Disney Music App
I am sure you have heard of Apple Music and Spotify, but have you heard of a music platform made specifically for children? The Disney Music App is the first innovative way to provide users with a kid friendly music platform to listen to.
My Role:
User Research
Platforms:
IOS, Mobile
Year:
2019-2021
User Interviews
User Observations
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Current Problems
After conducting User Research I found that there is no readily available music streaming service for children. With music being as popular as it is, having a music platform tailored towards children is crucial for the uprise in streaming services.
Gathering Insights
Method #1:
User Interviews
After conducting many User Interviews I found the main responses to be geared towards streaming services. Many users believe that streaming services for both music and TV are on the uprise. According to the respondents, many use these platforms everyday. I conducted these interviews over a school teacher, parents, and a child. I asked if they had any complaints about the streaming services today? I received many complaints about children not having readily available, age appropriate, music services.
Method #2:
User Observations
After conducting User Observations, I found streaming services to be widely utilized. From the study, I observed one user, a 3rd grade school teacher, play songs from Apple Music while the students studied. I noticed the teacher struggle to find appropriate songs to play. I also noticed that the most common music streaming services used were Apple Music and Spotify. The takeaway from this observation was that the teacher utilized Apple Music, but seemed to be distracted as they tried to find new songs to play that would be age appropriate.
Key Drivers
After conducting multiple interviews, observations, and researching further into the topic, I found three important factors that stood out.
Benefits of Listening to Music
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"If children are deprived of sufficient experience of sounds at the early stages of learning they will be prevented in all other areas of the curriculum" (Beaton, 1994).
Music is beneficial to people of all ages, including the very young. Many different research articles have discussed the topic of how important music is to adolescents. According to an article "Music was found to provide adolescents with a medium through which to construct, negotiate, and modify aspects of their personal and group identities offering them a range of strategies for knowing themselves and connecting with others" (Arnett, 1995; Larson, 1995; North and Hargreaves, 2002).
The next topic I focused on was the type of music a child listened to and if it made a difference in their life. I found that, "Parents are often unaware of the lyrics to which their children are listening because of the increasing use of downloaded music and headphones. Lyrics have become more explicit in their reference to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres" (Pediatrics, 2009). Another article went on to talk about adolescents who preferred heavy metal and rap music were shown to have had below-average grades along with a history of counseling for academic problems (Took KD, Weiss DS, 1994).
Effects of Music Genre on Children
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"Music plays an important role in the socialization of children and adolescents"
(Roe K, 1985; Roberts DF, 2001; Leming JS, 1987)
Popularity of Streaming Music
" According to the Recording Industry Association of America, a 2018 year-end music industry revenue report showed there was double digit growth from paid subscription services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and others" (Annual Report)
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I conducted an Interview with a mom of two, asking the question "How do you feel about the music streaming services taking over the music industry?" Her response indicated that while music streaming was easily accessible to adults, there was a lack of appropriate services for children. She pointed out that the apps available today provide access to all types of music, including those with inappropriate lyrics and music videos. I also interviewed an elementary school teacher asking the same question. She agreed with the previous responder and went on to point out the difficulty of playing appropriate music for students in the classroom.
What Does This Mean?
With the launch of Disney+, a video on-demand streaming subscription service aimed at children, there seems to be the perfect opportunity to make a companion Disney streaming music app that will be approved by parents and teachers alike. With research showing the effects music has on children, adolescents, and how the streaming industry is on the rise, now is the perfect time to create a new Music Streaming Service.
DESIGN STYLE GUIDE
Color Scheme
I created a color scheme based off of the new Disney+ streaming service. I wanted to utilize colors that would capture children's attention and give them a magical experience. The backgrounds selected were made to make children think Disney. Overall, the color scheme is mainly dark with an accent of blue.
Components
I chose components to match the scheme of Disney+. I made the buttons round, icons all IOS themed, and kept the movie covers to be the same shape as shown on Disney+. I wanted the icons and buttons to be easy to identify in order to accommodate all ages and enhance the User Experience.
Getting Started
The Disney Music app offers children an easy, accessible streaming service to listen to their favorite Disney movie sound track. The app is designed in a similar pattern to the new Disney movie streaming service. The home screen displays a series of movie covers the same as shown on Disney+ to help children easily identify them. This feature is going to help solve an issue that was brought up during the interviews which was,
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Once you select the movie soundtrack you want to listen to, click on the cover and a playlist will appear. The songs will be arranged in the same order they were played in the movie. Either play the entire soundtrack or a specific song and enjoy.
“young children who struggle to spell big words would not benefit from the available music streaming services as they require you to look up songs”.
Start listening to your favorite soundtracks in an effortless and magical way
Watch and Sing Along
The watch feature allows users to listen to their favorite songs while watching them come to life with the exact movie scene as shown on Disney+
Create a Playlist
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Scroll through your playlists and pick out a soundtrack you want to listen to. A fast and easy approach to find the songs you love the most.
Search Features
The microphone feature found in the search bar will allow children who can't spell or users who can't remember the song title to still find songs. You can say the name of the song, or sing a lyric.
My Profile
Personalize your account by adding a photo of your choice and check out your current subscription, history, and other features.
Benefits
Benefits include parents no longer worrying about their children listening to suggestive lyrics or music genres that might negatively impact their behavior, no reading level requirement, and teachers having access to appropriate music to play in the classroom. This will also be beneficial to the streaming services industry as a way to attract a new target market.
Usability Testing
After some initial usability testing I have gathered a few issues around the search, playlist, and watch features. I originally did not incorporate a microphone feature. After noticing one participant struggle to use this feature I decided to incorporate it. I also noticed some of the users to be hesitant in the ability to play all songs in the playlist section. I ended up adding a play all and shuffle button as shown below. The final issue I noticed was users questioning what the watch feature did. I ended up adding a playlist feature where users could play the various videos they liked all at once. You can see these examples below. Usability testing is an important step in the design process so I look forward to resolving these issues and continue testing more users.
Disclaimer
None of the pictures belong to me and are used solely for wireframes, not in final development. I am not partnered with Disney and this is based off of a school project assigned to me. None of these designs have been implemented, and if designs get taken further, images and logos will be changed to accommodate for copyright guidelines.