Error Diagnosis and Recovery
TouchTunes does a poor job of helping users diagnose and recover from errors. It is common to navigate to an album, but only one song shows, which may not actually be on the album. There is not an explanation for why this error was made, or how to fix it. It is possible that the metadata tagged to this track is incorrect, but without allowing users to flag errors or express feedback, the app lends itself to a confusing, unpredictable user flow. As a separate example, when I lived in Wisconsin, there were multitudes of famous rappers that were not available at certain venues. I had to search online why local bars banned certain artists to understand why there were no tracks, which could have saved me from asking friends or bartenders to test out the app for me.
Redundant Information Architecture
The app also suffers from redundant, vague menus and an overlapping information architecture. The difference between “My Top Plays”, “My Songs”, “My Favorites”, and“My Music” is never explained. I tend to just search songs manually rather than trying to navigate through the different sub-menus. This makes multiple features of the application somewhat pointless and cumbersome. The app does not require much information in total to operate, but it likely could better use the space by getting rid of features that users are unlikely to use (under the assumption that others feel similar to me and my friends who use the app).
Lack of Understanding of App Context
The app could likely better adhere to the full socio-technical environment the app is used within. Anyone is allowed to queue up any song, which can lead to some comedic or obnoxious moments. For instance, a viral tweet captured a moment where someone queued up ‘What’s New, Pussycat?” over 20 times in a row at a restaurant across the street from them. Speaking from personal experience, it is easy to interrupt someone’s queue with multiple replays of the same song, songs from a completely different genre, or sonically abhorrent songs (like commercial/company theme songs, music meant for alarms, etc.). Without following any paradigms regarding what songs are or are not good fits to play over the speakers, the app ignores the social factor that music has over moments and locations. Bar/restaurant patrons may get frustrated and leave the location due to impatience, which negatively impacts the business just because someone was essentially pranking whoever was at the venue with them. The user impacts their entire environment, and the app seems to ignore that one user’s actions will not only impact them.
Additionally, It is possible that the app creators are not focused on this, but TouchTunes is not built for learning about more music. If someone else is playing a song, the user can view the song’s title, artist name, and album cover, but no further information. If you like certain songs that others are playing, there is not an intuitive way of saving the song to your own playlists or to look at the artist’s discography. It is unclear how the ‘Recommendations’ menu is created, and personally, I knew most of the songs that were recommended to me.
Research Impact
Error Diagnosis and Recovery
I made a ‘Report’ button more available across the entire platform. This allows users to explicitly describe issues that they have found, giving them the power to better understand and track errors found in the app. Users can report songs, artists, or venues and write in a free-text box what they perceive the issue to be. This should help escalate incomplete discographies or missing selections. Users can feel comforted in knowing that someone will look into and solve the error they found. The ‘House Rules’ screen helps explain to the user different observations they may have already made, such as unavailable artists or out-of-date catalogues; this should help lessen the number of reports or conversations that end with TouchTunes redirecting the user to the venue.
Redundant Information Architecture
The main menu that appears once a venue is selected now redirects users to either the ‘House Rules’ or ‘DJ Lineup' screens rather than different divisions of the music. I struggled with defining the different sub-menus currently in the app, so I decided to remodel the information architecture fully. In reality, this redesign could have benefitted from a closed card sort, where users could share their expectations of how the app should organize its different screens and features; I did not think this was necessary once I chose to remove the current structure and introduce new features.
Lack of Understanding of App Context
If users take advantage of the ability to request a disruptive song, others can report them which could result in a temporary ban. I think the best improvement that I made to TouchTunes is a preliminary attempt to build a TouchTunes online community. I created the ‘DJ Lineup’ page for more access to others’ DJ profiles. I want users to feel excited by the possibility of meeting someone new that has a similar taste in music. Additionally, the 'DJ Lineup' page ranks users in terms of 'Encore Power', which incentivizes users to keep playing more music, listen to crowd feedback, and curate the music to the current interests and vibe of the venue. also created the ‘Encore Power’ feature to reward others who are doing a good job of creating a fun environment. This almost creates social capital out of having a taste in music that appeals to others. Both features make the app more engaging and aware of the full socio-technical environment.
Screenshots of Touchtunes, before the redesign
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I took multiple screenshots of the mobile app to construct what would be needed to create the new user flows. Using Figma's Iconify plug-in and some freehand drawing, I created new screens that fit the current aesthetic of the app. Once I redesigned or created each screen, I used the Prototyping features in Figma to stitch together realistic user flows that could show off the new functionalities I designed.
This assignment did not require any research or testing. I would have pursued a focus group and card sort to learn about user expectations of the app before I made design decisions, and I would have created a few evaluation tasks for users to complete with the new design. Tasks would have involved reporting a user, finding who has the most 'Encore Power' at the current venue, and reporting an artist, amongst other tasks.
This homework served as a rewarding freelance design opportunity. I found it fun to act upon my own critiques without needing to adhere to specific expectations on how to improve the application. As an avid music fan, I still love this app despite some of the issues I found; I reached out to TouchTunes if they would be interested in discussing my findings and ideas.
