Case Study
The premier database to provide musicians with the best, affordable tools
Music Ultrabase is a non-profit database website that provides musicians with the best tools to find whatever music-related videos, tutorials, reviews, software, online courses and other things they need.
Role & Responsibilities
UX design
UX research
Visual & brand design
Team
Rikiya Klasen
Tools
Adobe XD & Photoshop
Project Duration
February - March 2023
Inefficient Content Curation for Musicians
YouTube and other content-based websites show a lot of videos meant to help musicians, but don’t do an efficient job of catering to each specific musician’s needs. Multiple resources always have to be used by musicians at the moment, and some cost too much time and/or money.
The goal:
Create a database website that provides musicians with everything they need to efficiently and affordably become successful musicians.
What Do Other Resources and Databases Do?
I first completed foundational research, which consisted of synthesizing the experiences and features of competitors, which include various databases and educational music websites.
Regarding user interviews, I discovered that my target users have a frustrating time looking for resources that tell them everything they need as a musician, and wish that YouTube had more features telling them reviews for each video/channel.
User Pain Points
Too many niche websites
Although there are plenty of music-related resources out there, they are all too catered towards specific niches.
Information overload
A lot of music-related websites present their pages with too much information, causing users to give up.
A lot of wasted time
Due to the lack of more broad resources, users are having to open multiple websites to find what they’re looking for.
Incomplete experience(s)
A lot of music-related educational websites have blank or incomplete pages, preventing progress for a user’s experience.
How Can We Make Musician Experiences Better?
Using insight gained from my research process, as well as my target user’s current experience looking for music resources and tutorials, I was able to ideate the design solution. During this process, I created for the product:
• A persona
• The user journey map
• The sitemap
• Paper & digital wireframes
User Journey Map
Music Ultrabase Site Map
Paper Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
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More Preference Options Needed
YouTube and other content-based websites show a lot of videos meant to help musicians, but don’t do an efficient job of catering to each specific musician’s needs. Multiple resources always have to be used by musicians at the moment, and some cost too much time and/or money.
Better onboarding page
Once on the onboarding screen, users had a frustrating time with the lack of choices available to set up their search.
Saved items page
Once users finished onboarding and scrolled through the next page, they looked for a “saved items” menu that didn’t exist.
Profile & preferences
Users had a difficult time looking for where they can change or edit their profile and search preferences.
Refining the Ultrabase
Taking what I learned from my lo-fi prototype usability studies, I made necessary changes to the preference options before applying the branding and design system.
Desktop View
Mobile View
Refining the Ultrabase
• Conduct more edits to the high fidelity prototype
• Start ideating more ideas for additional pages and adjustments
• Hone in on each of the four features pages, as well as the profile page
