A ONE STOP SHOP FOR THE ARTIST AUDIENCE REALTIONSHOP
ROLE
Product Design (UX/UI)
TIMELINE
8 Weeks
TOOLS
Figma
Photoshop
Procreate
PROBLEM?
The traditional music industry model has often taken power away from artists, particularly through risky record deals that allow record labels to take a significant portion of revenue from different streams of income, including merchandise, touring, and endorsements. While these deals provide some benefits, such as marketing/promotion support and industry connections, they often strip artists of freedom and reduce their ability to profit directly from their work. In today’s digital landscape, promotional tactics like social media have become oversaturated, making it difficult for music artists to connect with new fans. At the same time, music lovers face challenges in discovering fresh, high-quality music, as playlists often recycle the same popular artists. This disconnect highlights a growing need for innovative solutions to bridge the gap between artists and audiences.
SOLUTION !
My goal is to bridge the gap between music artists and their fans by creating a platform that houses a digital musical ecosystem. Through an all-in-one app, I aim to help artists to engage directly with their audience via streaming, merchandise, and concert ticketing. At the same time, fans will have a seamless platform to discover, support, and connect with their favorite artists, local shows, cool artist merchandise. This project reflects my passion for music and design, blending creativity and functionality to deliver an impactful solution for the music community.
THE PROCESS
EMPATHIZE
DEFINE
IDEATE
PROTOTYPE
TEST
ARTIST - AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIPS EMPATHIZE
OVERVIEW
Research Approach
User Interviews
To gain deeper insight into the pain points between the artist and their audience, I conducted scripted interviews with selected 2 local musicians and another round of interviews with 3 music enthusiasts who frequently attend live concerts.
The goals for my research process were the following:
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Explore different ways audience and artist feel most connected.
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Investigate different ways consumers support their favorite artists.
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How we might be able to help new artists.
LONG MERCH LINES
According to 2 participants, common issue faced by concert enthusiasts is the struggle to balance fully enjoying the live performance while waiting in long lines for merchandise. I person mentioned missing the peroformance of some of their favorite songs because they didn't want to risk the merchandise selling out. She talked about these times as being the worst experiences she's had at Big artist shows like Kanye West and Beyonce. This trade-off can cause frustration, particularly for those attending high-energy or visually immersive performances where every moment counts. Solving this problem would greatly enhance the concert-going experience, allowing fans to engage with both the performance and merchandise seamlessly.
OVERSATURATED INDUSTRY STRATEGIES
Both participants (artists) face challenges in gaining exposure in an increasingly saturated industry. They mentioned all social media promotion being oversaturated as well as streaming platforms. 100,000 songs uploaded daily to platforms like Spotify, breaking through the noise and reaching a wider audience has become more difficult than ever. Artist 1 spoke about being signed to a label for a short period of time and his fight with radio stations prioritizing more established artists or viral trends. Artist 2 talked about algorithms of streaming platforms often favoring popular or heavily promoted tracks, limiting the visibility of independent or lesser-known artists. Both artist are trying to do things independently but, without financial support or resources for marketing and the connections to access influential playlists, they struggle to find their audience outside of their friends. They fight to monetize their work and see a return on their investment to build sustainable careers in music. Both artist mentioned success being deeply rooted in "who you know" as opposed to what you sound like. Artist 2 mentioned his goal, of wanting to grow his core following to a solid 600 people for financial stability.
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT DEFINE
OVERVIEW
Persona Development
Problem Statements
During the interviews, I was beginning to see similarities in the ways people like to connect with their favorite artists. Essentially it sounded like they wanted one place to access their favorite artist content efficiently. They loved connecting with their favorite artist outside of the music as well and being a part of something even as a spectator connects them closer to the final product. I noticed that most music enthusiasts who often go to live shows connect with the artist's merchandise almost as much as the music and lifestyle. So I created Jess Figher.
