Overview

To begin this project I researched a USP for the app, I found that very few music apps focus on cultural and folk music, and it is an area which users may have many misconceptions on, therefore I aimed to make that the apps integral purpose.

Objectives

The goal of this project was to create a music app with a unique selling point which isn’t currently available. I chose for the app to be used not only as a method of listening to music, but also a tool for learning the cultures of other countries through listening to their music.

Sketches

My sketches explored various ideas, such as an app used as a tool to learn how to play songs, and the aforementioned cultural music platform, which I decided for after sketching. I also practiced sketching icons and generated ideas for various screens of the app, such as a home page, discovery screen, music player and onboarding process.

• Here I came up with the idea of using illustrated backgrounds to represent a place, which would aid the user to empathise with the culture being portrayed in a piece of music.
• I also sketched icons I had discovered in research relating to various cultures, and icons of instruments, which may be explained in the app.
• In the onboarding process, the user may select instruments they enjoy or cultures they are interested in, which they would then be directed to in the app.
• I also focused on utilising discoverability, so that on the small screen on the phone, although a small amount of content can be displayed at one time, the user can see that scrolling will allow more content to be viewed.

Wireframes

After sketching, I took my drawings into Figma to create lo-fi prototypes. These were the home and discovery screen, saved music screen and music player.

• For the home screen, I used discoverable icons, which can be swiped across to discover new music.
• I also created a music player, it displays an album cover, the name of the music, album and artist, with icons to pause or skip the music, a play bar and information about the music. I ensured each element was aligned with margins at the sides of the screen.
• Finally I created a screen displaying saved music, again, items can be scrolled across the screen to view more.
• Additionally, I added a navigation bar at the bottom of the screens.