Encore is a mobile application designed to marry travel, music, and community to promote budding music scenes, locations, and artists.
This redesign was an individual project for my UX/UI certification, so I handled research, ideation, design, testing, and prototyping. The project's scope focused on user onboarding and reviewing a city’s music offerings.
I interviewed seven individuals to learn about their music taste, local music scene, travel habits, and what they look for when searching for a concert to attend.
From my interviews, I had a lot of data, to say the least. Music is a personal subject for many, which meant winding discussions filled with passion.
A user persona was crafted to help shape the features, design, and use case of Encore. Throughout the design process, Jess Joplin helped inform my decisions.
A user persona helps inform the design, but an empathy map is the first step towards the ideation of the app. What does my user do that offers Encore an opportunity to enrich their experience?
A mobile app, Encore will be used on-the-go. A story board of a proposed user journey helped shaped how Encore can fit into a user’s lifestyle.
To begin the ideation process, I began theorizing what the possibilities of Encore could be. The ideas ranged from something as simple as reccommending local concerts to allowing bands to plan an entire tour on the platform.
As I began to ideate on the capabilities of Encore, it was clear that I had a lot of avenues to puruse. A feature prioritization matrix helped me focus on the core features that will enrich an Encore user’s experience.
Encore was encroaching on many long-standing industries -- music, travel, and social networking. What niche did Encore serve? What value could Encore bring to the table to fill the needs of its users?
With features in mind and a now very familiar user persona, I mapped out a user journey map for Jess to try and discover potential pitfalls and possible solutions that Encore can deliver.
Although Encore did serve a niche, it wasn't unrivaled. There were multiple services out there that poked at the periphery of the Encore experience. I studied these platforms to identify possible pain points and opportunities for Encore.
After the initial stage of ideation and competitive analysis, it was time to formulate the user flow for Encore. Due to it's personalized nature, the onboarding process was more extensive than a traditional app.
After the low-fi mockup was created, I went through multiple rounds of user testing to identify areas of opportunity.
Surprisingly, many users are unaware of popular music scenes in their area and throughout the country.
.Encore settles in nicely as it leverages existing digital habits to promote travel, community, and the arts throughout the United States.
