I have been using SoundCloud for a while, and in my opinion, the interface could use some work, as it is not very user friendly and makes the app less enjoyable. As a personal project, I decided to try my hand at redesigning some of the screens to make it an overall better experience for users. My goal was not to reinvent the wheel, but study what other music apps are doing and come up with a solution to improve this app.
The Problems
Having used the mobile app both on android and on iOS, the SoundCloud is difficult and
confusing to use. I talked with a few of my peers who use the app and we highlighted some
of the key problems:
confusing to use. I talked with a few of my peers who use the app and we highlighted some
of the key problems:
• The home screen is confusing and the cards don’t make a lot of sense
• Accessing a user’s personal music library takes way too many steps
• The overall layout is hard to navigate
Wireframes
I started out by laying out all the different screens, using the current app as a guide while reorganizing elements in a way that made sense to users. The goal was to clean things up and get an idea of how all the different screens would work.
1. Homescreen
Looking at other music mobile apps, I decided to replace the categories on the homescreen with some options users can scroll through that would make the most sense such as “recently played”, “new releases”, “top charts” or an option to browse music by genre if the user wants the option to do so.
2. Now Playing
The Now Playing screen has been cleaned up to have less clutter while providing the users an easy player allowing them to easily play, pause, skip shuffle or repeat.
The interface has been reimagined to include the current album cover as the main visual, while also keeping the song information and giving the option to favorite songs right in the player screen.
The interface has been reimagined to include the current album cover as the main visual, while also keeping the song information and giving the option to favorite songs right in the player screen.
2. Music Library
The music library can now be accessed in the bottom navigation, by tapping the icon next to the home icon. All of the user’s personal library is all in one place and they can easily switch tabs to access songs, artists or albums.
Additional Screens
While I was at it, I also redesigned the login page, a sample artist profile and the search screen in coordination with the rest of the interface look.
You can see the prototype in action here
