Unveiling 4 Common User Experience Challenges in Spotify: (2024)

Problem Statement
In the realm of music streaming, users encounter challenges that hinder seamless navigation and enjoyment. These issues include hidden search bars in personalized playlists, no clear way to download one song or keep downloads organized, limits when checking out multiple featured artists, and waiting too long to explore offline playlists with slow connections. This case study aims to look into these user experience problems and suggest effective solutions to make using Spotify better overall.

Goals & Objectives
-Pinpoint Pain Points
-Analyze User Feedback
-Develop Feasible Solutions
-Enhance Offline Experience
-User Testing and Validation
-Measure Impact
-Provide Implementation Recommendations

The most significant challenge faced by Spotify users is the concealed search bar within personalized playlists. This hidden feature requires users to swipe down on the playlist screen to access the search functionality, creating a barrier to effortless song exploration. There is a lack of guidance, with no tool tips to assist users in discovering this hidden search bar easily.

Key Challenges
-Unawareness of the Playlist Search Bar

The user research conducted for the Spotify UX case study involved the collection of valuable insights through in-depth user interviews and polls. This research aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Spotify user experience, delving into their preferences, pain points, and expectations. By engaging with a diverse user base, we obtained valuable data that informed our design decisions and strategies to enhance the Spotify platform, ensuring it caters to the needs and desires of its vast and varied audience.

After conducting polls on both WhatsApp groups and LinkedIn, it’s evident that while a significant number of users are aware of the concealed search bar within personalized playlists, there exists a substantial ratio of users who remain uninformed. Some users may prefer scrolling through their entire playlist or utilizing the Spotify global search. The likelihood is that either they genuinely enjoy scrolling or, more significantly, they might not even be aware of the existence of the playlist’s search bar. This unawareness leads them to navigate through the entire playlist or resort to global search, especially in the case of larger playlists. The core issue lies in the lack of awareness regarding the existence of the search bar within playlists.

To boost this observation, I conducted over 20 interviews with users from diverse backgrounds, including medical, engineering, tech, and UX professionals. I acknowledge that the poll numbers may not be robust. These interviews provide deeper insights, affirming the presence of a significant user segment unaware of the playlist’s search bar.

Out of the 20 interviews I conducted, these 5 individuals, each with diverse professions, represent potential Spotify users. Surprisingly, only 1 of them was aware of the search bar.

Spotify Community
Many users are raising concerns about this issue in the Spotify community because they have no idea if the search bar even exists in the mobile app.

Findings on Playlist Search Bar Awareness
Certainly, there are still many users who are aware of the search bar’s existence. However, the critical question lies in how quickly users become aware of it. Is the process intuitive, or do they face challenges locating it within their playlists? Can new users easily adapt to this search experience?

Throughout the user interviews, three types of users emerged: those who already knew about the search bar, those who had no idea about it, and a surprising third group. This third group, initially unaware, discovered the search bar during the interview when asked about their search experience within the playlist.

This suggests that some users might have been aware of the search bar but never adapted to it due to its lack of visibility. Even after swiping down, the search bar doesn’t prominently stand out in the UI; instead, it seems to blend into a blank screen, lacking a clear functional identity.

Suggestions

While I understand there may be reasons behind Spotify hiding the search bar for user experience enhancement, it’s worth exploring potential improvements. For instance, incorporating a search icon instead of a prominent search bar could signal the existence of a dedicated search option within personalized playlists, making it more user-friendly.

Downloading songs stands out as an excellent feature, providing the convenience of having your favorite tunes readily available. However, Spotify’s download experience falls short.

Spotify’s Shortcomings
No streamlined experience for downloading songs
Downloading a single song requires workaround steps

Current Process of Downloading a single song:
Add the song to any playlist and Download the entire playlist
Alternatively, download the whole album or release containing
the desired song

Lack of Options
-Absence of an individual song download feature
-No dedicated folder for organizing downloaded songs

Spotify Community
For the past couple of years, many Spotify users have been experiencing a frustrating issue when trying to download a single song. Despite numerous reports in the Spotify community, this problem remains unresolved. What’s even more frustrating is that the issue has been marked as “solved” by suggesting a workaround, which involves downloading an entire playlist to access a single song.

