OVERVIEW:
Bandcamp is an online platform dedicated to the independent music community, offering both music streaming & an online record store. Unlike some mainstream competitors, Bandcamp prioritizes compensating artists generously. Despite this advantageous approach, Bandcamp remains relatively less prominent compared to other mainstream apps. This relative obscurity can be attributed, in part, to their strong focus on the independent music scene. Additionally, the outdated nature of their app contributes to their lower visibility, as it lacks several features that are now considered standard among other music services.
BANDCAMP
THE BASICS
TYPE
Mobile App Redesign
ROLE
Project Manager & UX/UI Designer & Researcher
DATE
October 2022
DURATION
3 weeks
TOOLS
Figma, FigJam, Canva, Slack, Trello, Google Suite, Toggl, Sketch, Zoom
TEAMMATES
• Audrey Bentley
• Meredith Hamilton
• Stephanie Samperio
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Manage project timeline, productivity, & documentation
• Conduct user surveys & synthesize insights to inform design decisions
• Ideate & produce design solutions based on research data & analysis
• Oversee development of wireframes, prototypes, & high-fidelity designs
• Ensure accessibility, usability, & design standards are met
• Create design solutions to boost functionality & discoverability
• Produce design system for the final product
• Collect feedback to validate design solutions
• Manage team dynamics & foster a collaborative work environment
• Advocate for user-centered design principles throughout the design process
THE PROBLEM:
To expand & increase Bandcamp's user base without negatively affecting the platform's unique & distinctive culture of prioritizing independent artists.
THE SOLUTION:
My approach involved improving the homepage, enhancing site navigation, & incorporating popular features like playlists, dark mode, & music recommendations. Through these changes, I aimed to design an app that would not only attract new users through social media & community recommendations but also retain existing users by providing a better user experience.
Initially conceived as an online record store, Bandcamp has evolved into much more. It now serves as both a streaming service & a thriving music community, where devoted fans discover, connect with, & directly support their favorite artists. Bandcamp's standout feature lies in their "artist-first" approach, with an impressive average of 82% of proceeds going directly to the artists. In essence, Bandcamp was created to forge a direct link between artists & their fans, ensuring equitable support & enabling continuous music creation.
"What defines Bandcamp culturally?"
In order to gain a deeper understanding of Bandcamp & align ourselves with their business model, I began by exploring the question:
However, despite this artist-friendly stance, Bandcamp remains relatively obscure compared to more mainstream platforms. This led us to ponder a crucial question:
"How can we expand Bandcamp's user base without compromising their unique artist-first & independent culture?"
To gain insights & identify starting points, I extensively researched peer-reviewed articles, analyzed a multitude of user comments (both positive & negative), & examined product reviews from the past year. Below, you'll find a compilation of common complaints along with an accurate depiction created by a current Bandcamp user, capturing the essence of the remaining reviews. It's important to note that amidst the criticisms, Bandcamp's journalism-rich culture & the platform's distinctive music selection have received widespread praise from users.
Following all that, I proceeded to conduct a competitive analysis to gain insights on how Bandcamp's app compared to other services. During this process, I discovered that although Bandcamp's app had room for improvement, the platform offered unique features that set it apart from its competitors. Some features that other companies don't even offer. These features included:
• Records, cassettes, t-shirts, & several other merchandise, including the nostalgic relic of floppy disks (yes, FLOPPY DISKS!), serve as a prime example.
• More detailed biographies of bands & artists
• A robust platform for music journalism
After analyzing the results of the competitive research, I proceeded to conduct user interviews while my teammates focused on surveys. The key questions that guided our interviews were as follows:
• Who are the existing Bandcamp users, & how can we expand the platform without alienating them?
• Who are the Spotify/Apple Music users, & how can we attract them to Bandcamp?
• Lastly, for both user groups, do we need to introduce new features or improve existing ones?
Out of the planned six user interviews, I successfully completed four & synthesized the insights into an affinity map. The user interviews validated our previous findings from the review analysis & provided deeper insights into the reasons behind user needs. Among the observations, it became clear that for the current Bandcamp users, the focus should be on enhancing existing features & improving overall app usability. Specific areas for improvement included:
• Streamlining the app's flow to enhance user-friendliness.
• Providing better music recommendation options.
• Incorporating standard customization options available in other streaming apps.
• Bringing the journalism aspect of music, present on the Bandcamp website, to the mobile app.
• Introducing clear organization features for users' music libraries.
Additionally, our interviews with non-Bandcamp users revealed that most general music listeners heavily relied on friends & social media for music recommendations. To attract new users, our goal was to allow current users to curate & share playlists. This way, more people would become aware of Bandcamp's offerings. Coupled with the aforementioned improvements in flow, organization, & customization, these efforts aimed to encourage new users to explore and engage with the platform.
Current flow is not intuitive. Tabs on home page are not easily recognized.
Home page "New/Notable" is too large. Not easily scannable.
Music feed is also too large. Time consuming scanning for new music. Only one suggestion full length of page.
All music listed as long list under "♥︎" icon, with no options for categories, filters, or playlists. Limited sort feature offers recently played or A-Z order.
1/3 of existing users were unsure of purpose for message tab. 2/3 did not use the feature at all.
Only able to share a single song at a time.
BEFORE
(Original Bandcamp App)
Round 3 of sketches after discussions / additional ideation sessions with my team.
Presented here are the essential touchpoints & modifications implemented in the new application.
In this version, a dark mode feature has been included.
Users have the flexibility to customize & rearrange the sections on the home page according to their preferences by clicking on the "edit" option located at the top right of the screen. For example, if a user prefers not to see music news at the top, they can easily move this section further down or even remove it from their home page feed.
The newly designed flow is user-friendly & adopts a similar structure to various familiar streaming apps, making it intuitive for users to navigate.
The various categories are neatly arranged in rows, enabling users to effortlessly browse through the latest music offerings with speed & efficiency.
The elements on the home page such as "new," "top charts," & "recommended" music are now optimally sized, allowing users to view multiple options simultaneously with ease.
Enhanced search functionality allows users to find their favorite music & artists seamlessly.
The enhanced library includes customizable sections, akin to the home page, providing users with greater control over how they organize their music.
Apart from the standard search feature, which users typically use to discover new songs, we've introduced a library search feature. This allows users to effortlessly locate a specific song from within their own music collection.
Newly introduced features encompass playlists & enhance sharing capabilities.
A tablet version has been introduced, addressing the previous limitation where Bandcamp's tablet application appeared as a small mobile window on larger tablet screens.
Screens developed for both mobile & tablet devices based on extensive research findings. Users expressed frustration with the absence of a tablet interface on Bandcamp.
