Funn
Helping users plan entertainment
Type: IOS Mobile App
Duration: 8 weeks
Role: Solo Product Designer
Tools: Figma, Miro, Invision, google forms
Challenge
Design an Entertainment Planning App
Imagine that you have just been hired as a product designer for a new entertainment startup. Your goal is to help the startup build a mobile app that helps people plan their entertainment.
Problem
Choice Overload in Modern Entertainment Platforms
With the rise of entertainment platforms within the last decade, users have a lot of options to pick from. Often, users find themselves paying for too many platforms than they actually use. They also have a hard time deciding what choice of entertainment to go with.
Solution
Funn: Streamlining Entertainment and Cost
Funn is a mobile application that helps users plan and organize their entertainment, while also reducing costs.
Onboarding
The Funn App starts with a brief display of its logo and slogan, then moves to three straightforward onboarding screens with options to swipe, click 'next', or 'skip'. This leads to a login page with easy options for existing users and a sign-up button for new ones, along with quick Google and Facebook sign-in alternatives
Personalize your Funn
Funn's onboarding includes personalizing entertainment choices and adding new categories via a 'plus' button. Users can manage subscriptions or skip this step. The app features a genre page with common selections and a 'view all' option, alongside a voice-enabled search bar for specific genres.
Everything you want is here
Funn's movie page features trending films and user-specific suggestions, with a dynamic 'suggested' section adapting to viewing patterns. A search function, complete with voice search, allows for browsing all available movies. The 'Explore' button broadens movie choices beyond usual genres. Movie cards show the associated streaming platform and movie ratings, aiding in subscription management decisions.
Where words fail, music speaks
On the Music homepage of Funn, users find sections for recommended and trending songs, based on their selected genres. They can explore specific genres to discover new songs, playlists, or albums. A search function covers all music content within the app. An 'Explore' button extends music discovery beyond preferred categories. Users can choose to listen to recent releases, top playlists, or albums in a genre, and also have the option to schedule their music listening sessions.
From Discovery to Design: My Process
User Research
I conducted qualitative research through user interviews over Zoom and Google Meet, interviewing 7 people in total.
My aim for this research was to find out:
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Why people want to be entertained in the first place
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What most people like to do on their phones when they are bored
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What factors make people decide the type of entertainment they want to go with
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What factors hinder them from achieving their goal after deciding on what to go with?
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What would they not want to see in an entertainment Application
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If they think their current mode of navigating to their entertainment choice can be improved.
My Findings
I jot down important points from the different interviews and grouped them into different categories
click and scroll to see all
User Insights
This was what I took away from this research
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We love entertainment because we always want to be in a good mood, and entertainment gives us this by making us forget whatever worries.
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Participants watch movies, listen to music, play games, go on social media, and listen to podcasts, to entertain themselves
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Most participants are spontaneous regarding their choice of entertainment
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While most participants don't care about the price of individual streaming platforms as long as it is not ridiculously expensive, they hate having to pay for different platforms to achieve their aim.
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Most participants with a routine lifestyle would love if they could plan what to do before the time
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The process of finding what exactly matches their mood is herculean
Defining the Problem
From the insights above, I found out the main problems were..
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The processes of arriving at what to do is cumbersome.
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Users get frustrated because they don't get the best out of their money, despite paying for different platforms.
So,
how might we help reduce the difficulties in arriving at a chosen entertainment by helping users organize their entertainment while reducing costs?
User Persona
Someone that can benefit from this
Solution Ideation
I brainstormed and came up with the following ideas to solve the two main problems
To organize entertainment:
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Integrate User's most used entertainment apps into one app
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A power search button that lets you search through all available content
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A schedule feature that lets you select what to do in advance
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Freedom to alter app layout, arrangement, and themes depending on the user's wants
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Powerful recommender system that suggests what a user might like best based on category selection from registration and frequently played genre
To Cut down costs:
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Help users cancel and renew their subscriptions
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Notify users of which subscription to cancel based on inactivity
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Update users on any fee change
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Updates users on how they can get cheaper plans
These solution proposals further posed me with two problems:
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I believe integrating a user entertainment app would lead to a better entertainment organization, but would that be what my users would want too? if so, which apps would they want integrated and which would they want separate?
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Would entertainment platforms agree to integrate technology and allow Funn App direct access to their content?
Because of these conundrums, I set out to do further research
For the first problem
I created a survey using Google Forms and sent it to the various WhatsApp and Telegram groups I am in. The aim was to know if users want an entertainment app that integrates other apps in the first place, and which apps would they want integrated into or separated from the mega app.
My findings
Most users responded that entertainment applications involving movies, music, games, and podcasts can be integrated, but they would prefer to play games and visit social media as they normally do.
My solution modification
Funn app would be primarily focused on integrating music, movies, and podcasts with options to add other categories
For the Second problem
I interviewed a senior software engineer at Netflix. According to him, most entertainment platforms would not want to give a third-party app direct access to their content
My solution modification
Funn would be the search API that manages the different entertainment applications for the comfort of the user while having logo icons that indicate which of the incorporated platforms is to be used/being used.
Designing
User Flow
I ideate all the possible actions of a typical user's movement through the app.
Storyboard
Then I empathized a user's journey through the Application
Sketches
After that, I started making rough sketches of how each screen on the app would look like.
click and scroll to see all
Mid Fidelity Wireframing
I prototyped the following screens and conducted usability tests. Below are the screens, feedback I got, and my intended modification in the final design
Onboarding/Sign Up
Getting Started
Home
To conclude my research, I did A/B testing for the two most important screen modifications I am trying to make. Here are the results.
A
B
A
B
High Fidelity Wireframing
Interactive Prototype
Interact with the prototype here. Click on full screen view for better experience
Refelections
Working on this project exposed me to the realities of solo designing. At the same time, it made me become super resourceful and increased my strength in the various aspects of research and design thinking. I explored a lot of resources within the time frame of this project which skyrocketed both my design and research skills considering this is my first project.
Future Iterations
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I would conduct research on extra features I can add to the application to make it more Funn.
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I would also conduct more research (usability and multivariate testing) with a wider audience on the onboarding category selection screens.
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I would work on designing the other insights obtained from my research
Thank you for reading