User’s Adaptation to Spotify Downloading: Users have developed their own strategies due to the perceived challenges of downloading on Spotify.
In my user interviews, I identified three user types:

-Download Folder Playlists
Some Users create specific playlists that act as a downloaded folder, allowing them to manage individual song downloads.

-Playlist Challenges
Some users, including myself, find the process of creating different playlists inconvenient
Despite the wish to download specific songs, they resort to downloading entire playlists, resulting in significant phone storage usage.

-Non-Downloaders
Some users refrain from using the download option altogether. They might be consistently connected to their network data.
Others understand the process but find it Difficult, desiring a more intuitive download option.

Comparison with other Platforms
Users express a preference for platforms like YouTube Music and Amazon Music. These platforms offer a straightforward download option for individual songs during playback, enhancing user experience.

Contrast with Youtube Music
YouTube Music process: While on the music player, simply tap the download option located in a natural and thumb friendly zone.

Spotify users use playlists as download folders, but playlist creation can be cumbersome. Some users end up downloading entire playlists, consuming significant storage. Others avoid downloading due to network connectivity or finding the process complex. In contrast, platforms like YouTube Music offer a more intuitive experience, allowing direct song download with a simple tap on the player screen. This suggests an improvement opportunity for Spotify’s download feature.

Music platforms offer more than enjoying familiar artists and genres; they’re about discovering new songs across genres. When playing radio or shuffling playlists, you often come across new songs and wish to explore both the primary and featured artists. On Spotify, exploring the primary artist is straightforward, but delving into secondary and featured artists of a specific song is challenging. Tapping on any artist’s name in the Now Playing View, whether primary or featured, only opens the primary artist’s page.

Polls Conducted in regard to this issue

When we examine the poll data, it becomes clear that there are two distinct groups of users regarding the artist exploration feature. Firstly, there are those users who seldom or never explore artists by tapping on their names. This might be because they have limited interest in discovering new artists, or they have alternative methods like selecting “View Artists” on the Now Playing screen or using the search function for exploration. Secondly, there’s a set of users who do want to utilize the “tap on an artist’s name” feature, but they find it frustrating. The frustration stems from the fact that this feature primarily allows them to explore the primary artist, which leads them to adapt by not using it and seeking out alternative ways to discover new artists.

Spotify’s Current Approach to Discovering Secondary or Featured Artists on the “Now Playing” View.

Android

IOS

I’m not sure if this has always been the case or if it’s a recent change, but on iOS, when you tap the three-dot option for the currently playing song, you only see “View Artist” instead of “View Artists.” This means that on iOS, you can only access information about the primary artist, as opposed to Android, where you can view all the featured artists as well.

Exploring Challenges on Android & Critical Hurdles on iOS

In all the user interviews I conducted, there was a recurring issue that came up. A total of 17 out of 20 users expressed their keen interest in exploring new artists by shuffling songs from various playlists.
However, they found it challenging to explore featured artists because tapping on an artist’s name only led them to the primary artist’s page. Some users were willing to adapt by using the “View Artists” option found in the More Options list, but this was not a universal solution.

Notably, iOS users faced even more frustration because they lacked an option like Android’s “View Artists.” Even when using the “View Artists” option, iOS users were disappointed to find that it displayed only the primary artist, making artist exploration more cumbersome. To explore featured artists, they had to either navigate to the song’s album or manually search for these artists by recalling their names and spelling.

One Android user interviewed was not even aware that tapping on an artist’s name was a feature. Consequently, this user frequently relied on the “View Artists” option to explore artists. The potential issue arises when this user switches to iOS; they may encounter “View Artist,” which only provides information about the primary artist, rather than “View Artists.”

We can only hope that this is a minor bug in the iOS app and that it will be resolved soon. If it was intentionally designed this way, it could be a frustrating issue that persists.

Visual References of other music platforms

Spotify Community

This problem was brought up in the Spotify community some time ago. Even some moderators mentioned that Spotify’s tech team acknowledged that a solution was possible for the mobile app. Unfortunately, due to not receiving sufficient support or recognition for this reported issue, it remains unresolved. I’m just hoping it will get fixed soon.

Exploring Challenges on Web & Window App

This issue isn’t insignificant, especially for those who also use the Windows app, where it’s already resolved. On the Windows app, when you hover over an artist’s name, it becomes underlined, allowing you to access that artist’s page by simply clicking on it, whether they are the primary or featured artists.

