Museek Prototype
See the finished prototype on Figma
2024
Application designed to help music fans find people to go to concerts with, Lean UX techniques were used throughout this iterative design process including user research and interviews.
Background and Context
This application was made in the Interaction Design subject I took at UTS. The main goal was to develop a minimum viable product that effectively addressed a defined problem statement aimed at a chosen target demographic (ours was music listeners under 25). Our problem statement was: “How might we design a platform that connects music enthusiasts with like-minded individuals to foster a community around music?”.
Museek was designed to offer a more involved experience by enabling users to organise, connect, and meet others through concerts and events through a streamlined platform, in turn promoting a more social and interactive community around musical interests. Similar apps, such as Eventbrite, are not meeting these goals, causing already introverted people to stay home and not attend events or meet new people with the same interests to discover a wider community of artists.
With the Museek app, our users will be more involved with how they engage with this community, evident in the number of friends they make, exposure given to new artists and performers, event attendance rates, and overall app interaction.
We also aimed to create a seamless user experience that was easy to navigate and understand. Our task was to use qualitative data gained from interviews combined with Lean UX methods to continuously iterate and improve upon our design. Overall, solving our user problem with relevant features and an aesthetically pleasing interface.
Theoretical Framework
The approach was based on Lean UX Methodology, which introduced me to a valuable toolset for quickly iterating and developing products. Components such as a problem statement, a hypothesis table, and personas were used to guide development. These were updated at every sprint to ensure they aligned with the new insights gathered from user research. Qualitative interviews were conducted, focusing on understanding the demographic more, and participants were tested using the prototype with the think-aloud method to gauge how the product was perceived.
Once the user research was completed, we compiled each user’s feedback into a heuristic evaluation table and made an affinity diagram to categorise the improvements to make. Additionally, a screen plan was made to help organise what features to implement in each screen and the user flow.
The Lean UX approach contrasts sharply with methods I’ve done in other classes and work, such as the Waterfall method, which is a linear and sequential design approach where each step is completed before moving on to the next.
Unlike Waterfall's rigid structure, lean UX prioritises rapid cycles of testing and feedback that align closely with agile principles, allowing for continuous iteration and improvement. For instance, rather than finalising requirements and design at the outset, we iteratively gathered insights by continuously validating hypotheses and refining designs based on user feedback (Gothelf & Seiden, 2013).
This adaptive approach allows Lean UX to respond to evolving project needs more fluidly than Waterfall, where adjustments can be challenging once a phase is completed. Lean UX aligns with modern agile workflows where project requirements often evolve, contrasting with more rigid methods that might struggle to adapt to new insights rapidly (Brown, 2009).
Additionally, Lean UX’s focus on building “just enough” documentation contrasts with more traditional UX processes where comprehensive documentation is often required at each stage. While this approach can streamline workflows and help maintain momentum, it sometimes risks ambiguity or misalignment, as seen in this project, where parts of the screen plan were not followed. Using Lean UX required ongoing coordination to keep everyone aligned and maintain a balance between flexibility and structure to avoid confusion (Ries, 2011).
User Personas
Interview 1 Transcript
Ice-breaker Questions
What age are you? 25
What generation do you consider yourself to be related to the most? Gen z/Millennial
What are your hobbies? Singing and sewing
Do you like music? Yes, I love music
If so, do you listen to music regularly? Yes, daily
Do you play any instruments or are you interested in learning? Yes, I play guitar and bass, and I sing
Do you know anyone who does music creation or plays an instrument? Yes
Do you know anyone else with the same music taste as you? Yes
Do you use apps and platforms? Yes
What type and how often? I use Instagram every day and Messenger every few days.
Do you see friends, family, or others going out regularly on social media? Yes, I see people I know going out and putting it on their stories.
How do you feel about that compared to your time spent? I feel as if the majority of my generation is addicted to their phones and spends more time doing that, and when they are out,t they aren’t in the moment because they are using their phones to capture everything.
Would you use an app that enables you to meet people with your interests? Yes, and I have done that in the past.t
How often would you use it? Depending on how effective it is and how large the user base and how safe it is
Do you think you need something like this in your life? Couldn’t hurt
Detailed Questions
Do you consider yourself an outgoing or extroverted person? If not, why? I am an ambivert.
How often do you go out? Once a week
Do you feel like you go out as much as you’d like to? Why/why not? I am content going out once a week; any more than that, I feel tired and burnt out, and my wallet is empty.
What are the things that limit you from going out to see live music, if any? Money, and also sometimes I don’t have people to go with to see artists I like
Do you feel as if you could be meeting more people and making deeper connections? Yes, definitely…always room for more connections because life is about connecting with people fundamentally
How do you think having a resource like this can impact your daily lifestyle? It’s not going to affect your daily routine, it’s just another app I feel burdened to check notifications on. If I met a good friend out of it, it could enhance my social life, and it could be uplifting.
Do you think this app could have a positive impact on your life? Why/why not? This app has the potential to make a very positive impact. It could open doors that would not otherwise be available.
What type of features would you realistically want to see in an app like this? I would want it to sync with my Spotify and send me notifications of my top artists when they are coming to my city. It would be cool if you could have some kind of connection list where you can refer to contacts. Maybe link it to your Instagram or Facebook so people already know when you rsvp to things.s
Would an in-app rewards system offering discounted tickets make you want to use this app? Yeah.
