Apple Podcast Application Redesign
Project completed for HFID 770 – Prototyping
With the rise of podcasts over the last few years, the demand for new content has grown. New podcasts and new episodes become available daily, and users want easy, quick access to them. Each iteration of the iPhone has a built in podcast application that connects users to free content via the Apple iTunes Store. The application has seen a few upgrades over the past few years, but none seem to make the relatively simple act of searching for, finding, and playing a podcast episode as easy as it should be.
The interface seems to struggle with balancing Apple’s flat, minimalist design aesthetic with the actual needs and journeys of the user. Almost every step is crowded, with important information buried in noise or appearing well below the fold. Additionally, the information architecture seems to prioritize the needs of a niche user—one who re-listens to individual episodes and engages primarily in non-current events media. With the huge number of podcasts available on the market, the application needs to be able to provide clear pathways for the user to find their desired content. Apple is dealing with a wide variety of users, but there are limited pathways that they can take through the application, and several significant paths are mired in noise and poor information architecture. As a result, navigating the application is difficult, frustrating, and confusing.
Context Scenario
Jessica has a long drive home. She wants to listen to her favorite podcasts. Jessica gets into her car and turns the car on. She connects her iPhone to the USB cord, and waits for the two to sync. The phone buzzes, letting her know that the sync has occurred. Jessica unlocks her iPhone and navigates to the podcast application. She opens the application by clicking on an icon. She is taken to a home screen (1). She sees other podcasts she was in the middle of listening to, has listened to, and has listened to a while ago, but none of them are the podcast she is looking for. She clicks on “See All” recently played, but the list only shows episodes she has already listened to (2). She clicks “Browse” to see if any of her favorite podcasts have recent episodes that would place them on the top charts (3). Not seeing anything she is looking for (4), Jessica clicks search and types in the name of a favorite podcast (5 and 6). The podcast, and several similar ones, appears, and she clicks on the avatar (7). She is taken to the podcast dashboard (8). She scrolls down, sees that there is a new episode, and clicks on it (9). She is taken to an episode screen, where she clicks play to start the podcast. Then, with the podcast playing, Jessica starts her long commute home.
Upon opening the app, the user is taken to their library screen. The look of this page, as well as the options available, are similar to what the user would see in iTunes. All available screens show up at the top, and an expanded version of the episode the user was last listening to appears at the bottom. The user can click to minimize the most recently played episode so that it does not take up critical space on the screen.
This screen improves upon the previous application by giving the user all available navigation options from the outset. Where there current version shows most current, recently played, and last played options—only a third of which, at most, the user is likely to want to see—the revised version gives the user options to better navigate to their end destination. Additionally, the expanded last played section lets the user see what they were listening to and where they stopped, and if they do not want to continue they can simply minimize the screen.
Clicking on My Podcasts takes the user to the list of podcasts to which they have subscribed. The podcasts are listed by episode, with the most recent showing at the top. If more than one episode airs on the same day, the podcast the user listens to most will show up. At this point, since the user has navigated pas the library screen without resuming the most recently played podcast, the resume section is automatically minimized to increase screen space.
This screen improves upon the recently played screen by replacing it altogether. Though additional research into user habits is needed, it seems likely that users are not going to be playing individual episodes multiple times, much less multiple episodes multiple times.
The New Episodes screen allows the user to see the most recent episodes in terms of channels with which they have interacted, regardless of whether or not those channels have been added to the My Podcasts list. The page shows the most recent episodes in each category, and users can toggle the dropdown to select a different category. A link at the bottom will take users back to the My Podcasts screen.
This screen is an extension of the Recently Played screen that helps to mitigate the need to go to Top Charts for users who are simply looking to play an episode within the range of podcasts that they already like. The toggle has an AI component that pulls in recommendations, which decreases the screen space that the existing application dedicates to this function.
The revised Top Charts page remains largely the same as the existing application. However, the revised design puts dates on the episodes, allowing users to see when each episode was released. This is especially important for users who listen to political or current events podcasts, because they want to ensure that what they are listening to is the most up to date. By placing the date on this landing screen (rather than on the detail page, where it currently lives), the revision is allowing users to more quickly scan through the long list and make more informed choices about what they want to listen to.
If a user clicks on an avatar or searches for a specific podcast, they will be taken to that podcast’s landing page. Currently, the design for the landing page is incredibly cluttered and the priority for the user is not entirely clear. The top of the page contains the high-level podcast information. Then, recent episodes, a link to all available episodes, a list of “best of the podcast” options, ratings and reviews, and related podcasts are shown. Additionally, to download an episode, the user has to click a plus sign, then a download sign, and then click either into the episode or back to the library to play.
The revised interface simplifies this design by condensing the information at the top of the page, and compiling the podcasts into a single, chronologically ordered list. Because there is no information about the criteria for the best podcasts, this review is considering it superfluous; however, additional research would need to be conducted. By streamlining the page, users have quick access to all episodes without having to click into an additional detail page. The revision also includes two buttons: a plus sign to download, and a button to play. This mitigates any confusion caused by the existing multi-click setup, and allows the user to play the podcast directly from the landing page.
Next Steps
This revised prototype attempts to remove the many impediments that the existing application has to the user’s ability to quickly, efficiently, and accurately find and play the podcast episode of their choice. As a next step, I would conduct user research on participants who use the app. I would then refine my prototype and conduct usability tests by giving participants tasks to complete within the prototype application. I would refine my prototype with each round, ensuring that user feedback informs each phase so that the end result can serve a wide variety of user needs.
