Wynk Muse has three-fold advantages.

• It helps the user to discover new music at ease. The usual trial and error process of selecting, skipping, and listening to several songs requires a lot of effort. Users are more likely to find a song they like using Muse.

• Muse is a self-learning model. Leveraging the power of machine learning, it suggests the best songs based on the time of the day and the user's listening history. It picks the best part of the song and plays it without listening to the complete song.

• Muse acts like a domino effect. Every next song is similar to a variable reward which keeps the user hooked while discovering music. This can lead to longer engagements and increased retention, which is a win for the business.

With the rising number of internet users, especially from rural and semi-urban towns (Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns), vernacular music is in great demand. The music streaming experience suffers from fluctuating network conditions. It also varies depending upon the device. There is a need for a humane music streaming experience.

More about Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns ↗

As affordable mobile data is one of the strengths of Digital India, Indian language and vernacular apps are gaining popularity. The majority of new internet users are from rural and semi-urban towns. Most of them are mobile-first users. They typically use low-end Android phones, having less memory and storage. The mobile data internet speed in India is one of the slowest in the world. Network speed also varies across the country.

• The smartphone adoption rate in India is at an all-time high. With penetration into Tier 1 and Tier 2 towns, it's predicted to reach 829 million users by 2022.

• Data shows that Indians are spending 21.5 hours every week listening to music, against the global average of 17.8 hours.

• Wynk Music has a huge catalog of vernacular songs. Indian regional music on Wynk is witnessing the fastest growth.

• There has been a 75% rise in users streaming regional music.

• Regional music is a key growth driver and now accounts for 26% of the over 3 billion monthly streams.

• Songs in Oriya, Gujarati, Assamese, Marathi, Telugu and Bhojpuri have seen more than 150% growth.

• With increasing smartphone users in Tier 2 and 3 towns, the demand for regional language songs is seeing massive surge.

• Airtel users get a free subscription of Wynk music depending on their mobile plan.

I started with desk research to understand the problem and gather insights on product-market fit.

• People from emerging markets are mobile-first users. They mostly have basic smartphones from low price segment.

• These devices generally come with low memory, less storage, and limited battery life.

• They have varying literacy levels. Almost all age groups consume music at any time at any place.

To understand the scope of technical feasibility and success rate, I looked at the products which address the same problem.

• Spotify lite is very popular among all ages because it's easy to use and has a straightforward user interface. People can use it without much effort, even if their smartphone knowledge is limited. It somewhere lacks in having local and regional songs.

• A progressive web app is not the solution. The success of PWA depends on the browser; most people don't understand how to use them. It's not battery efficient as they're not written in the native language. Functionality is limited in a PWA. It doesn't offer a rich experience. They also don't support integrated payment processing for in-app purchases.

To understand the user's expectations and pain points, I had one-on-one user interviews with 8 users. Considering the timeframe and getting more refined outputs, I decided to look at the extremes. I asked questions to learn about mobile usage patterns, needs, and expectations related to music streaming.

Participants were between 18 - 40 years old. This age group was chosen based on insights from desk research.

• People have used streaming services provided by their telecom providers like JioSaavn, Wynk Music as these come with an initial trial period offering all the features.

• Most of them have moved to other apps like Spotify after their trial periods as they found the experience better and easy to use.

• Their device storage is mostly taken up by photos and media files shared over social media, which leaves very less space for new app downloads.

• They are familiar with some popular apps like Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and some pre-installed apps like YouTube.

• They're away from the app while the music keeps running in the background unless they're specifically there to explore or search. They use notification controls to change songs.

• People are task-focused when they're searching. The rest of their engagement with the app is often characterized by short and quick sessions.

• 8/8 use prepaid mobile plans as they believe prepaid plans offer more flexibility, and they're used to them.

• 8/8 use smartphone primarily to listen to music. They like a personalized experience.

• Music streaming apps are used in all situations and all environments. 7/8 users listened to music daily.

