Ivey Product Society 🎧
Enhancing Spotify's social experience through customization on the profile page
The Path to Product
The Ivey Product Fellowship is an alumni-facilitated bootcamp where students engage in product-management-focused curriculum and showcase a capstone product to industry professionals. As someone who had little to no prior experience in the product realm, I was thrilled to be surrounded by a community of accomplished alumni.
Having listened to 164,498 minutes of music in just the past year, it was natural for me to select Spotify as the app for my capstone project. As an avid music streamer from morning till night, I've become intimately familiar with the app's latest features and intricate UX/UI design details. However, this immersion also led me to harbor complaints and a persistent feeling that something was missing.
IPS (Ivey Product Society) presented an ideal opportunity for me to address these challenges head-on while gaining valuable insights into the world of product management.
Role
Product Management Fellow
Team
Ansel (Me 😄), Brennan (Program Lead), David (Alumni Coach), Rohan (Student Mentor)
Tools
Notion, Figma
Timeline
Jan – Apr 2023
Spotify's Social Gap
How can Spotify bridge its social features gap to boost user engagement and encourage higher platform usage frequency through meaningful music connections?
Is There Really Something Wrong?
Spotify's limited social capabilities hinder meaningful interaction between users, resulting in difficulties with music discovery, playlist sharing, and engagement with friends' listening habits. This issue can potentially impede user retention and underutilization of the platform.
To overcome this challenge, Spotify should prioritize enhancing its social features. By introducing customizable profile pages and fostering music-centered social groups, users can connect, share playlists, and discover music more seamlessly.
Gaining Some User Insights
To understand Spotify usage among different demographics, I interviewed a diverse group of individuals from around the school. The interviews revealed that while some users enjoy the platform's customization options and algorithm-generated playlists, others found the lack of new content and limited social features to be a drawback.
Lack of user interactions
Values listening activity
Lack of customization
Potential social media app
Praises smart algorithm
Discoverability struggles
Enhanced Social Experience
By enhancing its social features through customizable profile pages, Spotify can offer a richer and more rewarding user experience, leading to increased engagement, retention, and satisfaction.
Unveiling Your Melodic Persona
The proposed solution to enhance the user experience on Spotify is the introduction of Customizable Profile Pages. This feature empowers users to personalize their profiles, showcasing their unique personalities and music preferences. Users can fully customize their profile page by adding a featured showcase to display a variety of awards or statistics. This visual customization allows users to express their musical tastes and create visually appealing profiles that capture attention.
Artist Showcase
User flow for adding a showcase featuring their favourite artist
Song Showcase
User flow for adding a showcase featuring their favourite song
Additional Options
Other potential showcase options, including Spotify Wrapped
Key Takeaways
As the curtains draw on my journey with Ivey Product Society, I'm filled with gratitude for the immense growth and learning I have experienced. From creating a Product Requirements Document to conducting user research, the hands-on nature of the program not only sharpened my product skills but also taught me the art of translating ideas into tangible solutions.
Undoubtedly, one of the standout moments was presenting my capstone project to a panel of PMs from Meta and Wealthsimple. The intensity of the technical questions definitely put me on the spot, but the thorough feedback I received left a lasting mark on my product mindset and thought process. It was a transformative experience that propelled me to new heights.
I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the dedicated Ivey alumni who selflessly dedicate their valuable time to the fellowship. Their mentorship and guidance have opened doors I never imagined possible. This incredible opportunity has ignited an unquenchable thirst for product innovation within me, and I eagerly look forward to the exciting journey ahead!
🎯
Product Strategy
Learned to identify user pain points and translate them into actionable product features that drive user engagement and satisfaction.
👥
User Research
Developed skills in conducting user interviews, analyzing feedback, and using insights to inform product decisions and feature prioritization.
🎨
Design Thinking
Applied design thinking principles to create user-centered solutions that balance business objectives with user needs and technical constraints.
📊
Market Analysis
Gained experience in competitive analysis, market research, and understanding industry trends to inform strategic product decisions.
Product Management Journey
The Ivey Product Society fellowship was a transformative experience that deepened my understanding of product management and user-centered design.