TEAM
Time
2022
My role
Product Designer
KEY SKILLS
INTRO
Rethinking Discovery
I redesigned the Waves application to help users break out of their listening habits, improve premium conversions, and create a smoother onboarding experience.
DESIGNS
Designing and Prototyping
We designed a new concept for the app, ran a few iterations of user testing and workshops with business stakeholders, and incorporated the feedback back into the designs.
Refreshed UI
Even though we love the original UI, users weren’t exactly vibing with it anymore…😢
Challenges
Understanding the problems
Music lovers struggled to discover new music and understand the value of premium features, leading to low conversion rates and poor engagement.
Key Insights from User Research
Learning from Others
Lack of Personalization
Most discovery platforms rely on generic algorithms, missing human-curated experiences—Waves fills this gap with community-driven recommendations.
Overwhelming Interfaces
Many apps overload users with features, making discovery frustrating—Waves keeps it simple and intuitive, focusing on seamless exploration.
IDEATION
From Insights to Ideas
With key challenges identified, we brainstormed and tested different ways to solve them—focusing on user needs, market gaps, and technical feasibility.
Ideation workshop
Style Guide
Task flows
TESTING
Refining Through User Feedback
Before finalizing the design, we conducted usability tests to validate key improvements and ensure a seamless experience.
Before - Users had to scroll more to find new music.
After - Cleaner UI with streamlined sections.
IMPACT
Seeing the results
Increase in premium subscriptions
+20%
User engagement in the Explore tab
+35%
Boost in conversion from free to paid users
+15%
Lessons
What I learned?
Design is also about stakeholder management
Our CEO loved the old look. 75 meetings later, we finally convinced him and the new design was born.
Nostalgia is not usability
The old UI was catchy but a bit dated.
We kept the charm, but made sure users didn’t need a manual to use it.
