Basenote
UX Design
A musician-centered mobile app designed to connect musicians of all genres and instruments , fostering a vibrant and collaborative community of creators.
Problem Space
Music Production is challenging for beginners because there are multiple tools/learning avenues to choose from.
Solution
Basenote simplifies the journey of learning about every aspect of music production through the utilization of courses, tutorials, product reviews, and the latest news regarding a multitude of different genres of music.
Primary Research
In order to delve deeper into the music production dilemma, I outlined the problem once again, in greater detail, and also formulated an objective derived from the problem. My approach to this process involved compiling a group of informed material that would build the foundation of my project moving forward.
Secondary Research
According to my research, most producers new to production get lost in the massive amount of online resources.
Survey Overview
I used my research questions to identify hypotheses related to my problem. I then used my hypotheses to construct a detailed survey including questions stemming from said hypotheses in order to gather the data necessary to move forward with an informed foundation.
Distribution:
Once the survey was thoroughly constructed, I distributed it to known musicians and music producers that would provide information that would translate into solid data synthesis in the ideation phase.
Affinity Mapping
After synthesizing the data retrieved from the completed surveys, five key groups emerged:
Skillset Challenges, Tools/Setup, Mixing/Mastering pain points, Genres, and At-home feedback difficulties.
Utilizing the affinity mapping technique helped to simplify each group set and move forward with the appropriate information necessary to build the foundation layout of the project.
Survey Key Takeaways
Based on the survey data received from music production participants, there were three main takeaways involving the most effective learning resources, the struggle of learning four major music production skill sets, and the access to home workstations.
Jobs To Be Done
I utilized the “Jobs to Be Done” framework to highlight main focuses in research synthesis. This framework was important to my process because it allowed me to envision what I would like to do when a certain idea/action arises in order to achieve a certain result.
Competitive Research
Through competition research, I diagnosed a singular problem and then utilized the research of similar companies for reference. Music Production is challenging for beginners because there are multiple DAWs to choose from , as well as multiple VSTs/Plugins and YouTube tutorials.
"How Might We" Statements
I listed problem statements about my project in the “How Might We” layout. These statements provided an excellent framework to pose how I might tackle the problems involved in my music production project.
Brainstorming
I sketched out quick ideas regarding my problem’s potential app design and provided a brief description of each sketch and what it accomplishes. This helped in getting intangible ideas into a tangible space which was crucial in the building blocks moving forward into design. Design ideas included tutorial screens, navigation bars, and weekly challenge screens.
User Stories
Top 3 User Stories:
As an app user, I want to have a login portal for an account, Gmail, or Facebook login so that I can easily access my profile.
As a music producer, I want to have access to an easily navigable button option so that I can maximize my productivity while on an app.
As a smartphone user, I want to use an app with a sleek, noticeable logo so that I can easily recognize the app any time I want access to it.
Site Mapping
I created a sitemap for my project to highlight the flow of screens and actions associated with my design. This helped put in perspective a clear lineage from start to finish in each of my screen flows. I organized this sitemap for Basenote by highlighting the flow of screens and actions associated with my design.
User Flows
I listed three flows associated with my design to note the actions and screens necessary to navigate said flows. Laying all of these flows helped create cohesion within the navigation process for each flow.
Wireframes
I created Lo-Fi and Med-Fi wireframes based on my three main user flows, introducing more cohesion and structure to the design. This process was pivotal in providing the aforementioned structure that allowed a functional format with fully customizable design capability. Here are some design techniques that I used when working through my wireframes:
Style Guide
This style guide breathed life into Basenote with specific color, font, icon, and button layouts. Inspiration Utilizing my mood board as a starting point, I maintained the idea of a more organic and natural feel by using green as the primary color, along with a deep yellow for buttons signifying a sense of "sunlight."
Hi-Fi Screens
I designed Hi-Fi screens for all three of my user flows to solidify my vision for this project. This process transformed my ideas, sketches, and outlines into living, breathing screens made whole by the use of my style guide as a compass for warmth and depth.
Usability Testing
I performed the majority of this prototype testing over Zoom/Google Meet , while I also performed one in-person test. My primary goal with this testing is to confirm the cohesion of task flow within Basenote’s initial layout. During this testing, I used an organized Q and A approach combined with three task completion requests for each participant. Each participant either has an interest in music production, instrument composition, and/or music as a whole. These participants were recruited through word of mouth and social constructs such as social media, work, etc. I wanted to discover the biggest pain points as well as the most well-designed areas of Basenote while moving through this prototype testing. The participants were asked to complete the following tasks:
Redesign
We identified a minimal amount of major issues along with some minor ones. These findings highlighted critical areas for improvement. In response, I addressed all the issues, giving special attention to the major ones, and incorporated these insights into the redesign of the project.
Issue #1
Task #2 did not feel complete to the majority of users, leaving them with a lack of sense of accomplishment upon completion Implementations
Issue #2
Every user tried clicking on the “Mixing/Mastering” progress card on the home screen before navigating to the Progress Screen when initiating the 3rd task. Implementations
Issue #3
Most participants neglected to utilize the chat bubble icon, while some users relied on it to complete task #2. Implementations
Reflection
Overall, I’ve learned so much from this project and what the music production community values in their journey to hone their craft. Key takeaways involve how producers best learn different skill sets and what tools they utilize, overall app availability in the music production area, and just how large-scale building an app like this would be when moving forward with a complete model.