Summary

I conducted 3 iterations on the Google Play Music app and mocked up a redesign for the team. The team eventually ended up implementing my suggestions and the lead stakeholder even said "Kevin, this app was basically designed by you." Cool beans.

Objective

• Identify the major usability issues with the Play Music app on Android Wear (version 1.0) and iterate based on findings.

Research Questions

1. Are users able to perform the basic playback controls (play/pause, skip, volume, favourite, search)?
2. Do users understand how to download music on their watch?
3. What do users like/dislike about the app? What do they expect?
4. Where do users expect to change app Settings?

Method

• Participatory design exercise before testing prototype
• In-lab usability test | task-based scenarios

High-level findings

• After 2 studies, users expect to be able to search for music. The current app does not support search.
• Information architecture is cumbersome - too many actions required to complete simple tasks.
• The "Now Playing" button obscures top drawer hint - additionally, icon is not comprehensible.
• Top drawer (aka pull-down menu) is not discoverable and presents major usability issues around navigation.
• Users expect to shuffle playlists and albums. The current app does not support shuffle.
• Visual design of current app described as "dull, boring". Additionally, all the pages/subpages look similar with similarly-sized icons.

Recommendations

• Consider removing top drawer - consider streamlining the menu items (e.g. by placing Settings at the bottom of the Home screen).
• Consider Home screen icons to remain large, subpage icons should be smaller (elicit hierarchical organization).
• Implement Search and Shuffle.
• Flatten the hierarchy of items (i.e. put "Songs", "Albums", "Playlists" on the Home page).

Mockup