WAV – Christie Day

PROJECT

WAV Media App V2.0

ROLE

Director, Product Design

SUMMARY

WAV Media is a music tech startup with the mission of empowering music creators through an artist-first commitment.

No longer in the app store

CHALLENGE

The first version of the WAV app proved that there’s a real opportunity for our initial business model. The initial app had a small number of curated artists which proved to be too small. So to fully support emerging artists and their fans, we sought to scale up the entire business and open up the platform for any artist. This allowed for more people, more content and more interactivity which encourages a self-sustaining community.

The music industry is notorious for exploiting musicians, and we sought out to change this by putting artists first by giving them tools and benefits they need to grow their career.

RESEARCH METHODS

We interviewed and surveyed both artists to determine what their challenges are with the music industry and growing their career. We also surveyed fans to understand what current music apps are lacking in regards to music discovery.

User Interviews

Market Research Analysis

Prototype Testing

Artist & Fan Personas

Information Architecture

A/B Testing

PROJECT GOALS

Through this research we found that there was a need for an intimate connection between artists and fans. And for that to happen, we had to create a community where artists could express themselves and innovate within the platform, and fans could have the digital equivalent of a small-venue experience with breaking musicians.

Encourage compelling and exclusive content for fans that allow them to connect with artists in a way that is more intimate than other streaming platforms.

We sought out to make content creation seamless and easy by optimizing our existing posting process. We also created a custom music visualizer tool that does not exist elsewhere.

Create a publishing and brand management platform for artists with a built-in audience and a suite of tools that are optimized for their needs.

We added integration with their social platforms and aggregated valuable data about their fans, posts and performance.

Build an artist development funnel within the industry that opens doors for artists to build a career while staying true to their vision.

We partnered with media outlets, events, music distribution and labels in the music industry as incentive for artists to engage with the platform.

INTRODUCING WAV VERSION 2.0

We had a very short timeline to launch the new version of the app. As the Product Design Director, this meant working intelligently and efficiently. I worked closely with the Product Lead and Engineering Lead to understand their deadlines and constraints and proposed alternative options to keep our feature creep down.

Our need for an efficient relationship with our development team eventually led to the creation of our Design System, which helped drive consistency and coherency without having to mock up every screen and state. This also freed me up to address more important design problems. Our new Design System allowed us to create components that we could reuse throughout the app, allowing us to build in a scalable way.

HOME

The old home feed was extremely limiting and forced the user to hunt down content that they like. We redesigned the home feed to promote quality featured content at the top, shortcuts just below that and then a series of modules below that. The modules were designed to evolve over time to the users taste as they watch and engage with content. The modules curate a balanced mix of whats popular on the platform, suggested content and users.

CUSTOM MUSIC VISUALIZERS

We knew that up-and-coming artists may not have the resources to create their own music video so we built a tool that allowed them to create a video that they could customize. The equilizer reacts to their song. This was a feature that did not exist on other platforms and helped our marketing efforts.

VIDEO DETAIL

We optimized the video player to maximize the video space while encouraging engagement with the video. We included a swipe to show additional information. Users can send gifts to show love and participate in the conversation with other fans and artists. Because there is so much unique content in the platform, we included a description and additional tags for eaze of search.

DIGITAL GIFTING

We optimized the video player to maximize the video space while encouraging engagement with the video. Users can send gifts to show love and participate in the conversation with other fans and artists.

ARTIST PROFILE

The artist profile exists within the app and outside of the app as a webpage. We made it easy for fans to be able to access all their favorite artist social accounts, which also made it easy for an artist to put everything in one spot. The artist profile houses all their content, info and links to their socials.

ARTIST ANALYTICS

Fans
Artists can connect all of their social platforms to see trends based on time, the amount of engagement, followers, popular locations, and more.

Content
Valuable data is aggregated on the engagement of the artists content, both in and outside of WAV.

Earnings
When fans give the artist digital gifts, this turns into real money. Artists can review their digital gifting earnings in the app and cash out the money into their paypal account.

ARTIST ANALYTICS

Fans
Artists can connect all of their social platforms to see trends based on time, the amount of engagement, followers, popular locations, and more.

Content
Valuable data is aggregated on the engagement of the artists content, both in and outside of WAV.

Earnings
When fans give the artist digital gifts, this turns into real money. Artists can review their digital gifting earnings in the app and cash out the money into their paypal account.

CUSTOM MUSIC VISUALIZER TOOL

Video content is something on the rise and not everyone has access to creating it. We created a custom visualizer tool that does not exist anywhere else. Artists can upload their tracks, customize the colors and style of their visualizer. The result is a one of a kind video.

LAUNCH

The new app was a significant improvement showing lift with time spent in app, number of videos watched and retention. Feedback from both artists and fans was positive. The product design team was highly data-centric, and everyone was encouraged to contribute ideas for A/B testing. Once we had the core experience developed, we implemented an A/B testing tool and continued to iterate and improve the experience.

WAV Design System

WAV Brand Book