Overview
The Problem:
Band members are facing challenges in effectively managing band materials, audio files, and schedules, resulting in a lack of organization, increased miscommunication, and rising tensions among bandmates.
Possible Solution:
The Band Practice App will help band members store and organize all band materials, including audio files, notes, and photos, as well as organize gig and practice schedules to leave bandmates feeling more confident and prepared when working and performing together.
Project Duration:
3 weeks
Team Members:
2
Tools Used:
Figma, Miro, Illustrator
My. Role:
With a small team of 2, I had a major role in every part of the design thinking process. I spearheaded the creation of the song and calendar wireframes, progressing the features from lo-fi to hi-fi through prototyping. I also had a large influence over the UI design, handling color scheme, typography, logo, and other graphics.
My Design Thinking Process
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In the discovery phase, I explore user behaviors, needs, and pain points. Through methods like interviews and analysis, I gain insights essential in forming the basis for a user-centered design approach.
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During this phase, I transform user insights into a problem statement, setting clear goals and aligning the design solution with user needs and business objectives.
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In the ideation phase, I creatively brainstorm and explore solutions to tackle user challenges. Through collaborative sessions and unconventional thinking, I am able to generate innovative ideas that help to develop impactful design solutions.
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In the prototyping phase, I transform ideas into interactive mock-ups, refining the user experience through iterative testing and feedback. This process helps blend concept with implementation, ensuring an effective human-centered design solution.
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In the test + evaluate phase, I examine the prototype through user testing, iterating on the design based on feedback. This step confirms functionality, addresses issues, and ensures an optimal user experience before final implementation.
01 Discover
Research
To better understand our user’s needs for band management, we conducted 4 user interviews + 1 stakeholder interview.
Stakeholder Question Examples:
What led you to create Band Practice?
What features do you wish to see in this redesign?
Was there any feature you didn’t have time to get to that you would like to see implemented first?
User Question Examples:
Being in a band, how have you stayed organized with your past gigs?
How do you keep track of upcoming gigs?
How do you currently store and keep track of your songs in progress?
Research Findings
“It’s a centralized place to go and find recordings to prepare for the next practice.”
-Stakeholder
“There are a lot of technology challenges, there is so much happening and so many different work streams” -Band Member/User
“It’s a challenge to manage several people in different channels”
-Band Member
02 Define + Analyze
User Persona
User Insights
Band members need a way to prepare for upcoming practices so they can be on the same page
They need one centralized location to upload and view files, songs, + schedules
There are challenges with multiples modes/styles of communication
03 Ideation
Brainstorming
Feature Prioritization
User Story
User Flow
Add Event User Flow
Add Song User Flow
04 Prototype
Lo-Fi Sketches
Homepage
Add New Event
Songs Page
Calendar Page
Add New Song
Mid-Fi Wireframes
Calendar Page
Songs Page
Homepage
Add New Song
Add New Song
Songs Page
Add New Event
Hi-Fi Wireframes
Homepage
Calendar Page
Style Guide
Add New Event
05 Testing + Evaluation
To test the effectiveness of our design we ran 4 user tests.
User Testing
User Testing Plan:
Can users successfully search for an existing band and request to join?
Can users successfully add a new song?
Can users successfully add a new event to the calendar?
Users didn’t feel satisfied with a filled box
Button widths were inconsistent
Sign Up forms were inconsistent and lacked detail
Calendar didn’t highlight the current day
Iterations
Before
Before
Before
Before
After
Final Prototype
After
After
After