Collaborating with More Music Technologies, this project aimed to address the challenges faced by Musikundervisning.dk in meeting their customers' needs. The focus was on developing a new service offering for their platform by creating an online environment that fosters music-related knowledge sharing and interaction among enthusiasts. Through a comprehensive process grounded in the Double Diamond Design framework, including qualitative and quantitative data collection, interviews, and concept testing, insights were gathered to inform the creation of an engaging platform that enhances users' learning journeys.
Timeline
4 months • 2021
Role
UX & Service Designer
The Challenge
The primary challenge revolved around improving the on-site conversion rate and value for student users within the platform; the goal is to enhance student-teacher matching and encourage commitment to more lessons, all while maintaining the highest safety standards.
The Client
More Music Technologies, operating since 2014, has developed a double-sided platform for music lessons, currently active in four markets. While the platform has successfully attracted teachers, there has been a need to enhance the student experience to improve conversion and reduce churn rates. Safety standards are a top priority, with rigorous checks for all teachers joining the platform.
The Research Question
How can users be enabled to meet their motivational goals in learning music through increasing user engagement?
The Process
For the methodological approach, the Double Diamond framework was chosen. This design process serves as a foundation for structuring and recognising relevant stages of the project realisation, while taking into account possible iterations.
The Solution
As part of addressing the challenges faced by Musikundervisning.dk and creating a vibrant music community, a mobile app prototype has been developed. The proposed service concept aims to enhance user interaction and connection through the creation of an internal platform within the company's website. By fostering a sense of community and belonging among users, the goal is to increase motivation and engagement, leading to higher returning visitor rates. The platform will serve as a virtual community, enabling open communication through forums, public and private groups, and group or private chats. With upcoming jam sessions and events, the platform will seamlessly connect users, both virtually and physically, providing a safe space for co-creation and support in their musical journeys.
Home Page: welcomes users with a dynamic interface, enabling effortless searching for various types of lessons. A prominent banner invites users to explore the Community Page, enticing them to engage with fellow music enthusiasts.
Community Tab: users can delve deeper by selecting specific sub-categories of interest, streamlining navigation, and ensuring swift access to relevant discussions and content.
User Profile section: empowers students to tailor their experience by editing personal information and choosing which details to display publicly. Users can enrich their profiles by adding skills and interests which facilitates personalised recommendations for events and groups.
Community Homepage: this is the central hub of the platform. It offers a rich browsing experience. Users can explore, post, and engage with content shared by others, with quick access to events and groups enhancing discoverability and encouraging active participation within the community.
Events Page: showcasing various event types, including recommendations, upcoming events, and post-event reviews. This feature aims to enrich users' experiences by offering opportunities for learning, networking, and cultural immersion.
Messaging feature: facilitates communication and collaboration as it enables users to engage in private conversations and exchange files. This fosters meaningful interactions and knowledge sharing among members.
More about the Research Process
User Groups & Personas
The service targets the most common user profiles of active users. Research and interviews were conducted to get more in-depth information about music players and learners. As a result, it helped envision and understand target users and map out their profiles. It was decided to create four main personas representing groups of users sharing a typical attitude. In order to get a better view of the concept and understand target users of the Musikundervisning’s online community, four personas are illustrated for the project, with their different personalities, needs, pains and motivations.
Concept Storyboards
This part illustrates two storyboards; the initial storyboard of the existing service, and the proposed storyboard presented as a solution.
User Journey
The journey map illustrates the actions the “Social Adventurer” takes as a user of the platform, the emotions and thoughts of the user, as well as touchpoints and possible pain points.
Motivational Matrix
The matrix represents the values and motivations of key actors within the service and shows how every actor can get value from their contribution to the service.
Service Blueprint
This blueprint illustrates the actions and reactions when a post is being created. It explains how the interactions are aligned and how the channels are used to enable interaction with the platform. In this way, the development team can see how the service should look, and a common understanding for developing the service is created between the team.
Takeaways & Future Work
Reflecting on the journey of this project, several key takeaways emerge, along with potential avenues for future exploration and refinement.
• User Involvement and Co-Creation: One of the major challenges encountered was the limited ability to involve platform users throughout the process due to constraints. In the future, prioritizing co-creation with users could significantly enhance the validity and relevance of personas and solutions developed.
• Iterative Process: Incorporating even more iterative cycles of testing and refinement would be beneficial to ensure that the developed service offering truly meets the needs of platform users.
• Testing Procedure: Future testing procedures should focus on all persona types, allowing for a thorough validation of how different users interact with the platform and with each other.
Looking ahead, future work could involve implementing these insights and recommendations into the project's next iteration. Ultimately, the project serves as a foundation for ongoing exploration and improvement, with the potential to enhance the user experience and engagement within the MusikUndervisning.dk platform. By addressing the identified challenges and embracing a user-centric approach, the project can continue to evolve and deliver meaningful value to its stakeholders and users alike.
