Role
product Designer + Front-end developer
Duration
01/2024 - 03/2024
Problem Statement
Music is inherently social. For all of us, it is embedded with meaning and memories. While offering access to diverse music, music streaming platforms today lack engaging social features, and often sacrifice intentionality for expediency.
MemRemix’s key innovation is combining the sentimentality of the mixtape with the networking power of the social media app. We provide a unique and accessible platform where users can gift, receive, and reminisce on songs in real time and real space.
Put simply, streaming killed the mixtape, and MemRemix aims to bring it back.
PIVOTING FOR A NICHE
Based on a group member's project from a previous class, MemRemix pivoted from a music-focused social journaling app after our team conducted 4 additional user tests. These additional tests revealed a general disconnect between the journaling and social features, which resulted in misaligned mental models on how to navigate the app.
As a result, we reviewed existing needfinding content, focusing primarily on evoking emotions since the previous concept was met with apathy. We noticed that 4 of 5 initial needfinding interviews tied music closely to life milestones, which were in turn linked to locations. This led us to the question:
How might we use music as a scrapbook?
A preview of the journey maps and affinity maps we created to dissect our needfinding and synthesize insights.
This should be a Miro board with brainstorming for that HMW
The idea for MemRemix was a direct result of making the connections between music, memories, and location more explicit by leaving music "gifts" for friends at particular locations as a means of revisiting memories.
We decided on this idea because existing music app competitors (Spotify, Airbuds, Last.fm, etc.) focus only on sharing music without much care about why it's being shared. Like mixtapes, we wanted to intentionally capture the music-memory association while rooted in a shared physical location.
For instance, from one interviewee: “Whenever 'Feel No Ways' by Drake comes up, the time that comes to mind is when I was on a bus [as an RA] and played that song. Everybody enjoyed it, and it helped all the kids bond with each other.”
Defining tasks
As a result of our change in concept, we redefined our user tasks. Instead of our past tasks of posting songs publicly in response to a prompt, automatically creating playlists based on themes, and allowing users to journal within song entries, we decided the following tasks:
Gift songs anchored to locations: Prompt journaling felt forced. Why not let users share what they want, when they want?
Receive songs as gifts according to anchor proximity: Music fosters relationships with others and their environment. This is our niche!
Discover user-generated mixtapes by landmark: Instead of playlists created by themes, generate playlists based on social connection to your community.
Below image should be a few screens of memremix with maybe a diagram visualization for the context
Our Miro board for brainstorming solutions to our How Might We question.
Prototype iteration by task
Gift songs anchored to locations.
Receive songs as gifts according to anchor proximity.
Discover user-generated mixtapes by landmark.
Business strategy
Customers are willing to pay for digital music subscriptions, with Apple Music and Spotify charging $10.99/month. Building on this, MemRemix proposes a $0.99/month "add-on" subscription integrated with these platforms, allowing users to keep their existing music setup. This avoids disrupting their saved playlists and enhances their experience. With Spotify’s $50.55B market cap, this model represents a $4.55B opportunity. MemRemix will also introduce brand sponsorships through community listening stations. The initial target market includes high school and college students, with plans to expand to broader age groups due to the universal appeal of music sharing.
