P001 → IDAGIO - Discovery


A Project By: Aamir Ali, Alvin Leung, Krista McDiarmid, Rhees Kennedy, Samyak Shah





A New Way To Discover Music

IDAGIO is a music streaming service tailored exclusively for classical music and the unique needs of its listeners. Discovery is a browser extension that enhances the experience of discussing and sharing classical music knowledge within the online community.


01Context
The Necessity Of A Intervention
With Apple launching a classical music streaming service, IDAGIO faces a risk of losing its user base. To counter this, IDAGIO needs to enhance its brand presence and create a unique market differentiator for user-retention.
My Roles In The Project
As team lead and primary UX/UI designer, I managed the road-map, research, and design process. I also handled copywriting, content design, product strategy, user testing, interviews, and developed the UX for both the browser extension and mobile app. 

02Audience
Establishing A Problem Space

Beginning with a vague problem, I led the team to consider the broader classical music community's needs, not just IDAGIO's. This approach allowed us focus on unmet consumer needs within the classical space. 
Collecting & Synthesizing Data

By analyzing qualitative and quantitative data from user interviews, online research, forums, and industry papers, we identified a critical issue: a knowledge gap exists where users want to explore new music within the classical genre but struggle to navigate the extensive library. 

These insight highlighted three listener categories, enhancing our understanding of how people discover and learn about music.
The Spectrum of Discovery Styles


Establishing Viable Demographic 
Classical music has 30% of its audience under the age of 35. This new generation of listeners is highly digital, with 70% using online resources to explore the genre, making it the most viable space for our design intervention.


Design Focus:
To capture the influx of new listeners under 35, who utilize an active music discovery approach in order to learn more about classical music


03Branding
Implementing A Brand Analysis
In the absence of clear brand pillars from IDAGIO, we conducted a brand analysis using interviews and marketing materials. We developed a set of six values to provide the team with scaffolding during our ideation phase. 

Branding Principles For IDAGIO
04Testing
Conducting User-Tests
An exploratory assessment was conducted with eight participants from online communities such as Reddit and Discord. This initiative provided valuable insights into consumer pain points that reaffirmed the knowledge gap.

Understanding Pain Points



Refining Our Design Focus:

Democratize classical music by improving accessibility for newcomers and leveraging advanced listeners' expertise to bridge the knowledge gap.


05Prototype



Our Strategy
Discovery provides a comprehensive suite of features for the online community. Instead of dividing these communities, we support and offer services that integrate with IDAGIO's App for extra functionality, drawing users into our ecosystem.



+ Sidebar: Music is aggregated into the sidebar for later review
+ Inline Search: People can search IDAGIO’s library to hyperlink their posts
The Browser Extension
The extension scans the webpage for textual references to music and sources it from IDAGIOS’ library where it is stored in a sidebar. This enables people to stay in an exploratory mindset, deferring the more analytical review for later.











+ Embed Player: Users can embed music at specific time segments to aid discussion
The Embed Player
Tailored for the genre, the music player can be shared in forums during discussions, providing a touchpoint to introduce the community to IDAGIO without requiring an account or extension, lowering the barrier to entry.



+ Recap: Extends the music discovery experience by organizing people’s online research
In-App Recap & Monetization
Recap combines Discovery's web features to direct people to IDAGIO, where they can organize research and sample music. Membership unlocks the full library, offering alternative renditions and new music suggestions, enhancing peoples’ musical journey.



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