Haystack
An online music streaming tool that recommends critically acclaimed full-length albums.
Website Redesign
The initial web app designs had been created before I was brought onto the project. When starting, my first goal was to understand the current thinking and identity areas for improvement.
Sketching New Solutions
High Fidelity Ideation
Because Haystack is all about slowing down and taking the time to learn about and appreciate music, I wanted the visual identity to feel calming and simple. Hand drawn illustrations were liked as a design theme to help emphasize the "hand picked by humans" message that Haystack represents.
Accommodate Any Album
The album player screen needed to be designed to fit with any color combination. The selected design pulls a gradient from the album art to ensure that the colors look cohesive regardless of what is playing. The code is written to only pull colors that pass color blindness contrast standards.
UI Flow
Usability Testing
I shared the beta version of Haystack with 5 music loving participants. The participants were given a week to interact with the web app before I spoke with them about their experience. After speaking with the participants, I learned that overall the flow was intuitive and participants had fun listening to and learning about new music. Improvements could be made by; including an option to save songs to Spotify, highlighting where the current track is within the album, and reconsidering the design of some icons.
Next Steps
I am continuing to work on refining the designs based on the insights learned in user testing. My top priorities for the updated designs include; adding a way to like songs and have them link to Spotify, highlighting the album review link, and helping users feel secure when connecting to Spotify.
Updated designs coming soon!
