product that already existed and had a loyal user base. Being able to use analytics and look at data regarding how people currently use a platform would be invaluable in coming up with the best way to implement a solution. Also testing new concepts with users who are familiar with the platform would have yielded more accurate results. 

My solution was to create Podzee. I designed a podcast player that took the best features and design from existing models and conducted primary research to learn what my target demographic was looking for in a podcast app. 

By doing this I was able to make a MVP that could test well. I was able to use that product to test the concept of gamification as a transition tool from a free media app to a freemium subscription model.

This project showed me that gamification can be used successfully in a media app for user retention.