Would you enjoy looking at profile statistics based on top concerts, artists, favourite events, and concerts attended? Yes, it would be satisfying to see and identity-affirming. It would make me feel cool.
Affinity Diagram
Lo-Fi Prototype
Mid-Fi Prototype
Lean UX Canvas
“Think Aloud” Exercise Transcript
“You could put a forgot password feature in case I forget my password.” (Login Page)
“Should add a signup, because the next page is as though you signed up.” (Login Page)
"I like this, it’s like Netflix.” (Select Genre Page)
“It’s streamlined, and I like how you can search. I feel like if this were a real app, you’d have more than 4 suggestions.” (Artist Choice Page)
“So, the explore will take you to the list of events that are coming up.” (Home Page)
“Popular communities, I don’t know what this is, but this seems like some Discord group chat where you can talk about the artist, but it doesn’t have to relate to the event.” (Home Page)
“Not sure what the briefcase shopping bag is, maybe ticket/sale platform?” (Home Page)
"I don’t know what lobbies are, lobbies aren’t usually used in apps, Im not really sure why it says all its confusing because theres a home button at the button and all would assume events lobbies and stats all on one page, maybe it means you scroll down you will see the rest?” (Home Page)
“Is the saved icon at the bottom as important in placement in the position, if the shopping basket is for buying tickets, typically that’s at the top corner?” (Home Page)
“It would be cool if the concerts around you were a carousel and you could flick to see the next ones. It kind of irks me that the black bar is not at the top/Saved events I think there should be some container around saved events to distinguish events from each other. It looks incomplete with the floating J and the saved events placement. The black bar on other pages should be included for consistency. Save should be at the top because it’s more intuitive.” (Home Screen)
“The high heels helpline, wine not, not another girls chat room, these tags, I’m assuming that I want to see this guy, and I’m confused though, because where, if you were to click on the lobby tab, why are you showing me inside but you're not showing? If we see the lobbies tab on the homepage, I’m not landing directly inside a specific artist’s lobby, obviously, I have to choose the specific artist before that, so it doesn’t make sense. Maybe saved could be replaced with my lobbies, saved tab could be replaced with lobbies you’ve already joined, maybe.” (Join Lobbies Page)
“In chat, why does it borrow the same header element as the previous, but now there's no picture?” (Chat)
“I like the event level circle. Why does it say 11, but then it says 20/36 hours?” (Rewards Page)
“How can they rate you as attending?” (Lobby Chat)
“Is that a wallet for your concert tickets? That would be an amazing idea.” (Rewards)
“Search event: bar should be a smaller width so it’s not touching the edges. I would expect to see a list of events that I could scroll down to, i’d want to see more than the two events in the recommendations.” (Discover Screen)
| Issue # | Usability issue description | Heuristic/s that are violated | Severity | Quote from user | Recommendation(s) for improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | On the dashboard page, there is a navigation menu with all events and stats, but the purpose of all and its connection to the other options is unclear | Visibility of system status, Consistency and standards, Flexibility and efficiency of use | Low | "All doesn't show stats or lobbies" | Rename all to home or dashboard because it doesn't display stats or lobbies, it only shows concerts and communities |
| 2 | Blue tick on profiles in lobby chat doesn't seem to have meaning at face value | Visibility of system status, recognition rather than recall | Medium | "What do the blue ticks mean in chat?" | Create an option that is visible in the chat that triggers the blue tick. Include a label so people know what it does. |
| 3 | There's no way of knowing if people have bought a ticket or are going | Match Between System and the Real World, Visibility of System Status | Low | "How do I know if someone's got a ticket or is confirmed to be going?" | Incorporate a feature that lets a user know who's bought tickets |
| 4 | There's no button for joining a lobby, making it unclear that only one lobby can be joined at a time | Visibility of System Status | Medium | There is no join button, does that mean I can enter any number of lobbies? | Incorporate a join button for lobbies |
| 5 | Music Taste/Genre selection screens don't affect matching with people/or getting shown recommended artists/concerts | User control and freedom, flexibility and efficiency of use | Medium | "Where do I get shown gigs or people based on my music taste?" | Incorporate recommended concerts as an area for seeing concerts and maybe a filter in lobbies that filters by seeing people |
| 6 | It's not clear what the gigs mean in the stats area because it has no title | Match Between System and the Real World, Visibility of System Status | Low | "Are these gigs I have been to? Gigs I can click on?" | Add title e.g. event history, gigs attended |
| 7 | Unsure if I can leave a chat lobby, and if I leave, do I have to navigate back to lobbies to access it? | User control and freedom, Consistency and Standards | Medium | "There's a back button so I can go back home, but if I press it, do I leave the lobby? There's no way of knowing I am still there or can go back to it" | Make a chat bubble on the dashboard that shows you're still in that lobby and a leave button that's more explicit, so you know it's not just to navigate back to previous screens. |
| 8 | Navigation Issues: User profile page appears after lobby page, explore button and popular communities on home screen don't lead to any page. No rewards Screen | Match Between System and the Real World, Consistency and Standards | High | "There seems to be some screens missing and I'm not sure why the username page appears after lobby chat" | Put User profile page above the home page, maybe include a line to link it to show it appears from that page. Also, make sure screens are consistent with the navigation buttons |
| 9 | Green coloured buttons in some places but blue coloured buttons elsewhere | Aesthetic and Minimalist Design, Consistency and Standards | Low | "I think it would look better with one button colour" | Keep blue/green as the only button colour |