Designing a Podcast Streams Experience
A Case Study with Sarah
In an era (2024) where podcasts have become an increasingly popular source of entertainment and information, the user experience within podcast streaming apps plays a crucial role.
This case study, rooted in a design challenge presented by Noice during their recruitment process, aims to delve into and enhance the user experience within a podcast streaming application.
We start with a story
A new user, Sarah, has downloaded our podcast streaming app and wants to listen to a specific podcast episode
Personas
Who is Sarah?
What's the person like? What are her habits? What is she looking for?
Sarah, a 27-year-old professional, is an active smartphone user. She is familiar with podcast platforms and is interested in specific topics such as self-improvement, news, and comedy.
Sarah wants to find specific podcast episodes easily and quickly, explore playback options, and download episodes for offline listening. However, she often faces frustrations due to recommendations that don't match her interests, difficult search functionality, unintuitive playback controls, and inadequate downloaded episode management.
User Flow
What kind of flow will Sarah do? — to achieve her goal.
Sarah's journey within the podcast app is mapped through several key stages, including onboarding, search & discovery, episode selection, playback & control, and downloads & offline listening. Each of these stages presents potential pain points that can hinder Sarah's experience.
Did Sarah's goal go perfectly?
Oh! Of course not.
Where's the pain point?
Several key pain points that Sarah encounters are:
Complex Onboarding: Overly complex signup forms and unclear next steps can create initial friction for new users.
Difficult Search & Discovery: Difficult search and navigation, irrelevant recommendations, and confusing search results can lead to user frustration.
Unclear Episode Selection: Difficulty finding specific episodes and deciding which one to listen to due to labeling and lack of filtering can impede users.
Unintuitive Playback & Control: Unintuitive playback controls and non-adjustable playback speed options can make it challenging for users while multitasking or exercising.
Confusing Downloads & Offline Listening: Confusion about download status and storage location, coupled with a cluttered download management interface, can create difficulties for users.
How might we
…can solve her pain?
Wait — First, why did Sarah face issues at different times?
To understand why Sarah faces these issues, we need to delve deeper into her context and habits.
Sarah is already familiar with podcast platforms, so a complex process doesn't suit her. She also knows which podcasts she wants to listen to, so irrelevant recommendations only frustrate her.
Furthermore, Sarah often listens to podcasts during commutes and exercise, so an unfriendly playback design hinders her experience.
Lastly, easy access to downloaded episodes for offline listening is crucial for Sarah when traveling with limited signal.
So, What should we tackle first?
Based on a deeper understanding of Sarah's pain points, it was decided to prioritize solutions for two main issues: Difficult search & discovery and Unintuitive playback & control.
These two issues directly relate to the core function of a podcast platform, which is to enable users to listen to podcasts. By streamlining the search and discovery process, and addressing playback issues during activities like commute and exercise, we can ensure a seamless end-to-end listening experience for Sarah.
Insight Data
Addressing Sarah's Challenges: User-Centric Solutions
Pain Point #1: Difficult Discovery & Search
By addressing these "how might we" questions, we can develop innovative solutions that directly tackle the issues Sarah faces and enhance her overall experience with the podcast streaming app.
How might we... design navigation and search to help Sarah receive personalized recommendations and easily find relevant podcasts?
How might we… design clear, structured search results for quick podcast/episode identification?
Pain Point #2: Unintuitive Playback & Control
How might we… improve podcast playback controls to be more intuitive and user-friendly for commuters and exercisers?
Hi-Fi & Prototype
Onboarding
Discovery & Playback
Searching Podcast or Episode
Manage Downloaded Episode
Playback Widget & Smartwatch
Conclusion
This case study successfully identified several key pain points in podcast streaming platforms, particularly concerning navigation, search, recommendations, and playback control. The proposed solutions focus on improving interface design and personalization to create a smoother and more enjoyable user experience.
Validation and user testing are required to ensure the effectiveness of these solutions.
CONNECT 💌
©
2025
•
Muhammad Najib