iOS Podcasts

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Adding a feature to make iOS Podcasts more customizable for the listener

My role

Product designer, translating user needs into high-fidelity wireframes

Timeline

December 2021–January 2022

problem

Podcasts are booming, and the iOS Podcasts app lacks common functionalities that make it a competitor

The native iOS Podcasts app doesn't allow for the same customization, saving and sorting of content like its competitors Spotify, Audible and others. Users of other apps are able to make playlists of podcasts episodes where on iOS Podcasts users can only create ways to make better long-term listening experiences.

the solution

Adding a few features to improve customizability and usability

white paper research

The number of regular podcast listeners grew from 100M to 125M in 2022

The future of podcasting is bright.

Podcasting will be a $4 billion industry by 2024
The percentage of monthly podcast listeners among 12-to-34 years old has grown from 27% in 2017 to 49% in 2020
IAB Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimated podcast ad spend was $800 million in 2020, and will more than double to $1.7 billion by 2024, an annual growth of nearly 20%

industry standard

Spotify has twice as many podcast listeners than iOS Podcasts, a native app on 900,000,000 iPhones

I conducted a survey to understand people's podcast listening habits, their preferred apps and motivations

5/8 of my survey participants preferred Spotify over iOS Podcasts, citing their ability to save and group podcast episodes and channels
3/5 who said they preferred Spotify admitted using iOS Podcasts in the past and switching over

semi-structured interviews

Listeners want access to a variety of content, and better ways to keep it for later

I conducted 6 interviews with podcast listeners to understand what kinds of content they accessed in which situations to reveal trends in their listening habits.

INTERVIEW OBJECTIVES:

Learn about people’s experience listening to/saving/sharing podcasts
Understand how listeners currently discover new podcasts
Discover trends in people’s listening habits to identify improvements to be made

main insights

There was a need but not proper functionality to save and group podcasts

The only current option is a "Station" that allows users to group podcast channels, but not individual episodes

the selective binge listener persona

prioritizing features

Determining best features to add within the timeframe

To economize on time during my bootcamp, I chose the three features with the highest impact for the lowest effort.

testing + improvements made

Making it easier to save podcasts, share, and discover new channels

How might we facilitate saving and grouping of episodes for future listening?
How might we promote discovery of new podcasts?
How might we create opportunities for longer listening sessions?

final designs

Reimagining the features currently available

This feature allows users to save podcast episodes for future listening and share with their friends.

Link to the full Figma file here

reflections

Lessons to take moving forward

This was my first project building on a pre-existing mobile app. A major advantage of this was finding issues people had with the UX that they were comfortable sharing in interviews.

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. In the future I won't be going through the motions of UX research trying to validate my own assumptions. I'll go into it with a blank slate, no ego, and learn from users openly.
Live review of the app is better than theoretical. During interviews it was helpful for the participant to get out their app, familiarize themselves for a moment and then share their thoughts. This helped refresh the person's thoughts on the app and give more accurate feedback.
Build the design system first, then iterate. Rather than hashing out a design system at the latest stage in iteration it would've helped to have had a preliminary system of components and change them as needs changed further in the project.