Radcast
Solving a problem for a podcast app.
Background
The Challenge
Users navigate away from Radcast when faced with an empty screen in the My Podcasts section, and no way to discover podcasts on their own.
Design an innovative solution that aims to prevent users from landing on a completely empty screen.
Process
Understand
Research
Personas
Journey
Ideate
Comparable Problem
Sketches
Build
Understand
Existing Solutions
The first thing I did was look at existing podcast services and what they presented to users if they had no podcasts saved.
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, and Podcast App provide copy to let users know what the section will look like once they’ve followed a podcast.
These platforms also offer options for the user to be redirected to another page to find podcasts, search for podcasts, or import from another platform.
The Users
I considered drawing inspiration from another platform by building a screen that offered Radcast users the same options to search for a podcast or be redirected to the Featured page. But before pursuing that, I wanted to learn a little more.
I spoke to some of my peers who all had differing ranges of experience with listening to podcasts. Because Radcast is aimed towards people who have yet to find their favourite shows, I focused on learning how people discovered new podcasts. Some of the questions I asked included:
What got you into listening to podcasts?
How do you find different podcasts to listen to?
Are there any struggles you have when looking for something new to listen to?
Affinity Diagram
I grouped the information I received into four groups to gain clarity on the data:
Discovery, Pain Points, Goals, and Need to Knows.
Personas
I created personas and user journeys based on my conversations with people.
Ethan's Journey
Mia's Journey
Problem Statement
People struggle to discover new podcasts on their own when they lack the guidance or information to seek out what they’d enjoy.
Ideate
Comparable Problem
I evaluated existing solutions in other industries that I could draw inspiration from. When I was looking for parallels to draw between other industries and Radcast’s problem, I asked: “What are services that offer intuitive and customized ways for users to discover?” I took a deeper look at Netflix, Bookstores, and Pinterest.
Netflix offers suggestions with a viewer oriented perspective in addition to categorizing by genre - focussing on the experiences that movies deliver and characteristics that people look for when finding something to watch.
For people who have used the platform before, suggestions are offered based on viewing history.
When thinking of intuitive ways to encourage people to discover, I was reminded of bookstores. Bookstore displays are intuitive in the sense that they predict what people are looking for when they walk into the store.
They present books as pieces that fit into people’s lives - either as a companion (Light reading for dark evenings), a part of someone’s personality (Books you pretend you’ve read), or a something missing that a person didn’t even know about (If you liked the movie, you’ll love the book.)
Pinterest curates content for people that offers customization within the user’s control. This allows users to view a personalized Pinterest feed that’s been pre-populated with content they may already like.
Users are able to change their viewing preferences at any time.
Sketches
I brainstormed my ideas on paper, and sketched out possible layouts and features. I also planned the user flow for my solution.
Build
Solution
A new “My Podcasts” page that gives listeners options to look at featured podcasts, or find customized suggestions based on their input.
User Flow
Screens
Next Steps
Responsive Design
An important next step would be to design this interaction for different screen sizes, as well as for iOS and Android interfaces.
Usability Testing
Another round of usability testing with this solution would help to inform future design decisions.
High Fidelity
A design system should be implemented to build a high fidelity prototype that has consistent design across all screens.
Minda 2023
Toronto