Jess Figher is a 31 year old Marketing Manager from Los Angeles but living in New York City for the last decade. She embraces the musical history deeply routed in the city she now calls home and doesn't miss an opportunity to attend live shows. She loves live Hip-Hop and R&B shows and comes home from shows with a bag of merchandise. For Jess, concert merchandise is not only designed well, usually great quality but also has sentimental value for remembering the experience for years after.
Jess tries to make it show early to collect her favorite merchandise but sometimes has to leave long lines when the show is starting. If parking is hard to find, this minimizes her line wait time before the show starts. She feels like going to a concert and not getting the merchandise is like not even being there.
When designing the app, it was essential to consider the relationship between artists and their audience. To ensure the artist’s perspective was represented, I developed a user persona specifically for them. Artists would use the app to connect with fans, distribute merchandise and music, and monitor streaming metrics and ticket sales. This led to the creation of Dante Wesson, a New York native with extensive experience in the music industry, representing the needs and goals of a modern artist.
CREATING WIREFRAMES IDEATION
OVERVIEW
Ideation
Sketches
User Flow
To deepen my understanding of mobile ticketing, I explored apps such as Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, and StubHub. These platforms provided seamless simple user experience elements that I integrated into my wireframes. Since this app with be multifunction with a centralized artist merchandise section, I also analyzed shopping experiences from apps like the Kith App and Asos drawing inspiration from their simple design and functionality to enhance the overall user experience.
TASK FLOW
Here is a task flow for a unique live pick-up feature that ensures the consumer gets the best live music experience by minimizing the time fans wait in long merchandise lines. This feature allows ticket holders to pre-order merchandise through an app and pick it up at designated stations during or after the show. This allows fans to focus on enjoying the performance without worrying about missing key moments. Additionally, this system can reduce congestion around merchandise booths, creating a more organized and enjoyable environment for all attendees.
TIME TO DESIGN PROTOTYPE
OVERVIEW
Wireframes
Branding & UI Kit
Final Prototype
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE USABILITY TEST
I conducted usability testing with three participants to get feedback on my low-fidelity prototype. While testing, I found that some of my initial ideas didn't align as expected with user preferences. To address this, I engaged participants in discussions about their expectations and shared the design concepts behind the prototype to gather more targeted feedback.
Key Findings:
Streamlined Experience: While participants valued additional features, they emphasized the importance of an easy-to-navigate interface to quickly shop for merchandise or purchase tickets without unnecessary distractions.
Pre-Order Merchandise Feature: The ability to pre-order merchandise and pick it up at the venue was well-received, but participants wanted this feature to integrate smoothly with the ticket-purchasing process. One participant suggested having ticket packages that combine merchandise and tickets.
Interactive Artist Features: Participants loved the idea of exclusive interactions, such as live Q&A sessions or being a part of the creative process, to create a deeper connection.
These lessons guided my design adjustments to prioritize simple navigation, centralized access to artists' work, and features that build meaningful connections between artists and their audiences.
BRANDING
The word "March" comes from combining the three words, Music, Artist and Merchandise. For the branding, I intentionally chose a dark theme to reflect the ambiance of live music venues, many of which are equipped with dim lighting and a moody, intimate atmosphere. This design choice helps communicate the ambiance of a live performance, making the app feel familiar and aligned with the environment where music fans connect most deeply with their favorite artists. To complement the dark theme, I incorporated vibrant colors inspired by neon lights, often seen at live shows. These elements symbolize artistic expression and creativity, bringing the app a modern, dark vibrance.
LOGO
STYLE GUIDE
VISUAL INSPIRATION
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
LET'S TEST THE PROTOTYPE
OVERVIEW
Usability Test Findings
Revisions
Next Steps
I conducted usability testing of the high-fidelity prototype with four participants. For Participants 1 and 2, I assigned the task of purchasing a ticket. For Participants 3 and 4, I simply asked them to complete any task of their choice to explore the app freely.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with all participants appreciating the app’s design and understanding its vision. Participant 1 loved the shop feature, mentioning can be added to her routine shopping stores like Zara and Forever 21. She expressed excitement about the opportunity to support independent music artists, and that the app makes it easier to contribute to those who truly need it. Participant 3’s favorite feature was the shop accessible through the scanned ticket section. She mentioned rarely purchasing merchandise at events due to long lines but found this feature convenient and innovative. She also appreciated the discovery, of something she doesn't usually search for.