On the mobile app, it’s a different story, and it leaves users feeling confused because they expect the same functionality. If a solution is not possible for this problem, Spotify might want to consider the option of completely removing the “Tap on artist’s name” feature on the mobile app. This way, both new and existing users won’t be left in confusion, and they can more easily adapt to alternative methods for exploring artists.

The world of music streaming is becoming increasingly appealing, with a surge in competitive platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YT Music, and more. Now, you find yourself immersed in a diverse array of songs every day, ranging from new releases to familiar tunes. There’s a significant need for the ability to skip forward or rewind particular songs. Personally, I often revisit songs in my playlists, wishing to navigate to specific moments, be it for favorite lyrics or a particular musical section.

Spotify Community

In my view, I can’t definitively say if this issue is as critical for all users, mainly because I lack comprehensive data — I haven’t run polls or conducted extensive interviews on this matter. However, based on the few user interactions I’ve had, a common complaint emerges regarding the absence of the forward and rewind feature on Spotify. Personally, I find this feature crucial and feel the need for it regularly when I want to skip or revisit specific parts of songs. I hope Spotify is aware of this user sentiment, and if there’s a rationale for the current design, they might consider incorporating this feature in the future.

Interestingly, on Spotify’s podcast player, there are dedicated buttons for forwarding and rewinding, suggesting that Spotify recognizes the functionality. However, the absence of these features on the song player prompts curiosity about the underlying reason or rationale for this design choice.

-Me as a Spotify User

I’m Aneesh Gurbakhshani, a Product Designer with a deep passion for Spotify. I’ve been a dedicated user for the past five years, and I thrive on using products with intricate functionalities, delving into their depths, and troubleshooting any challenges that come my way. My journey with Spotify has led me to explore every feature, navigate every screen of the mobile app, and conduct extensive research across various communities, articles, forums, and case studies.

-Purpose of the case study

My motivation for undertaking this extensive research and gathering user insights on certain challenges is rooted in my admiration and loyalty to the platform.

Through this case study, I aim to shed light on issues that can sometimes complicate the user experience. By collecting data and insights from various sources, I hope to gain a better understanding of whether these challenges are genuinely problematic. Personally, my goal is to convey how I perceive and experience these issues during my interactions with the product, while also considering the perspectives of other users. This case study serves as a platform for advocating improvements and enhancing the overall Spotify experience.

-User Insights and Data

It’s important to recognize that the data I’ve gathered, including polls and user interviews, is real and has been collected through various means, such as running polls, conducting user interviews, and observing users. However, it may not be entirely free of bias or entirely neutral. I understand that the nature of the questions and the methods I’ve employed to collect this information can influence the responses I receive. Therefore, I acknowledge that I can’t place absolute reliance on this data.

My aim in collecting these User Insights was to gain a deeper understanding of how users think and perceive their interactions with the product. I also wanted to encourage them to explore new features and consider any potential issues they might not have been aware of. It’s been a fascinating journey, and the process allowed me to learn more about how a diverse range of users engage with the product.

-All in one issue

The four problems I’ve highlighted all merge into a single overarching issue, which I’d like to call the “All-in-One Issue.” These problems are inherently interconnected and pose challenges in scenarios where I aim to explore a new song along with its featured artists, download it, and ensure easy access for future listening.

Allow me to guide you through the journey of this specific scenario:

My Journey

As I’m exploring a new song, my desire is to discover all the featured artists. To achieve this, I tap on the three-dot option menu and navigate to “View Artists” on the Android app (Problem no. 3)

I’m enjoying the song and the artists, and I want to download it for future listening. To do this, I once again tap the three-dot option menu, select “Add to Playlist,” and then search for a playlist with download capability, adding the song to it (Problem no. 2)

Later, I want to replay that same song. To find it, I need to locate the downloaded playlist, scroll down to find the playlist’s dedicated search bar, and search for the song (Problem no. 1)

While on the Now Playing screen, I often want to skip ahead 10 or 20 seconds multiple times, especially when I’m familiar with the song and eager to get to my favorite part. Unfortunately, there’s no dedicated option for this, so I find myself manually sliding that tiny progress bar back and forth, which can be quite frustrating, especially when I’m driving or working out. (Problem no. 4)

These issues collectively form a challenging user experience, impacting the way I interact with Spotify and enjoy my music.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we strive to elevate the Spotify experience for all music enthusiasts.