• Even though internet speed is an issue, they prefer using streaming apps to play whatever they like, without spending much data compared to YouTube.

• Lite app is equipped with only essential features. It consumes less computing resources on the device.

• Even 100MB of memory can make a big difference in the user experience.

• To help users save data costs, the lite app has a small package size and can download faster.

• Being a native app, it'll have hardware access, will support multitasking and also in-app purchases.

To keep the experience focused and deliver the core value, prioritization was needed. Insights from user interviews and desk research helped me in understanding the use cases and prioritize the features.

Diving into the design details

• Music apps are generally used anytime throughout the day and night. The dark mode is easier on eyes in low-light environments. It also saves battery.

• Dark mode brings an emphasis on the content and brings it into focus instead of the UI elements. Colors pop up better on dark background. It lets the album arts and music player stand out while the rest of the interface recedes in the background.

• Using rounded cards as they point inwards, focusing more on the content. Using color appropriately and sparingly to indicate clear primary action.

• Since billions of people will use the product, it's important to keep sufficient accessibility and usability.

DESIGN ⟷ TEST ⟷ ITERATE

Keeping all the insights in mind, I started designing the screens. I tested the prototype after every iteration. User testing was done with 6 users individually through video-calling. I also asked them some follow-up questions at the end of the session.

GOALS FOR USER TESTING

• Task success rate

• Time on task

• Rate of error

• Analyze complexity

• Check language

• Identify usability issues

The interface should feel natural and close to real-life. 'Liking' resonates more with real-life. The user's library is valuable. They spend time making it. It's essential to make it easier for them to find their liked songs, playlists, and artists in a much simpler and straightforward way.

• I kept on iterating some of the screens until I felt like the design will accommodate the secondary priority features in future releases for solving additional use cases.

• This will also assist in the quick release of updates and minimum development efforts.

• Lite app should feel like a lite app. There were technical constraints to limit the use of sensors to save battery.

• Reducing the complexity of Muse was one of the challenging parts. It's commonly not found in music apps. Yet, it has to feel obvious and fast.

MUSIC DOWNLOAD

Adding 'download' means assuming that people have ample storage space. It also adds to the learning curve of the app. Downloads act as a nudge to try the flagship Wynk Music app.

QUEUE

The queue was scrapped to avoid extra complexity. As per the data from user research, people don't use it, and they also get confused by it. It hampers the user experience. People find making a playlist easier than adding songs and rearranging the queue. There was no strong reason to have a queue.

OTHER

• Cast

• Sleep timer

• App shortcuts

• Home screen widget

• Multi-screen support

• Landscape mode support

These features can be rolled out in further releases based on the user demand or business opportunity.

KEY LEARNINGS

• Test early and often

Having quick validation after generating ideas is important before pushing pixels and implementing them.

• Need > Want

Identifying basic 'needs' is more important than satisfying all the 'wants'. The design process never stops. New patterns emerge, user’s expectations increase.

• Keep it transparent

Make it easier for people to understand what’s happening. Thinking is hard. It’s essential to know the intent of every design element.

• Focus on what matters

Don't waste time adding nonessential features or because the competitor offers them. Copying patterns is risky. Limit choices to increase the focus and max out on delivering the best value.

There are still opportunities to improve. I thought about support for on-device music. I realized that the interface shouldn't be the same for device music. But due to time constraints, I wasn't able to gather insights and validate my ideas. I would also test it more with people from various demographics. I would think about the UI elements if this interface is translated into other languages.

I've learned so much during this project. There's always space for improvement. There's so much to learn about emerging markets. It's about figuring that basic need that can provide the maximum value. Design is never done.

Wynk Music lite is a music streaming app designed for the next billion users in emerging markets. This simplified version of the Wynk Music app optimized to use less data, less storage, and less battery will allow people to stream music in all network conditions and even on basic smartphones. It's easy to set up and use. It also accounts for accessibility and digital wellbeing.