Participant 4 raised an insightful question about whether the app would serve as a standalone streaming platform or integrate with existing ones. She highlighted the importance of music rights, something I hadn’t considered deeply until this point. Drawing on her experience in record labels, she suggested integrating the app with platforms like Spotify and Apple Music to funnel streams directly to these services. This approach would benefit artists by increasing their streaming numbers. This feedback not only validated my design choices but also provided invaluable insights for future iterations.
Imagine a shopping mall where each store represents a unique brand or business. In this analogy, the artist is the store, and the mall is the app March. The products on the store's shelves such as clothing, accessories, or gadgets—are equivalent to the artist’s music, merchandise, and shows.
In a traditional mall, visitors know they can walk into a specific store to find exactly what that brand offers. Similarly, in The March App, fans visit their favorite artist’s "store" to explore their music, buy merchandise, and get tickets to upcoming shows. They might also browse past other stores or artists and check out their products, creating a musical community between artists and a shared audience. This artist-centric approach creates a dedicated space for fans to engage with music artists.
ADDRESSING OVERSATURATION
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are massive spaces, but they’re also chaotic and unfocused. According to the artist I interviewed music artist’s content, no matter how great, gets lost in trendy Tik Tok dances, comedy skits, memes, and advertisements. March focuses entirely on music and the artist’s entire offering catalog. This solves the issue of oversaturation by providing:
Curated Spaces: Each artist has a store(artist page), ensuring their content is easily accessible and not competing for attention with unrelated noise.
Focused Experience: Fans come to March specifically to engage with music and music-related content, creating a more satisfying user experience.
Direct Connection: By centralizing music, merch, and shows in one place, the app strengthens the relationship between artists and fans. This eliminates the need for fans to navigate multiple platforms to experience an artist’s work fully.
In short, March creates an ecosystem where fans know what to expect, artists maintain control over their shelves (products), and music is always the centerpiece. It’s a modern, streamlined solution for fostering deeper artist-audience connections in a world where social media often dilutes focus.
A live show merchandise pickup system integrated with March can significantly enhance the fan experience by offering convenience, and efficiency by:
Pre-Order and Skip the Line: Fans can pre-order merchandise through the app during the show and pick up at their convenience. This eliminates the hassle of waiting in long lines at busy merchandise tables, allowing fans to spend more time enjoying the concert.
Streamlined Process: With pre-orders, merchandise vendors can prepare items ahead of time, speeding up the transaction process.
Secure Your Favorite Items: One of the biggest frustrations at live shows is when popular merchandise sells out. With a pre-order system, fans can reserve the items they want, ensuring they don’t miss out on limited-edition products.
Encourages Early Purchases: Fans might be more willing to buy merchandise due to a more convenient check out system.
CONCLUSION
An alternative to the music "industry" by way of giving artists a direct connection to their fans. By centralizing music streaming, merchandise sales, and ticketing, and a way of bypasses traditional gatekeeping by record labels. This allows artists to retain more control over their careers and maximize revenue from their art and brand. Platforms like March align with the modern era's shift toward digital independence, enabling artists to earn sustainably without reliance on restrictive contracts or middlemen like record labels and risky deals.
NEXT STEPS
Given the time constraints of this project, I prioritized the core aspects of the March platform, creating an intuitive way for fans to connect with their favorite artists. For instance, I initially considered incorporating features like managing live streaming , but I decided to focus first on refining the core shopping and engagement experience.
Moving forward, I plan to develop wireframes and prototypes for these additional features and test them with the current design. This approach will ensure that March evolves into an ideal go-to platform that serves both fans and artists effectively while maintaining its focus on simplifying and enriching the music experience.