Parisa Nabiyouni

Case Study:

Adding a feature to Castbox

For this project, I decided to make the current product even better instead of starting from the very beginning. This helps me learn a lot and become really good at different things. People who listen to podcasts sometimes struggle to remember important parts or find specific parts they like. They also want to easily share their favorite moments. So, I made it possible for them to have written transcripts and share them easily. This makes the podcast app much easier and more fun to use.

1. Research

1.1. Project Overview

The problem

Podcast listeners often experience moments where they lose focus or miss important details, leading them to search for a way to capture key points effectively. Moreover, they encounter challenges when trying to locate specific segments within an audio file. Additionally, they desire a smooth and effortless method to highlight impactful moments or engaging discussions, enabling them to create shareable snippets complete with timestamps.

The goal

I strongly believe it is crucial to include features such as transcript integration and seamless sharing of specific podcast sections during the design phase. By incorporating these functionalities, we can enhance the overall user experience, making it easier for listeners to reference and share valuable content from the podcast with others.

The product

In this project, I have made the deliberate choice to focus on expanding the features of an existing product rather than starting from scratch and designing a complete product from the ground up. This decision allows me to gain valuable experience and expertise in performing various tasks as needed.

To ensure a smooth workflow and leverage my familiarity with a platform, I have chosen to work with Castbox. Castbox is a Hong Kong-based podcast company that offers both podcast hosting and production services. Given that I am already familiar with Castbox and utilize it on a daily basis, this selection provides me with a solid foundation to build upon and implement the desired enhancements.

By selecting Castbox as the platform for this project, I can leverage my existing knowledge and firsthand experience to identify areas for improvement and tailor the additions to meet the needs and preferences of Castbox users. This approach enables me to enhance the overall user experience and contribute to the growth and success of the platform.

Responsibilities

Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping
Conducting usability studies
Iterating on designs

My role

As a UX designer, I oversee the end-to-end process of designing and integrating a new feature into an existing platform.

Project duration

2 weeks/ Jun-July 2023

1.2. Competitor Audit

In the beginning, I researched various applications that are good at searching for information and simplifying sharing. In this process, I encountered several similar services that closely matched our users' needs. From this investigation, I pinpointed the following strengths displayed by these platforms:

Google Podcasts

Clean and simple design: The UI is clean and simple, with a focus on the content. This makes it easy to browse through podcasts and episodes.
Transcripts: The app offers transcripts for many podcasts, which makes it easier to follow along if you're listening to a show in a noisy environment.
Easy Sharing Options: Google Podcasts provides simple sharing options. Users can easily share episodes or entire podcasts via various methods, such as direct links, social media platforms, email, and messaging apps.

Apple Podcasts

Podcast directory and search: The app provides a comprehensive podcast directory, making it easy to search and discover new shows. The search functionality allows users to find specific podcasts or topics of interest.
User-Friendly Interface: It features a user-friendly and intuitive interface, making it easy for both beginners and experienced users to discover, subscribe to, and listen to podcasts.
Episode Bookmarks: Users can bookmark specific moments within episodes, making it easier to revisit or share noteworthy parts of a podcast.

1.3. Understanding the user

Understanding users is an ongoing journey that requires continuous efforts. It involves actively seeking feedback, staying adaptable to evolving listener preferences, and regularly evaluating the impact of new features to ensure they meet the needs of your audience. By adopting an open and responsive approach to user feedback, I strive to incorporate features that deeply connect with listeners and maintain their engagement.

My intended users are adults who are somewhat familiar with similar platforms and use them every now and then. I've conducted five interviews, and you can find the identified pain points listed below.

1.4. User pain points

Focusing

Losing focus or missing important details while listening.

Searching

The Difficulty of Searching for Specific Segments within an Audio File.

Sharing

Challenging to share Podcast Segments

1.5. Persona & problem statement

Emily, a busy professional, encounters a few pain points while using the podcast platform.

1.6. User-flows

Task 1:

From home page go to the library and choose a podcast, then share it in three ways:

Share the part of the podcast
Share podcast with the current position
Share the whole podcast

2. Starting the design

2.1. Digital wireframes

To ensure that the digital wireframes effectively addressed customer pain points, I dedicated time to drafting various app screens. Prioritizing user accessibility, I placed significant emphasis on optimizing the ordering procedure within the play screen.

2.2. Usability Study Findings

Based on user feedback, two alternative designs were considered slightly crowded, and users expressed that they did not require constant visibility of the transcript. As a result, users preferred an icon that would trigger a pop-up for the transcript when needed. In order to avoid clutter on the play page, the decision was made to include sharing and comments icons within the three-dot menu located at the top of the page. By incorporating these changes, the play page achieved a cleaner and more streamlined layout, addressing user concerns about overcrowding while still providing easy access to essential features.

2.3. Refined designs

On the left, you can view the original design of the Castbox application, while on the right, you'll see a design with added features that have been improved based on user input and various usage scenarios. In this updated design, there's a central icon that activates a transcript pop-up when necessary.

Current

Redesigned

To maintain a tidy play page, we've relocated the sharing and comments icons to the top of the page, accessible via the three-dot menu. I also made three ways to share in the three-dot menu:

sharing a part of the podcast
sharing it with the current position
sharing the whole podcast

Current

Redesigned

2.4. Final designs

I think it's really important to add features like transcript integration and easy sharing of specific parts of a podcast when we're planning how the app should work. These features will make it much better for users. It'll help them share the most interesting parts of the podcast with their friends and easily find what they're looking for. In our tests with users, we found that the design should be easy to use, with a clear order of things, which is what they prefer. These modifications have resulted in a cleaner and more efficient layout for the play page, effectively addressing user worries about clutter while ensuring convenient access to vital functions.

High-fidelity prototype

The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner userflow reading. It also met user needs for sharing podcast segments.

View the Castbox high-fidelity prototype

View transcript process

Sharing process

Conclusion

Through my experiences, I came to realize that even a small change in design can have a big impact on how users feel about a product. The most important lesson I took away from this is the importance of considering what users want and need when coming up with design ideas and solutions.

It became clear to me that every detail matters, and it's crucial to put the user at the center of the design process. This way, we can create designs that not only work well but also make users happy and satisfied with their experience.

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