AMOEBA: Creating a Nostalgic Experience on an Analog Level
*Currently under construction for rebranding UI
CONCEPTUAL PROJECT PARAMETERS
TIME: 2 Week Design Sprint
MY ROLE: UX/UI Designer
TEAM: SOLO PROJECT: Allie Kent
TOOLS: Figma, Google Suite, Voice Memos
"I love music because it's an abstract thing that you can't see, but it's like magic; you can't see it" - USER
"DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?": Music’s effects on humans.
According to one of our users, the magic of music is that it has a unique power to create experiences that transcend words, connecting people on an emotional level.
Amoeba music has the unique ability to immerse customers in a magic world of music through their vintage and nostalgic atmosphere, but therein lies the problem. The website was so antique, its design was difficult to use.
My task was to enhance their e-commerce platforms to showcase their products while preserving their "small shop" charm, vintage brand, and excellent customer service over the course of two weeks.
USER RESEARCH
Initially, I set out to determine users’ relationship with music and behaviors around online shopping. I found key motivators for these elements:
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Music is an art and an experience.
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Music harnesses nostalgia for our users.
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Users like to support local businesses and artists.
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Users trust up-to-date websites.
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When users receive a package in the mail, like a vinyl, they feel like it’s Christmas morning.
BASED ON USER RESEARCH, NOSTALGIC NICK WAS BORN
Frustration: Nick loves shopping for vinyls but finds Amoeba’s physical store hard to visit due to distance and a busy schedule. Online shopping for vinyls lacks the personal, nostalgic experience he values and that Amoeba brings to the table.
THE PROBLEM: Amoeba's Website is like Shopping Blindfolded
WHAT NICK SEES ONLINE: MISSING INFORMATION
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How can I filter the genre or see it easier?
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Can I see the back or inside the album?
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What are the song tracks?
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What other artists does this artist sound like?
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What is the band, The Avett Brothers, like?
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How did they make this album?
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What do they sound like?
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Should I buy this album without knowing anything about it?
For Nick, shopping like this in-store would translate to being blindfolded and unable to soak in everything Amoeba’s brand offers: images, songs, and descriptions found on the album cover, and the similar artists in the surrounding section of the store.
WHAT DOES NICK NEED? THE HELP OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competitor: Merchbar
The competitive analysis informed us that Amoeba lacked access to more album art, lyrics, the ability to sample music, a recommended artist or similar artist section, an album description, and a track list in comparison to other major competitors.
NICK'S PROBLEM STATEMENT
Nick needs descriptions of the qualities artists have so that he can connect with the music on an analog level through the sound, feel, and vision of the artist and their music.
"BRING THE BEAT IN": Answering "How Might We" make the search an analog experience?”
Just as Nick was in the process of adding a vinyl to the cart, we paused and considered: “How might we use the process of searching for music itself as an analog experience online?”
Crazy 8’s:
Mind Maps:
DESIGN DECISIONS: Bring the magic back to meet Nick’s Needs
Out of all the ideas flying around, what would Nick want?
Product Listing Page
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A sample vinyl music page with a spinning turntable and a scratchy vinyl sound overlay to mimic the real experience and immerse Nick in the online experience
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Album art and lyrics for Nick to leaf through to find the sound and feel of the artist
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Ability to view artists by year, through Amoeba’s Inventory Database for Nick to find his favorite oldies
Product Page
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Upcoming show and donation information on how to support the artist so Nick can feel part of the local Amoeba process
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Similar artist recommendations for Nick to discover more music
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Access to Amoeba’s podcast, “Earwax” that Nick never knew about, for a richer understanding of the music.
"AND ANOTHER ONE": Usability Test Findings Inform Iterations
USABILITY TESTING
Users: 3 Participants
Test Purpose: determine how users enjoyed the analog experience, if users understood how to assess for sounds of the artist, how users preferred to search for these sounds, if users felt that they supported the artist, and if users could successfully purchase the instructed item.
Task: to find and buy a gift of vinyl for a friend who’s a big fan of the sounds of Nelly, Usher, Ashanti, and Alicia Keys.
"THIS IS HOW WE DO IT": Creating High Fidelity to Recapture Amoeba's Magic
The High Fidelity was a crucial piece to bringing Amoeba’s magic to life. It had to mimic Amoeba’s alternative, old-school charm, yet adopt it to a less cluttered and cleaner design than the initial.
Attempt #1 Vintage Lens: Too Outdated, Tacky.
Attempt #2 Modern Lens: Clean, but lacking Amoeba's Vintage Vibe.
I ultimately blended modern organization with retro elements like a textured, tan background, electric flourishes and pops of their color palette, and specific band poster typefaces to balance a contemporary feel with Amoeba’s vintage and counterculture essence.
Original Home Page
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Cluttered / Busy
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Many Images
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Too many options
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Heuristic Violation: Learnability and Efficiency, Memorability
Home Page Redesign
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Added "Peace Through Music" to address usability testing
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Restructured Information Architecture based on card sort to engage users like Nick through video, top sellers, and getting to know artists.
Product Listing Page
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Spinning turn table to sample music
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Access to genre based on usability test
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Access to vinyl art and lyrics as if Nick was in the store
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Access to similar artists as if Nick was in the store
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Iterated "Drag to Choose Year" from usability testing findings
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Button changed to "Purchase Vinyl" due to usability test
Product Page
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"Also Featured On" gives access to podcast and artist interview page links in
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"Why You'll Love It" offers descriptions of music, album, and art for Nick
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Ability to sample music on this page
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Access to similar artists as if in the store
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Iterated "Support for Artist" through "Upcoming Shows" and numerical donation information
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"Similar Sounds" offered to gain a sense of the music sound and find more artists like Usher.
Now, how would Nick Feel? Nostalgic. Engaged. Like Magic.
Ultimately, the redesign allows Nick to test the music, understand the sound, feel, and vision of the music, learn more about the history and process of the artist, and support the artist, all while maintaining Amoeba’s independent music store signature image. Nick can now confidently purchase and expand records for his collection from the comfort of his house, so that he can his listening parties with friends, bringing together .
"THE NEXT EPISODE": Next Steps & Reflections
While the app did not launch, to track success and impact, I would have monitored the following:
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Elevated purchases and positive reviews, indicating users found the website enjoyable and helpful to make informed purchasing decisions. This would be a leading indicator that these features were useful and would enable us to gauge user satisfaction through their responses.
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Increased website traffic and increased traffic on the vinyl page to determine if the clearer flow was successful
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Growth in Amoeba online accounts for more users to feel comfortable making purchases online
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Lowered Click-Through Rate to determine if the new user flow made it easier for users to purchase items
NEXT STEPS FOR AMOEBA'S WEBSITE
I would provide an even better experience for users like Nick by clarifying the donation process and investigating how users prefer to support artists directly. Understanding these preferences, especially since Amoeba sometimes acts as an intermediary, will help ensure user satisfaction in purchasing records.
explore a secondary persona–due to the 2 week time limit and bandwidth, we did not have time to develop our secondary persona–a sale shopper/starving artist; to meet their needs, build a sales section that speaks to this persona in a similar process, by installing elements of Amoeba’s in store sale section to life.
REFLECTIONS
I learned how to refine my problem statement crafting skills through specifying and clarifying what our users truly needed, and through deep questioning, feedback, and refinement of UX Copy.
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While diverging in ideation, Crazy 8’s and mind maps helped me expand creativity to bring to life what could be possible, to set viable options before settling on one final idea.
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By seeking materials and guidelines to match brand identity, I became resourceful to help design something that successfully maintained company style.
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